Senior corporate accountant vs senior cost accountant

The differences between senior corporate 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 corporate accountant and a senior cost accountant. Additionally, a senior corporate accountant has an average salary of $73,008, which is higher than the $65,824 average annual salary of a senior cost accountant.

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

Senior corporate accountant vs senior cost accountant overview

	Senior Corporate Accountant	Senior Cost Accountant
Yearly salary	$73,008	$65,824
Hourly rate	$35.10	$31.65
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	57,895	45,010
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does a senior corporate accountant do?

A senior corporate accountant is responsible for reviewing financial transactions and account statements of an organization, reconciling accounts receivable, managing accounts payable, and resolving bank discrepancies. Senior corporate accountants handle clients' outstanding payments, allocate budget to the department heads, and identify business opportunities that would generate more revenue resources and minimize financial loss. They write accurate financial reports to discuss with the senior management, respond to the team's inquiries and concerns, and strategize to improve financial processes.

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 corporate accountant vs senior cost accountant salary

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

	Senior Corporate Accountant	Senior Cost Accountant
Average salary	$73,008	$65,824
Salary range	Between $57,000 And $92,000	Between $48,000 And $89,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New York	New Jersey
Best paying company	Amazon	OraSure Technologies
Best paying industry	Construction	Health Care

Differences between senior corporate accountant and senior cost accountant education

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

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

Senior corporate accountant vs senior cost accountant demographics

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

	Senior Corporate Accountant	Senior Cost Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 46.2% Female, 53.8%	Male, 59.7% Female, 40.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 14.1% White, 61.6% 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 corporate accountant and senior cost accountant duties and responsibilities

Senior corporate accountant example responsibilities.

Manage CAPEX and Hyperion reporting.
Manage Sarbanes-Oxley documentation and perform the related testing in accordance with policy.
Manage all treasury activity for corporate entities including daily cash management, monthly earn fee calculations, and property relate reimbursements.
Prepare documentation in support of financial statements for SOX regulations, internal and external auditors.
Initiate financial analysis, budgeting, management planning, capital expenditure monitoring, and revenue recognition according to GAAP.
Research and implement functionality within ERP system.

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 corporate accountant vs senior cost accountant skills

Common senior corporate accountant skills

Reconciliations, 13%
GAAP, 9%
SOX, 5%
External Auditors, 4%
Internal Controls, 4%
Strong Analytical, 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 Corporate Accountant vs Senior Cost Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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