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.
Senior corporate accountant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior corporate accountant resumes:
- 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.
- Used Hyperion and Essbase to develop financial statements for use by corporate and division finance management.
- Perform general ledger accounting for corporate activities such as allocations, long term debt, prepay, accruals and other transactions.
- Establish procedures and continuous testing for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
- Maintain internal control documentation and SOX documentation for the department.
- Verify weekly cash application against corporate treasury records to ensure accuracy.
- Develop monthly investment income, accruals, allocations per operating agreement, and manual depreciation calculations.
- Develop financial infrastructures and standardize accounting procedures among companies, to ensure compliance with GAAP and corporate guidelines.
- Handle monthly account reconciliations, including investigation and resolution of outstanding issues by working with multiple departments throughout the company.
- Assist with testing and receive final approval for system reports require for management, financial reporting and general ledger reconciliations.
Senior corporate accountant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Senior Corporate Accountants are proficient in Reconciliations, GAAP, and SOX. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Senior Corporate Accountants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Reconciliations, 13%
Assist with testing and receive final approval for system reports required for management, financial reporting and general ledger reconciliations.
- GAAP, 9%
Certify external financial reports accuracy and adherence to Federal, GAAP and Statutory requirements.
- SOX, 5%
Maintained internal control documentation and SOX documentation for the department.
- External Auditors, 4%
Ensured compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and provided all necessary information to internal/external auditors for all corporate entities.
- Internal Controls, 4%
Execute internal controls over financial reporting and fulfill internal and external audit requests.
- Strong Analytical, 4%
Established strong analytical and technical accounting skills through financial statement analysis.
Most senior corporate accountants use their skills in "reconciliations," "gaap," and "sox" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential senior corporate accountant responsibilities here:
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform senior corporate accountant duties is communication skills. Senior corporate accountants responsibilities require that "accountants and auditors must be able to listen to and discuss facts and concerns from clients, managers, and other stakeholders." Senior corporate accountants also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "aligned communications with accounting and treasury, resolving all outstanding items. "
Detail oriented. senior corporate accountants are also known for detail oriented, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to senior corporate accountant responsibilities, because "accountants and auditors must pay attention to detail when compiling and examining documents." A senior corporate accountant resume example shows how detail oriented is used in the workplace: "review quarterly financial reports and provide details to regional managers. "
Math skills. For certain senior corporate accountant responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "math skills." The day-to-day duties of a senior corporate accountant rely on this skill, as "accountants and auditors must be able to analyze, compare, and interpret facts and figures." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what senior corporate accountants do: "calculated, uploaded and validated monthly statistics analysis, and results into hyperion. "
Organizational skills. A commonly-found skill in senior corporate accountant job descriptions, "organizational skills" is essential to what senior corporate accountants do. Senior corporate accountant responsibilities rely on this skill because "strong organizational skills are important for accountants and auditors, who often work with a range of financial documents for a variety of clients." You can also see how senior corporate accountant duties rely on organizational skills in this resume example: "maintained the general ledger and prepared consolidated financial statements for multiple real estate funds with various investment types and organizational structures. "
The three companies that hire the most senior corporate accountants are:
- Bausch + Lomb34 senior corporate accountants jobs
- Robert Half21 senior corporate accountants jobs
- Deloitte8 senior corporate accountants jobs
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Compare different senior corporate accountants
Senior corporate accountant vs. Accounting supervisor
Account supervisors are in charge of the accounting and financial operations within an organization's accounting department. They supervise the account team and provide feedback about their performance and recommend improvements when necessary. It is their responsibility to review the company's financial statements for accuracy. They even reconcile the enterprise's general ledger accounts and oversee the communications and marketing plans of the clients. Also, they maintain profitable and long-term customer relationships to keep the trust of the clients.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a senior corporate accountant are more likely to require skills like "payroll," "hyperion," "real estate," and "treasury." On the other hand, a job as an accounting supervisor requires skills like "account reconciliations," "cpa," "customer service," and "payroll taxes." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Accounting supervisors earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $86,930. On the other hand, senior corporate accountants are paid more in the construction industry with an average salary of $76,665.The education levels that accounting supervisors earn slightly differ from senior corporate accountants. In particular, accounting supervisors are 3.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a senior corporate accountant. Additionally, they're 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior corporate accountant vs. Accounting manager/controller
An accounting manager/controller is responsible for spearheading and overseeing the daily operations in a company's accounting department. They monitor the company's budgets, including its costs and expenditures, and produce financial reports. It is also their duty to establish objectives and guidelines, manage accounting staff, monitor financial activities, review and assess financial statements, approve expenditures, and resolve issues promptly and efficiently. Furthermore, as an accounting manager/controller, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real senior corporate accountant resumes. While senior corporate accountant responsibilities can utilize skills like "strong analytical," "payroll," "hyperion," and "accruals," accounting managers/controller use skills like "cpa," "payroll taxes," "journal entries," and "oversight."
On average, accounting managers/controller earn a higher salary than senior corporate accountants. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, accounting managers/controller earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $89,839. Whereas senior corporate accountants have higher pay in the construction industry, with an average salary of $76,665.In general, accounting managers/controller achieve similar levels of education than senior corporate accountants. They're 1.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior corporate accountants in the next 3-5 years?
Terri Walsh
Professor/Program Manager, Accounting, Seminole State College of Florida
Senior corporate accountant vs. Accounting consultant
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.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from senior corporate accountant resumes include skills like "strong analytical," "payroll," "hyperion," and "treasury," whereas an accounting consultant is more likely to list skills in "cpa," "payroll processing," "gap analysis," and "internal audit. "
Accounting consultants earn the highest salary when working in the manufacturing industry, where they receive an average salary of $68,965. Comparatively, senior corporate accountants have the highest earning potential in the construction industry, with an average salary of $76,665.accounting consultants typically earn similar educational levels compared to senior corporate accountants. Specifically, they're 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior corporate accountant vs. Accountant/consultant
Accountants/consultants perform accounting tasks for organizations or companies. The accountants improve accounting practices and prepare financial statements at the end of every year. They analyze financial data and offer advice on regulatory compliance issues to the finance department. It is their job to make sure that the online system is secure. Most of the day, they organize invoices, prepare statements, and supervising systems. They should be equipped with analytical skills, industry knowledge, critical thinking, and interpersonal communication.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior corporate accountants and accountant/consultants, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior corporate accountant might have more use for skills like "sox," "external auditors," "close process," and "erp." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of accountant/consultants require skills like "account management," "product knowledge," "leveraged," and "customer service. "
In general, accountant/consultants earn the most working in the finance industry, with an average salary of $68,479. The highest-paying industry for a senior corporate accountant is the construction industry.accountant/consultants reach similar levels of education compared to senior corporate accountants, in general. The difference is that they're 4.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of senior corporate accountant
Updated January 8, 2025
