Cost controller vs senior cost accountant

The differences between cost controllers 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 controller and a senior cost accountant. Additionally, a cost controller has an average salary of $76,697, which is higher than the $65,824 average annual salary of a senior cost accountant.

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

Cost controller vs senior cost accountant overview

	Cost Controller	Senior Cost Accountant
Yearly salary	$76,697	$65,824
Hourly rate	$36.87	$31.65
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	17,477	45,010
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 79%
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 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 controller vs senior cost accountant salary

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

	Cost Controller	Senior Cost Accountant
Average salary	$76,697	$65,824
Salary range	Between $51,000 And $114,000	Between $48,000 And $89,000
Highest paying City	Sunnyvale, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	New Jersey
Best paying company	NOVA Chemicals	OraSure Technologies
Best paying industry	Energy	Health Care

Differences between cost controller and senior cost accountant education

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

	Cost Controller	Senior Cost Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 70%	Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Cost controller vs senior cost accountant demographics

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

	Cost Controller	Senior Cost Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 63.2% Female, 36.8%	Male, 59.7% Female, 40.3%
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, 8.4% 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 cost controller and senior cost 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.

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 controller vs senior cost 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 cost accountant skills

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

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Cost Controller vs Senior Cost Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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