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The differences between public accountants and 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 tax accountant. Additionally, a tax accountant has an average salary of $62,142, 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 tax accountant are CPA, tax audits, and income tax returns.
| Public Accountant | Tax Accountant | |
| Yearly salary | $58,843 | $62,142 |
| Hourly rate | $28.29 | $29.88 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 46,295 | 57,919 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
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.
A tax accountant is an individual who works with clients to produce tax return documents that follow tax laws and regulations while keeping them updated on their return information. Tax accountants must determine tax strategies for their clients that may minimize or eliminate tax payments while arranging audits with taxation authorities. They prepare tax documents for different clients, including private companies, non-profit organizations, and private individuals. Tax accountants are also required to obtain a bachelor's degree in accounting and should understand business concepts.
Public accountants and tax accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Public Accountant | Tax Accountant | |
| Average salary | $58,843 | $62,142 |
| Salary range | Between $43,000 And $80,000 | Between $45,000 And $83,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Citi | Pacific Investment Management Company LLC |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between a public accountant and a tax accountant in terms of educational background:
| Public Accountant | Tax Accountant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Accounting | Accounting |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between public accountants' and tax accountants' demographics:
| Public Accountant | Tax Accountant | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0% | Male, 47.3% Female, 52.7% |
| 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, 8.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 15.5% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |