Senior accountant vs assistant controller

The differences between senior accountants and assistant controllers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a senior accountant, becoming an assistant controller takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, an assistant controller has an average salary of $91,447, which is higher than the $71,967 average annual salary of a senior accountant.

The top three skills for a senior accountant include reconciliations, CPA and GAAP. The most important skills for an assistant controller are reconciliations, CPA, and GAAP.

Senior accountant vs assistant controller overview

	Senior Accountant	Assistant Controller
Yearly salary	$71,967	$91,447
Hourly rate	$34.60	$43.96
Growth rate	6%	17%
Number of jobs	76,816	58,643
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 78%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age	44	46
Years of experience	4	8

What does a senior accountant do?

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.

What does an assistant controller do?

An assistant controller is an individual who supports and reports to the corporate controller about all the organization's accounting-related activities such as managerial accounting and financial activities. Assistant controllers are instrumental in maintaining the accountability of the organization's financial resources and protecting the assets of its investors. They delegate data entry tasks with junior accounting staff and coordinate financial audits with the vice president and chief financial officer (CFO). The minimum educational attainment of an assistant controller is to obtain a bachelor's degree in finance or accounting related field.

Senior accountant vs assistant controller salary

Senior accountants and assistant controllers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Accountant	Assistant Controller
Average salary	$71,967	$91,447
Salary range	Between $55,000 And $92,000	Between $63,000 And $132,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Stamford, CT
Highest paying state	New York	Connecticut
Best paying company	Google	Cloudflare
Best paying industry	Finance	Finance

Differences between senior accountant and assistant controller education

There are a few differences between a senior accountant and an assistant controller in terms of educational background:

	Senior Accountant	Assistant Controller
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 78%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Senior accountant vs assistant controller demographics

Here are the differences between senior accountants' and assistant controllers' demographics:

	Senior Accountant	Assistant Controller
Average age	44	46
Gender ratio	Male, 46.9% Female, 53.1%	Male, 49.8% Female, 50.2%
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, 7.7% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.8% Asian, 9.1% White, 64.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	7%	11%

Differences between senior accountant and assistant controller duties and responsibilities

Senior accountant example responsibilities.

Manage complex pricing structure and maintain SalesForce CRM funnel for forecasting accuracy.
Prepare internal financial reports for treasury manage accounts include in external compliance reports.
Manage the review, enhancement, and creation of department policy and procedure documentation require for Sarbanes-Oxley auditing and compliance.
Compile and analyze financial information to prepare monthly accruals, payroll journal, general journal and bank reconciliations.
Research and develop policies around Medicaid and Medicare billings and prepare Medicaid cost reports.
Coordinate submissions of financial data from regional divisions and prepare the consolidated company financial statement using Hyperion program.

Assistant controller example responsibilities.

Lead divisional capital management through ROI analysis on new products and other capital investments to maximize returns.
Facilitate the implementation of ERP system, which increase productivity in efficiently and effectively manage the functionality of the organization.
Initiate ongoing departmental projects to automate daily tasks which include the calculations for income distributions and the daily income account reconciliation.
Maintain timely and accurate general ledger account reconciliations, oversee treasury management, and handle fixed asset tracking and reporting.
Direct balance sheet and inter-company reconciliations according to GAAP and ensure compliance across accounting, payroll, and inventory management systems.
Oversee corporate financial internal controls including a complete re-write of all standard operating procedure documentation and supporting annual SOX audit work.

Senior accountant vs assistant controller skills

Common senior accountant skills

Reconciliations, 13%
CPA, 8%
GAAP, 7%
External Auditors, 4%
Internal Controls, 4%
Payroll, 4%

Common assistant controller skills

Reconciliations, 9%
CPA, 8%
GAAP, 7%
Internal Controls, 5%
Payroll Processing, 5%
External Auditors, 5%

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Senior Accountant vs Assistant Controller

Updated January 8, 2025

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