How To Become A Senior Project Accountant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior project accountant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Ryan Torkelson

A senior project accountant is in charge of the financial aspects of a particular project. Their main duties are to oversee the financial activities of the project, create financial appraisals, generate forecasts, and create financial reports. They usually work with a team of staff and also serve as a leader that supervises, trains, and motivates subordinate staff.

Additional duties of a senior project accountant may include providing guidance in risk management planning, pointing out project deviances, performing impact analysis, assisting with preparing financial information for annual audit, and communicating financial issues to management.

A degree in accounting, business, or finance is a must for this role. Being a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or Certified Management Accountant (CMA), on the other hand, may not be required but can serve as a huge advantage when looking for a job. Furthermore, an aspiring senior project accountant must have adequate experience and a proven track record of project success. Senior project accountants earn an annual average between $56,000 to $85,000. Job opportunities are most abundant in the technology, corporate, and energy companies, which may also be the highest-paying.

What general advice would you give to a senior project accountant?

Ryan Torkelson

Assistant Professor of Accounting, Luther College

They need to have a quiet confidence about them. They have earned their degree, so they are prepared for the work they have been hired to do. Most supervisors know that new employees will need guidance and support, but the best employees are the ones that grow and seek out new opportunities. The other thing I would tell new people is to be patient. Sometimes, to get help, it may take more time than they are used to. This is where time management becomes key.

ScoreSenior Project AccountantUS Average

Salary

5.0

Avg. Salary $64,388

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.4

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.46%

Asian 12.15%

Black or African American 8.71%

Hispanic or Latino 11.05%

Unknown 3.97%

White 63.66%

Gender

female 62.67%

male 37.33%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

5.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.7

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior project accountant

Explore senior project accountant education requirements

Most common senior project accountant degrees

Bachelor's

76.0 %

Master's

12.1 %

Associate

9.8 %

Start to develop specific senior project accountant skills

Skills	Percentages
Reconciliations	7.26%
Project Management	5.89%
GAAP	5.25%
Financial Reports	4.21%
Payroll	3.97%

Complete relevant senior project accountant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior project accountants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior project accountant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior project accountant resumes.

Research senior project accountant duties and responsibilities

Manage daily operations of the accounting department to include contract billing, accounts receivable, and monthly backlog/accrual reconciliations.
Manage the review, enhancement, and creation of department policy and procedure documentation require for Sarbanes-Oxley auditing and compliance.
Produce financial reports on a timely basis for building construction decision making using various job cost methods in conformity to GAAP.
Provide recommendations and assist with development, documentation, and implementation of agree process improvement procedures according to GAAP and SOX.

Get senior project accountant experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior project accountant. The most common roles before becoming a senior project accountant include project accountant, senior accountant team lead and staff accountant.

Prepare your senior project accountant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior project accountant resume.

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