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The differences between senior finance analysts and senior 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 finance analyst and a senior accountant. Additionally, a senior finance analyst has an average salary of $83,222, which is higher than the $71,967 average annual salary of a senior accountant.
The top three skills for a senior finance analyst include financial analysis, hyperion and financial models. The most important skills for a senior accountant are reconciliations, CPA, and GAAP.
| Senior Finance Analyst | Senior Accountant | |
| Yearly salary | $83,222 | $71,967 |
| Hourly rate | $40.01 | $34.60 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 117,609 | 76,816 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Average age | 40 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A Senior Financial Analyst's role is to oversee the financial aspects and manage fellow analysts in a company. Among the tasks of a Senior Financial Analyst include conducting research and analysis, providing forecast in revenue and expenditures, creating financial models that would suit the company and project more sales, and take part in the planning of finances. Moreover, being a Senior Financial Analyst means leading a team of skilled professionals in the same field of expertise.
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.
Senior finance analysts and senior accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Finance Analyst | Senior Accountant | |
| Average salary | $83,222 | $71,967 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $110,000 | Between $55,000 And $92,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | New York |
| Best paying company | ||
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior finance analyst and a senior accountant in terms of educational background:
| Senior Finance Analyst | Senior Accountant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Most common major | Accounting | Accounting |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between senior finance analysts' and senior accountants' demographics:
| Senior Finance Analyst | Senior Accountant | |
| Average age | 40 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.7% Female, 38.3% | Male, 46.9% Female, 53.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.6% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 14.1% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |