Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between finance planners and fund 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 finance planner and a fund accountant. Additionally, a finance planner has an average salary of $71,607, which is higher than the $60,203 average annual salary of a fund accountant.
The top three skills for a finance planner include financial aid, financial services and client facing. The most important skills for a fund accountant are reconciliations, calculation, and securities.
| Finance Planner | Fund Accountant | |
| Yearly salary | $71,607 | $60,203 |
| Hourly rate | $34.43 | $28.94 |
| Growth rate | 15% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 91,557 | 35,702 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 84% |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A financial planner is responsible for handling client accounts and providing financial advice to determine the best investment options according to the clients' interests and risk appetite. Financial planners record the clients' living expenses as a part of their portfolio, identifying their long-term goals and objectives, and giving tax advice. They also educate clients with investment options and opportunities to improve the clients' account performance and sell financial products. A financial planner must have excellent analytical and communication skills to conduct data and statistical analysis, especially in researching financial instruments in the market.
A fund accountant provides accounting for an investment portfolio. The investments needed include commodities, securities, and/or real estate in an investment fund like a hedge fund or mutual fund. The role of fund accountants includes activity capturing and recording. Fund accountants prepare accurate and timely values, distributions, yields, and fund accounting output for review. They manage activities associated with fund accounting and domestic equity transactions. Also, they work alongside supervisors when it comes to budget development.
Finance planners and fund accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Finance Planner | Fund Accountant | |
| Average salary | $71,607 | $60,203 |
| Salary range | Between $42,000 And $120,000 | Between $44,000 And $80,000 |
| Highest paying City | Springfield, MA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | New York |
| Best paying company | Northern Trust | Warburg Pincus |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a finance planner and a fund accountant in terms of educational background:
| Finance Planner | Fund Accountant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 84% |
| Most common major | Business | Accounting |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between finance planners' and fund accountants' demographics:
| Finance Planner | Fund Accountant | |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 62.0% Female, 38.0% | Male, 61.5% Female, 38.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.7% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 8.4% White, 71.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 18.4% White, 59.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 7% |