Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between control accountants and senior accountants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a control accountant and a senior accountant. Additionally, a senior accountant has an average salary of $71,967, which is higher than the $66,563 average annual salary of a control accountant.
The top three skills for a control accountant include reconciliations, general ledger accounts and payroll taxes. The most important skills for a senior accountant are reconciliations, CPA, and GAAP.
| Control Accountant | Senior Accountant | |
| Yearly salary | $66,563 | $71,967 |
| Hourly rate | $32.00 | $34.60 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 75,702 | 76,816 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A Control Accountant is in charge of managing a company's accounting records and spearheads the development of financial reports. Although the extent of their responsibilities depends on their place or industry of employment, it typically includes coordinating with different teams to gather and analyze data, conduct audits and risk analyses, monitor budgets and expenditures, review documents and other transactions and develop strategies to optimize operations. A Control Accountant leads and encourages staff to reach goals while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
A senior accountant is responsible for organizing financial reports, analyzing cost estimates, reviewing budget goals regularly, and making adjustments with the company's account statements as necessary. Senior accountants' duties also include managing account reconciliations, preparing tax documents, maintaining audit records and balance sheets, generating invoices, and providing recommendations to minimize possible financial loss. A senior accountant must have excellent analytical and critical-thinking skills and extensive knowledge of accounting and financial principles.
Control accountants and senior accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Control Accountant | Senior Accountant | |
| Average salary | $66,563 | $71,967 |
| Salary range | Between $48,000 And $91,000 | Between $55,000 And $92,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Marathon Oil | |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a control accountant and a senior accountant in terms of educational background:
| Control Accountant | Senior Accountant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Most common major | Accounting | Accounting |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between control accountants' and senior accountants' demographics:
| Control Accountant | Senior Accountant | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 49.2% Female, 50.8% | Male, 46.9% Female, 53.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 12.1% White, 63.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 14.5% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |