County administrator vs chief finance officer

The differences between county administrators and chief finance officers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes More than 10 years to become both a county administrator and a chief finance officer. Additionally, a chief finance officer has an average salary of $143,947, which is higher than the $89,338 average annual salary of a county administrator.

The top three skills for a county administrator include county government, service delivery and federal laws. The most important skills for a chief finance officer are payroll, CPA, and oversight.

County administrator vs chief finance officer overview

	County Administrator	Chief Finance Officer
Yearly salary	$89,338	$143,947
Hourly rate	$42.95	$69.21
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	51,060	145,184
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	52	52
Years of experience	-	-

What does a county administrator do?

A county administrator oversees the day-to-day activities of a county government, ensuring operations run smoothly and efficiently. Their responsibilities often entail developing and reviewing plans for different projects, assessing the budget for various departments, implementing programs, and communicating with department heads and the public. They also manage and supervise administrative staff, attend events like council meetings and public dialogues, and take part in relief operations during emergencies.

What does a chief finance officer do?

A chief financial officer is responsible for managing and reviewing the financial status of a company. Chief financial officers' duties include ensuring the accuracy of financial reports, monitoring the company's expenses and budget goals, providing recommendations to prevent financial loss and increase revenues, processing the company's tax obligations, and resolving financial disputes. A chief financial officer must have an impeccable knowledge of the financial industry, updated with the current market trend, and strong leadership and decision-making skills to support the organization's financial department.

County administrator vs chief finance officer salary

County administrators and chief finance officers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	County Administrator	Chief Finance Officer
Average salary	$89,338	$143,947
Salary range	Between $55,000 And $142,000	Between $80,000 And $257,000
Highest paying City	Stockton, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Nevada	California
Best paying company	Icma-rc	Baker McKenzie
Best paying industry	Finance	Construction

Differences between county administrator and chief finance officer education

There are a few differences between a county administrator and a chief finance officer in terms of educational background:

	County Administrator	Chief Finance Officer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 54%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	Business	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

County administrator vs chief finance officer demographics

Here are the differences between county administrators' and chief finance officers' demographics:

	County Administrator	Chief Finance Officer
Average age	52	52
Gender ratio	Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0%	Male, 71.9% Female, 28.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 7.6% Asian, 7.5% White, 76.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 7.7% White, 76.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	12%	12%

Differences between county administrator and chief finance officer duties and responsibilities

County administrator example responsibilities.

Establish operating policies and procedures and attain SNF Medicare certification.
Re-Establish the QA committee and institute continuous quality improvement activities with resulting impact on the facility's regulatory compliance history.
Process all source documents, ensuring accuracy, creating invoices using QuickBooks including monthly bank reconciliation.

Chief finance officer example responsibilities.

Lead management team in developing and executing a combination of pricing and cost savings strategies that improve EBITDA more than threefold.
Lead the consolidation of financial and operational systems for non-acute services including rehabilitation and psychiatry services.
Lead system conversion to Hyperion planning budgeting/forecasting software, responsible for training, developing and implementation.
Manage all firm banking relationships, treasury functions and retain signatory authority for all partnership and corporate accounts.
Lead implementation of new worldwide consolidation system, Hyperion, significantly reducing closing time and improving controls over the consolidation process.
Prepare annual general ledger reconciliations and consolidate financial reports for CPA tax preparation.

County administrator vs chief finance officer skills

Common county administrator skills

County Government, 12%
Service Delivery, 12%
Federal Laws, 8%
Public Works, 6%
Financial Management, 5%
County Services, 5%

Common chief finance officer skills

Payroll, 7%
CPA, 6%
Oversight, 5%
Financial Reports, 4%
Human Resources, 4%
Internal Controls, 4%

County Administrator vs. similar jobs

County Administrator related careers

County Administrator related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Executive Management Industry
County Administrator
County Administrator vs Chief Finance Officer

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse executive management jobs