Public accountant vs senior tax accountant

The differences between public accountants and senior tax 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 public accountant and a senior tax accountant. Additionally, a senior tax accountant has an average salary of $77,537, which is higher than the $58,843 average annual salary of a public accountant.

The top three skills for a public accountant include CPA, real estate and audit procedures. The most important skills for a senior tax accountant are CPA, state income, and tax research.

Public accountant vs senior tax accountant overview

	Public Accountant	Senior Tax Accountant
Yearly salary	$58,843	$77,537
Hourly rate	$28.29	$37.28
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	46,295	57,686
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does a public accountant do?

A public accountant handles duties relating to financial planning, bookkeeping, and preparing government taxes and audits. Besides overseeing financial management and budget management, a public accountant also maintains and audits an organization's financial records. Other duties performed by public accountants include creating and analyzing budgets and recommending fiscally practical techniques to save the company's money. A public accountant reports financial information to the organization management and audits its accounts for overspending, fraud, errors, and misinformation.

What does a senior tax accountant do?

Senior Tax Accountants recommend tax strategies, as well as assist the preparation of federal, state, and local taxes. They contact clients to resolve minor tax issues and work with the senior tax manager to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local tax legislation.

Public accountant vs senior tax accountant salary

Public accountants and senior tax accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Public Accountant	Senior Tax Accountant
Average salary	$58,843	$77,537
Salary range	Between $43,000 And $80,000	Between $60,000 And $99,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	New York	New York
Best paying company	Citi	Riverbed Holdings, Inc.
Best paying industry	Professional	Professional

Differences between public accountant and senior tax accountant education

There are a few differences between a public accountant and a senior tax accountant in terms of educational background:

	Public Accountant	Senior Tax Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Southern California

Public accountant vs senior tax accountant demographics

Here are the differences between public accountants' and senior tax accountants' demographics:

	Public Accountant	Senior Tax Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0%	Male, 50.6% Female, 49.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 12.4% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.7% Asian, 14.3% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between public accountant and senior tax accountant duties and responsibilities

Public accountant example responsibilities.

Manage and monitor accounting procedures for compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and coordinate and facilitate external audit requirements.
Perform write-ups, analysis of general ledger, adjusting journal entries and reconciliations.
Ensure accuracy and completeness of write-ups and monthly bank reconciliations.
Handle tax matters with the IRS for clients and business owners.
Assist clients with IRS correspondence, accounting and recording business transactions.
Collaborate in the resolution of taxation disputes with federal, state and local tax agencies.

Senior tax accountant example responsibilities.

Research technical topics in taxation to present to the tax department and clients on areas of concern in the IRS code.
Participate in monthly accounting close with preparation and ownership of tax accrual journal entries and reconciliations.
Help implement, and maintain federal and state tax provision information into OneSource.
Work with internal and external resources to ensure implementation of CCH software on shopping cart is successful.
Assist and review the maintenance of the OneSource database relative to coding & mapping of the trial balance.
Conduct research with CCH and RIA on tax exposures, savings, refund, recovery, and credits.

Public accountant vs senior tax accountant skills

Common public accountant skills

CPA, 17%
Real Estate, 9%
Audit Procedures, 9%
Financial Statement Preparation, 7%
Payroll Tax, 6%
Partnerships, 5%

Common senior tax accountant skills

CPA, 14%
State Income, 5%
Tax Research, 5%
Income Tax Returns, 4%
Tax Planning, 4%
Tax Compliance, 4%

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Public Accountant vs Senior Tax Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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