Cost analyst vs senior cost accountant

The differences between cost analysts 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 cost analyst and a senior cost accountant. Additionally, a senior cost accountant has an average salary of $65,824, which is higher than the $54,158 average annual salary of a cost analyst.

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

Cost analyst vs senior cost accountant overview

	Cost Analyst	Senior Cost Accountant
Yearly salary	$54,158	$65,824
Hourly rate	$26.04	$31.65
Growth rate	3%	6%
Number of jobs	60,034	45,010
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Average age	47	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does a cost analyst do?

Cost Analysts are employees with a strong background in finance or accounting. They are in charge of collecting financial data and analyzing the entries. They study the company's expenses and prepare pertinent reports. Cost Analysts look for inconsistencies in the financial data. This way, they can assist in auditing the company's spending. Cost Analysts also look for inefficiencies. They do so by tracking item costs and department budgets and monitoring department expenses. They are also involved in budget-setting activities.

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.

Cost analyst vs senior cost accountant salary

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

	Cost Analyst	Senior Cost Accountant
Average salary	$54,158	$65,824
Salary range	Between $39,000 And $73,000	Between $48,000 And $89,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Virginia	New Jersey
Best paying company	General Motors	OraSure Technologies
Best paying industry	Automotive	Health Care

Differences between cost analyst and senior cost accountant education

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

	Cost Analyst	Senior Cost Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Most common major	Business	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Cost analyst vs senior cost accountant demographics

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

	Cost Analyst	Senior Cost Accountant
Average age	47	44
Gender ratio	Male, 54.2% Female, 45.8%	Male, 59.7% Female, 40.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 8.6% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	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	13%	7%

Differences between cost analyst and senior cost accountant duties and responsibilities

Cost analyst example responsibilities.

Manage general ledger expense accounts assign to ERP implementation project.
Develop, maintain financial models/applications (VBA Excel/Access) to automate and streamline business processes and perform financial analysis.
Perform cost control, revenue analysis and variance analysis for several DOD contracts.
Identify parts that need to be realign to correct WBS s in order to bring costs inline.
Ensure that purchase orders and work orders are setup in accordance with establish DuPont procedures and appropriate WBS structures.
Perform fixed asset and manufacturing accounting within ERP system.

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.

Cost analyst vs senior cost accountant skills

Common cost analyst skills

Cost Analysis, 8%
Financial Analysis, 6%
Cost Estimates, 6%
Data Analysis, 4%
DOD, 4%
Variance Analysis, 4%

Common senior cost accountant skills

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

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Cost Analyst vs Senior Cost Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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