Director of accounting & finance vs corporate controller

The differences between directors of accounting & finance and corporate controllers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a director of accounting & finance and a corporate controller. Additionally, a corporate controller has an average salary of $144,304, which is higher than the $127,871 average annual salary of a director of accounting & finance.

The top three skills for a director of accounting & finance include CPA, GAAP and internal controls. The most important skills for a corporate controller are payroll, CPA, and GAAP.

Director of accounting & finance vs corporate controller overview

	Director Of Accounting & Finance	Corporate Controller
Yearly salary	$127,871	$144,304
Hourly rate	$61.48	$69.38
Growth rate	17%	17%
Number of jobs	100,209	57,715
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	8	8

What does a director of accounting & finance do?

A director of accounting and finance is in charge of overseeing all financial activities and decisions in a company and supervising its workforce. Their responsibilities revolve around spearheading the development of financial plans and strategies, coordinating with analysts and consultants, gathering and analyzing financial data, and reporting all sales progress to executives through documents and presentations. They must also set goals and objectives, allocate budgets to different departments, prepare comprehensive sales forecasts, and lead employees while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

What does a corporate controller do?

A corporate controller is an individual who is responsible for supervising the overall daily accounting operations of an organization. Integral to the financial health of the organization, corporate controllers are required to help the organization with strategic financial decisions through forecasting reports and financial statements. They oversee maintaining accounting records by keeping and storing them in an operable system. Corporate controllers are also required to manage the accounting operations of the organization's subsidiaries.

Director of accounting & finance vs corporate controller salary

Directors of accounting & finance and corporate controllers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Director Of Accounting & Finance	Corporate Controller
Average salary	$127,871	$144,304
Salary range	Between $88,000 And $184,000	Between $99,000 And $209,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	California
Best paying company	Fried Frank	SideCars
Best paying industry	Health Care	Manufacturing

Differences between director of accounting & finance and corporate controller education

There are a few differences between a director of accounting & finance and a corporate controller in terms of educational background:

	Director Of Accounting & Finance	Corporate Controller
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Director of accounting & finance vs corporate controller demographics

Here are the differences between directors of accounting & finance' and corporate controllers' demographics:

	Director Of Accounting & Finance	Corporate Controller
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 67.1% Female, 32.9%	Male, 72.8% Female, 27.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.8% Asian, 9.4% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.8% Asian, 9.4% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between director of accounting & finance and corporate controller duties and responsibilities

Director of accounting & finance example responsibilities.

Implement the firm's financial policy while managing day to day accounting and oversight of accounting staff and financial vendors.
Manage ERP implementation for both development and general construction operations.
Lead business validation process to produce accurate and timely portfolio consolidation results while ensuring favorable audit and SOX compliance opinions.
Manage financial accounting and reporting for all client entities, including consolidations and inter-company reconciliations, with recommendations for process improvements.
Champion and manage the integration of account reconciliation software to improve the efficiency and accuracy of inter-department and company-wide account reconciliations.
Assist CPA with yearly audit requirements and enter adjusting journal entries.

Corporate controller example responsibilities.

Manage general accounting staff (A/P, A/R, & G/L), financial planning, reporting and analysis functions.
Direct and manage all aspects of the external audit, including implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley requirements.
Lead implementation of SyteLine ERP solution to replace outdate manufacturing software and streamline manufacturing and transaction processes.
Develop long-term financial/ operational strategy for high-tech company as well as managed accounting, finance, and treasury operations.
Facilitate maintenance of treasury and risk management activity serving as primary point of contact for all financially relate matters.
Implement procedures for standard journal entries, monthly reconciliations, account analysis and documentation to support the monthly reporting requirements.

Director of accounting & finance vs corporate controller skills

Common director of accounting & finance skills

CPA, 7%
GAAP, 7%
Internal Controls, 5%
Financial Data, 5%
Balance Sheet, 4%
Financial Reports, 4%

Common corporate controller skills

Payroll, 7%
CPA, 6%
GAAP, 6%
Internal Controls, 6%
External Auditors, 5%
General Ledger, 3%

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Director Of Accounting & Finance vs Corporate Controller

Updated January 8, 2025

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