Senior accountant vs senior cost accountant

The differences between senior accountants and senior cost 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 senior accountant and a senior cost accountant. Additionally, a senior accountant has an average salary of $71,967, which is higher than the $65,824 average annual salary of a senior cost accountant.

The top three skills for a senior accountant include reconciliations, CPA and GAAP. The most important skills for a senior cost accountant are reconciliations, variance analysis, and GAAP.

Senior accountant vs senior cost accountant overview

	Senior Accountant	Senior Cost Accountant
Yearly salary	$71,967	$65,824
Hourly rate	$34.60	$31.65
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	76,816	45,010
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 78%	Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

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 a senior cost accountant do?

A senior cost accountant is an individual who maintains detailed costs in a company's system and provides cost analysis that supports operations and sales. Senior cost accountants are required to review inventory and deal with manufacturing personnel to control and analyze standard costs. They must record cost information to be used in controlling expenditures as well as recommend cost efficiencies in new product layouts. Senior cost accountants must also provide reports that specify and compare factors affecting prices and profitability of products or services to the management.

Senior accountant vs senior cost accountant salary

Senior accountants and senior cost accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Accountant	Senior Cost Accountant
Average salary	$71,967	$65,824
Salary range	Between $55,000 And $92,000	Between $48,000 And $89,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New York	New Jersey
Best paying company	Google	OraSure Technologies
Best paying industry	Finance	Health Care

Differences between senior accountant and senior cost accountant education

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

	Senior Accountant	Senior Cost Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 78%	Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Senior accountant vs senior cost accountant demographics

Here are the differences between senior accountants' and senior cost accountants' demographics:

	Senior Accountant	Senior Cost Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 46.9% Female, 53.1%	Male, 59.7% Female, 40.3%
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, 8.4% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 12.3% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between senior accountant and senior cost accountant 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.

Senior cost accountant example responsibilities.

Manage quarterly inventory reserves in accordance with company policy which follows GAAP guidance.
Prepare internal financial reports for treasury manage accounts include in external compliance reports.
Process month end close including journal entries, account reconciliations, variance analysis, financial statement preparation and corporate reporting.
Provide user training and technical support for ERP and payroll systems.
Implement process improvements for monthly close process and SOX documentation retention.
Complete account reconciliations in accordance with maintaining the integrity of assets and liabilities for balance sheet inventory accounts.

Senior accountant vs senior cost accountant skills

Common senior accountant skills

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

Common senior cost accountant skills

Reconciliations, 9%
Variance Analysis, 6%
GAAP, 5%
Account Reconciliations, 4%
SR, 4%
SOX, 3%

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Senior Accountant vs Senior Cost Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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