Senior project accountant vs tax accountant

The differences between senior project accountants and tax 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 tax accountant. Additionally, a senior project accountant has an average salary of $64,388, which is higher than the $62,142 average annual salary of a tax accountant.

The top three skills for a senior project accountant include reconciliations, project management and GAAP. The most important skills for a tax accountant are CPA, tax audits, and income tax returns.

Senior project accountant vs tax accountant overview

	Senior Project Accountant	Tax Accountant
Yearly salary	$64,388	$62,142
Hourly rate	$30.96	$29.88
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	45,277	57,919
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
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 tax accountant do?

A tax accountant is an individual who works with clients to produce tax return documents that follow tax laws and regulations while keeping them updated on their return information. Tax accountants must determine tax strategies for their clients that may minimize or eliminate tax payments while arranging audits with taxation authorities. They prepare tax documents for different clients, including private companies, non-profit organizations, and private individuals. Tax accountants are also required to obtain a bachelor's degree in accounting and should understand business concepts.

Senior project accountant vs tax accountant salary

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

	Senior Project Accountant	Tax Accountant
Average salary	$64,388	$62,142
Salary range	Between $48,000 And $85,000	Between $45,000 And $83,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	New York, NY
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	New York
Best paying company	Dahl Consulting	Pacific Investment Management Company LLC
Best paying industry	Technology	Finance

Differences between senior project accountant and tax accountant education

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

	Senior Project Accountant	Tax Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Senior project accountant vs tax accountant demographics

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

	Senior Project Accountant	Tax Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 37.3% Female, 62.7%	Male, 47.3% Female, 52.7%
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, 8.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 15.5% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between senior project accountant and tax 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.

Tax accountant example responsibilities.

Utilize QuickBooks to manage client data and prepare necessary financial statements.
Manage and prepare sales and use tax account reconciliations and property tax liability accounts and prepare corresponding journal entries.
Prepared/Review financial statements according to GAAP and propose adjusting entries for clients.
Prepare tax returns for corporations, partnerships, non-profit organizations and individuals.
Work with various accounting departments, with duties such as account reconciliations, customer service, and administrative/clerical positions.
SAP, ONESOURCE, YESWIN, and BSAEfiling

Senior project accountant vs tax accountant skills

Common senior project accountant skills

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

Common tax accountant skills

CPA, 9%
Tax Audits, 4%
Income Tax Returns, 4%
Tax Research, 4%
Reconciliations, 4%
Financial Statements, 4%

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Senior Project Accountant vs Tax Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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