Corporate accountant vs senior cost accountant

The differences between corporate accountants and senior cost 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 corporate accountant and a senior cost accountant. Additionally, a senior cost accountant has an average salary of $65,824, which is higher than the $64,300 average annual salary of a corporate accountant.

The top three skills for a corporate accountant include reconciliations, GAAP and account reconciliations. The most important skills for a senior cost accountant are reconciliations, variance analysis, and GAAP.

Corporate accountant vs senior cost accountant overview

	Corporate Accountant	Senior Cost Accountant
Yearly salary	$64,300	$65,824
Hourly rate	$30.91	$31.65
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	54,174	45,010
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does a corporate accountant do?

A corporate accountant is an individual who prepares financial statements and maintains financial records of an organization to ensure that they comply with laws, regulations, and the organization's policies. Corporate accountants are required to analyze financial statements to help executives make financial decisions for the organization. They must collect ledgers and financial reports from divisional offices and prepare corporate financial statements for executives. Corporate accountants must also prepare budgets to allocate funds for spending for each department.

What does a senior cost accountant do?

A senior cost accountant is an individual who maintains detailed costs in a company's system and provides cost analysis that supports operations and sales. Senior cost accountants are required to review inventory and deal with manufacturing personnel to control and analyze standard costs. They must record cost information to be used in controlling expenditures as well as recommend cost efficiencies in new product layouts. Senior cost accountants must also provide reports that specify and compare factors affecting prices and profitability of products or services to the management.

Corporate accountant vs senior cost accountant salary

Corporate accountants and senior cost accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Corporate Accountant	Senior Cost Accountant
Average salary	$64,300	$65,824
Salary range	Between $46,000 And $89,000	Between $48,000 And $89,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New York	New Jersey
Best paying company	Putnam Investments	OraSure Technologies
Best paying industry	Finance	Health Care

Differences between corporate accountant and senior cost accountant education

There are a few differences between a corporate accountant and a senior cost accountant in terms of educational background:

	Corporate Accountant	Senior Cost Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Corporate accountant vs senior cost accountant demographics

Here are the differences between corporate accountants' and senior cost accountants' demographics:

	Corporate Accountant	Senior Cost Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 43.1% Female, 56.9%	Male, 59.7% Female, 40.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 13.0% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 12.3% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between corporate accountant and senior cost accountant duties and responsibilities

Corporate accountant example responsibilities.

Lead successful implementation of PeopleSoft fix asset software module.
Manage and monitor accounting procedures for compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and coordinate and facilitate external audit requirements.
Perform month-end closing responsibilities, month-end accruals, expense allocations across business units and legal entities, and account reconciliations.
Perform general accounting assignments including accruals, profit and loss reports and reconciliations.
Prepare monthly journal entries and variance reconciliations primarily relating to compensation, operational accruals, investments, and partnerships.
Perform detailed and extensive schedules and analysis for annual audits by an outside CPA firm as required by law.

Senior cost accountant example responsibilities.

Manage quarterly inventory reserves in accordance with company policy which follows GAAP guidance.
Prepare internal financial reports for treasury manage accounts include in external compliance reports.
Process month end close including journal entries, account reconciliations, variance analysis, financial statement preparation and corporate reporting.
Provide user training and technical support for ERP and payroll systems.
Implement process improvements for monthly close process and SOX documentation retention.
Complete account reconciliations in accordance with maintaining the integrity of assets and liabilities for balance sheet inventory accounts.

Corporate accountant vs senior cost accountant skills

Common corporate accountant skills

Reconciliations, 14%
GAAP, 6%
Account Reconciliations, 6%
CPA, 5%
General Ledger Accounts, 5%
External Auditors, 4%

Common senior cost accountant skills

Reconciliations, 9%
Variance Analysis, 6%
GAAP, 5%
Account Reconciliations, 4%
SR, 4%
SOX, 3%

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Corporate Accountant vs Senior Cost Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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