Cost controller vs business control analyst

The differences between cost controllers and business control analysts 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 controller and a business control analyst. Additionally, a business control analyst has an average salary of $82,413, which is higher than the $76,697 average annual salary of a cost controller.

The top three skills for a cost controller include project management, cost analysis and financial statements. The most important skills for a business control analyst are risk management, internal audit, and governance.

Cost controller vs business control analyst overview

	Cost Controller	Business Control Analyst
Yearly salary	$76,697	$82,413
Hourly rate	$36.87	$39.62
Growth rate	6%	11%
Number of jobs	17,477	144,674
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does a cost controller do?

A Cost Controller manages the project costs. Cost Controllers' tasks include developing, controlling, planning, and forecasting the project's budget. They make sure that projects are completed within the approved budget and minimize the deflection from it. Cost Controllers should know about total cost management concepts, budget distribution, and setting a cost limit. They should also know how to detect issues, analyze cost reports, and value management. Being a cost controller also requires skills to effectively communicate the project's cost performance, concerns, and recovery plans to the project team.

What does a business control analyst do?

A business control analyst specializes in developing and recommending strategies to optimize business operations. Among their responsibilities include performing research and analysis to identify business and client opportunities, gathering and analyzing data to determine areas needing improvement, implementing solutions against problem areas, assessing workforce performance and workflow procedures, and maintaining records. Furthermore, as a business control analyst, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

Cost controller vs business control analyst salary

Cost controllers and business control analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Cost Controller	Business Control Analyst
Average salary	$76,697	$82,413
Salary range	Between $51,000 And $114,000	Between $62,000 And $108,000
Highest paying City	Sunnyvale, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Washington
Best paying company	NOVA Chemicals	Bloomberg
Best paying industry	Energy	Finance

Differences between cost controller and business control analyst education

There are a few differences between a cost controller and a business control analyst in terms of educational background:

	Cost Controller	Business Control Analyst
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common major	Accounting	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Northwestern University

Cost controller vs business control analyst demographics

Here are the differences between cost controllers' and business control analysts' demographics:

	Cost Controller	Business Control Analyst
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 63.2% Female, 36.8%	Male, 49.8% Female, 50.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 13.4% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.6% Asian, 13.7% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	12%

Differences between cost controller and business control analyst duties and responsibilities

Cost controller example responsibilities.

Improve project process by developing and implementing cost structure, then manage job-specific code of accounts for WBS approvals.
Manage treasury, open several new accounts, establish new procedures and controls, monitor daily activity.
Prepare monthly write-ups reports for the cost performance and EAC forecast
Identify wrongly charge WBS in order to control the budget release under each WBS element.
Facilitate capital project team's operating expense budgets, forecast, variance comments, accruals, and reporting.
Analyze purchase order commitment to calculate accruals.

Business control analyst example responsibilities.

Manage the Salesforce preparation for migration from GreatPlains to PeopleSoft and successfully execute said migration.
Upload QA reconsideration files into SharePoint as needed.
Develop SharePoint lists, forms, and workflows.
Develop a process to eliminate stall loans and remove from inventory using SQL.
Borrow securities to cover short positions and age fails with Loanet and DTCC.
Oversee the authorization, allocation, and SOX controls for the capital expenditure process.

Cost controller vs business control analyst skills

Common cost controller skills

Project Management, 11%
Cost Analysis, 7%
Financial Statements, 6%
Cost Estimates, 6%
Variance Analysis, 5%
Cost Data, 5%

Common business control analyst skills

Risk Management, 18%
Internal Audit, 13%
Governance, 9%
PowerPoint, 5%
Business Control, 5%
SQL, 4%

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Cost Controller
Cost Controller vs Business Control Analyst

Updated January 8, 2025

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