Cost engineer vs cost controller

The differences between cost engineers and cost controllers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a cost engineer, becoming a cost controller takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a cost engineer has an average salary of $87,901, which is higher than the $76,697 average annual salary of a cost controller.

The top three skills for a cost engineer include project management, cost analysis and construction management. The most important skills for a cost controller are project management, cost analysis, and financial statements.

Cost engineer vs cost controller overview

	Cost Engineer	Cost Controller
Yearly salary	$87,901	$76,697
Hourly rate	$42.26	$36.87
Growth rate	3%	6%
Number of jobs	65,278	17,477
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Average age	45	44
Years of experience	6	4

What does a cost engineer do?

A cost engineer is responsible for projecting cost and expenses reports for the production process, identify and mitigate risks, and develop strategic techniques to reduce the excessive financial loss for project buildings. Cost engineers conduct data and statistical analysis to measure time deliverables and quality checks to ensure profitability and adherence to business objectives. They research and negotiate materials from trusted suppliers and vendors with high-quality products that would meet construction designs and client specifications.

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.

Cost engineer vs cost controller salary

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

	Cost Engineer	Cost Controller
Average salary	$87,901	$76,697
Salary range	Between $64,000 And $120,000	Between $51,000 And $114,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Sunnyvale, CA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	Massachusetts
Best paying company	BP America Inc	NOVA Chemicals
Best paying industry	Energy	Energy

Differences between cost engineer and cost controller education

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

	Cost Engineer	Cost Controller
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Most common major	Business	Accounting
Most common college	Georgia Institute of Technology	University of Pennsylvania

Cost engineer vs cost controller demographics

Here are the differences between cost engineers' and cost controllers' demographics:

	Cost Engineer	Cost Controller
Average age	45	44
Gender ratio	Male, 74.1% Female, 25.9%	Male, 63.2% Female, 36.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.3% Asian, 14.4% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	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%
LGBT Percentage	6%	7%

Differences between cost engineer and cost controller duties and responsibilities

Cost engineer example responsibilities.

Manage and monitor SharePoint activities and update daily tasks to ensure information is documented, remains accurate and up-to-date.
Manage Jenkins security by providing specific access to authorize developers/testers using project base matrix authorization strategy.
Create BOM for each project assuring special procedures, materials requirements and reinforcements.
Research and analyze various commodities for function to price and price to cost evaluation.
Design and install a complete integrate information management system on IBM equipment and ERP software.
Document all corporate procedures and policies instruction to establish constancy within GAAP rules and regulation.

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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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Cost engineer vs cost controller skills

Common cost engineer skills

Project Management, 9%
Cost Analysis, 7%
Construction Management, 7%
Project Controls, 7%
Cost Data, 5%
Cost Models, 4%

Common cost controller skills

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

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Updated January 8, 2025

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