Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between plant controllers and finance leaders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a plant controller and a finance leader. Additionally, a finance leader has an average salary of $117,284, which is higher than the $99,550 average annual salary of a plant controller.
The top three skills for a plant controller include internal controls, GAAP and plant management. The most important skills for a finance leader are financial analysis, financial management, and business development.
| Plant Controller | Finance Leader | |
| Yearly salary | $99,550 | $117,284 |
| Hourly rate | $47.86 | $56.39 |
| Growth rate | 17% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 47,555 | 93,582 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
A plant controller works at factories where they are primarily in charge of administrative duties and ensuring that operations adhere to budgets, schedules, and standards. As a plant controller, they are also responsible for gathering and analyzing financial data, analyzing cost reports, preparing financial statements, maintaining databases, performing audits and risk assessments, and overseeing the accounting team procedures. Additionally, they also supervise staff operations and address issues and concerns while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
The duties of a finance leader depend on one's place or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around monitoring the sales and financial operations in a company, preparing financial reports and statements, finding new sales opportunities, identifying the market and client needs, and maintaining records of all financial transactions. There are also instances where a finance leader may set and allocate budgets, perform audits in costs and expenditures, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Plant controllers and finance leaders have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Plant Controller | Finance Leader | |
| Average salary | $99,550 | $117,284 |
| Salary range | Between $72,000 And $136,000 | Between $78,000 And $174,000 |
| Highest paying City | Reno, NV | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | Oregon |
| Best paying company | Arkema | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a plant controller and a finance leader in terms of educational background:
| Plant Controller | Finance Leader | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Accounting | Accounting |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between plant controllers' and finance leaders' demographics:
| Plant Controller | Finance Leader | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 75.9% Female, 24.1% | Male, 60.0% Female, 40.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 13.4% Asian, 7.9% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 10.0% White, 63.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |