Senior project accountant vs cost accountant

The differences between senior project accountants and 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 project accountant and a cost accountant. Additionally, a senior project accountant has an average salary of $64,388, which is higher than the $60,528 average annual salary of a cost accountant.

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

Senior project accountant vs cost accountant overview

	Senior Project Accountant	Cost Accountant
Yearly salary	$64,388	$60,528
Hourly rate	$30.96	$29.10
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	45,277	39,925
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does a senior project accountant do?

Senior Project Accountants are responsible for providing support in financial management for a project. Their duties include creating financial appraisals, producing project forecasts, and developing project financial reports. They are responsible for facilitating financial planning, identifying budget deviances, performing impact analysis, and assisting in risk management planning. Senior Project Accountants also establish financial governance for a project, improve financial tools, test data, and prepare a business case analysis for senior management. They participate in project meetings, assist in internal audits, and ensure operations adhere to corporate financial legislations.

What does a cost accountant do?

A cost accountant specializes in determining the total cost incurred by a company from producing goods and services. Through the various financial data they collect, the cost accountant will devise plans and strategies that will be a vital factor in the next budget and marketing preparations of a company. Aside from this, a cost accountant is responsible for various tasks such as conducting research and analysis in different areas, keeping financial records and inventory, producing financial reports involving profitability and expenditures, and proposing a budget and other financial plans.

Senior project accountant vs cost accountant salary

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

	Senior Project Accountant	Cost Accountant
Average salary	$64,388	$60,528
Salary range	Between $48,000 And $85,000	Between $45,000 And $81,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Edison, NJ
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	New Jersey
Best paying company	Dahl Consulting	Google
Best paying industry	Technology	Energy

Differences between senior project accountant and cost accountant education

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

	Senior Project Accountant	Cost Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Senior project accountant vs cost accountant demographics

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

	Senior Project Accountant	Cost Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 37.3% Female, 62.7%	Male, 52.6% Female, 47.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 12.2% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 12.2% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between senior project accountant and cost accountant duties and responsibilities

Senior project accountant example 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.
Audit and approve the supporting documents of all invoices of the company in accordance with the requirements regulations by SOX.
Prepare schedules for recurring accruals and deferrals and amortize monthly.

Cost accountant example responsibilities.

Manage ledgers and perform month end journal entries.
Manage the payroll with ADP system and account receivable.
Manage costing control as well as accounts payable (A/P) and accounts receivable (A/R).
Prepare internal financial reports for treasury manage accounts include in external compliance reports.
Prepare raw material and WIP inventory reconciliations.
Develop tracking of GAAP inventory valuation for all inventory inherit from the bankrupt former company.

Senior project accountant vs cost accountant skills

Common senior project accountant skills

Reconciliations, 7%
Project Management, 6%
GAAP, 5%
Financial Reports, 4%
Payroll, 4%
Accruals, 4%

Common cost accountant skills

Reconciliations, 9%
Variance Analysis, 6%
GAAP, 4%
Account Reconciliations, 3%
Cost Analysis, 3%
Financial Analysis, 3%

Senior Project Accountant vs. similar jobs

Senior Project Accountant related careers

Senior Project Accountant related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Business and Financial Industry
Senior Project Accountant
Senior Project Accountant vs Cost Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse business and financial jobs