Cost controller vs senior accountant

The differences between cost controllers 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 cost controller and a senior accountant. Additionally, a cost controller has an average salary of $76,697, which is higher than the $71,967 average annual salary of a senior accountant.

The top three skills for a cost controller include project management, cost analysis and financial statements. The most important skills for a senior accountant are reconciliations, CPA, and GAAP.

Cost controller vs senior accountant overview

	Cost Controller	Senior Accountant
Yearly salary	$76,697	$71,967
Hourly rate	$36.87	$34.60
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	17,477	76,816
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 78%
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 senior accountant do?

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.

Cost controller vs senior accountant salary

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

	Cost Controller	Senior Accountant
Average salary	$76,697	$71,967
Salary range	Between $51,000 And $114,000	Between $55,000 And $92,000
Highest paying City	Sunnyvale, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	New York
Best paying company	NOVA Chemicals	Google
Best paying industry	Energy	Finance

Differences between cost controller and senior accountant education

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

	Cost Controller	Senior Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Cost controller vs senior accountant demographics

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

	Cost Controller	Senior Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 63.2% Female, 36.8%	Male, 46.9% Female, 53.1%
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, 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%

Differences between cost controller and senior accountant 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.

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Senior accountant example responsibilities.

Manage complex pricing structure and maintain SalesForce CRM funnel for forecasting accuracy.
Prepare internal financial reports for treasury manage accounts include in external compliance reports.
Manage the review, enhancement, and creation of department policy and procedure documentation require for Sarbanes-Oxley auditing and compliance.
Compile and analyze financial information to prepare monthly accruals, payroll journal, general journal and bank reconciliations.
Research and develop policies around Medicaid and Medicare billings and prepare Medicaid cost reports.
Coordinate submissions of financial data from regional divisions and prepare the consolidated company financial statement using Hyperion program.

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Cost controller vs senior accountant skills

Common cost controller skills

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

Common senior accountant skills

Reconciliations, 13%
CPA, 8%
GAAP, 7%
External Auditors, 4%
Internal Controls, 4%
Payroll, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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