Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between senior accountants and accounting consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a senior accountant and an accounting consultant. Additionally, a senior accountant has an average salary of $71,967, which is higher than the $62,830 average annual salary of an accounting consultant.
The top three skills for a senior accountant include reconciliations, CPA and GAAP. The most important skills for an accounting consultant are CPA, GAAP, and reconciliations.
| Senior Accountant | Accounting Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $71,967 | $62,830 |
| Hourly rate | $34.60 | $30.21 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 76,816 | 74,894 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A senior accountant is responsible for organizing financial reports, analyzing cost estimates, reviewing budget goals regularly, and making adjustments with the company's account statements as necessary. Senior accountants' duties also include managing account reconciliations, preparing tax documents, maintaining audit records and balance sheets, generating invoices, and providing recommendations to minimize possible financial loss. A senior accountant must have excellent analytical and critical-thinking skills and extensive knowledge of accounting and financial principles.
An Accounting Consultant is a person tasked to assist the accounting department of a company. The consultant advises businesses concerning the accounting system used by the organization. It is also through the accounting consultant's help that improvements in the accounting process are proposed, the determination of problematic areas in the workflow, possible issues in the future, and everything that needs upgrading. The accounting consultant also helps businesses conform to legal policies set about by State and Federal legislation.
Senior accountants and accounting consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Accountant | Accounting Consultant | |
| Average salary | $71,967 | $62,830 |
| Salary range | Between $55,000 And $92,000 | Between $45,000 And $86,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Jordan Company | |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a senior accountant and an accounting consultant in terms of educational background:
| Senior Accountant | Accounting Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Accounting | Accounting |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between senior accountants' and accounting consultants' demographics:
| Senior Accountant | Accounting Consultant | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 46.9% Female, 53.1% | Male, 49.3% Female, 50.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 14.5% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 13.4% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |