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.
Senior project accountant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior project accountant resumes:
- 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.
- Work closely with project accounting manager in recognizing cost accruals and inter-company job costs.
- Prepare and review balance sheet accounts, income statement, financial statement and prepare formal reconciliations.
- Generate solutions to meet internal cost accumulation and reporting, SOX requirements, contractual reporting and billing requirements.
- Collaborate extensively with CPA's office during preliminary and year-end audit/review process to ensure completeness of financial statements and tax returns.
- Post journal entries to record adjustments due to taxation laws or any other event.
- Maintain ledgers for co-owners share of construction costs and prepare monthly co-owners funding requirements.
- Maintain compliance by preparing audit documentation and reviewing general ledgers and daily paperwork from projects to address potential accounting issues.
- Provide monthly financial reporting and consolidating information to parent company in accordance with IFRS.
Senior project accountant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Senior Project Accountants are proficient in Reconciliations, Project Management, and GAAP. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Senior Project Accountants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Reconciliations, 7%
Managed daily operations of the accounting department to include contract billing, accounts receivable, and monthly backlog/accrual reconciliations.
- Project Management, 6%
Perform project setup in accounting system and make necessary corrections under the direction of project management office leader or business manager.
- GAAP, 5%
Prepared monthly consolidated financial statements according to GAAP and auditing schedules for five corporations related to the solar industry.
- Financial Reports, 4%
Analyzed and evaluated financial reports and determined projects with financial risk/exposure and escalate within the company.
- Payroll, 4%
Developed and implemented the contract automatic process to improve efficiency and accuracy across the payroll department and company.
- Accruals, 4%
Worked closely with project accounting manager in recognizing cost accruals and inter-company job costs.
"reconciliations," "project management," and "gaap" are among the most common skills that senior project accountants use at work. You can find even more senior project accountant responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling senior project accountant duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "accountants and auditors must be able to listen to and discuss facts and concerns from clients, managers, and other stakeholders." According to a senior project accountant resume, here's how senior project accountants can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "processed 600+ invoices and subcontractor aia billings making necessary changes and keeping open lines of communication to ensure accuracy. "
Detail oriented. senior project accountants are also known for detail oriented, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to senior project accountant responsibilities, because "accountants and auditors must pay attention to detail when compiling and examining documents." A senior project accountant resume example shows how detail oriented is used in the workplace: "prepared detailed financial reports to joint venture partners. "
Math skills. A big part of what senior project accountants do relies on "math skills." You can see how essential it is to senior project accountant responsibilities because "accountants and auditors must be able to analyze, compare, and interpret facts and figures." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical senior project accountant tasks: "worked with the subcontractors on mathematical issues and had the pay applications reissued if necessary on aia form documentation. "
Organizational skills. Another common skill required for senior project accountant responsibilities is "organizational skills." This skill comes up in the duties of senior project accountants all the time, as "strong organizational skills are important for accountants and auditors, who often work with a range of financial documents for a variety of clients." An excerpt from a real senior project accountant resume shows how this skill is central to what a senior project accountant does: "demonstrated excellent organizational skills and effectively completed assignments within rigid time constraints. "
The three companies that hire the most senior project accountants are:
- CDM Smith285 senior project accountants jobs
- Wsp USA Buildings Inc.7 senior project accountants jobs
- Robert Half6 senior project accountants jobs
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Compare different senior project accountants
Senior project 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 project accountant are more likely to require skills like "project management," "payroll," "real estate," and "project cost." On the other hand, a job as an accounting supervisor requires skills like "cpa," "customer service," "payroll taxes," and "process improvement." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Accounting supervisors really shine in the finance industry with an average salary of $86,930. Comparatively, senior project accountants tend to make the most money in the technology industry with an average salary of $69,735.The education levels that accounting supervisors earn slightly differ from senior project accountants. In particular, accounting supervisors are 1.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a senior project accountant. Additionally, they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior project 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.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that senior project accountant responsibilities requires skills like "accruals," "real estate," "revenue recognition," and "project cost." But an accountant/consultant might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "account management," "product knowledge," "strong analytical," and "leveraged."
Accountant/consultants earn a lower average salary than senior project accountants. But accountant/consultants earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $68,479. Additionally, senior project accountants earn the highest salaries in the technology with average pay of $69,735 annually.In general, accountant/consultants achieve similar levels of education than senior project accountants. They're 1.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior project accountants in the next 3-5 years?
Michele Flint
Associate Professor Director of Brooklyn Accounting Program, Daemen College
At the same time, technology is evolving so rapidly that what you study today, may not be as relevant tomorrow, as newer software and financial products emerge. The critical thing would be to keep reading about the most recent advancements and emerging technologies to have a conceptual understanding. Learn about industry-specific software (in a general sense), but understand that employers will expect to train you in industry-specific software.
Senior project 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.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a senior project accountant is likely to be skilled in "project management," "payroll," "project cost," and "work breakdown structure," while a typical accounting consultant is skilled in "cpa," "shared services," "balance sheet reconciliations," and "senior accounting."
Accounting consultants earn the best pay in the manufacturing industry, where they command an average salary of $68,965. Senior project accountants earn the highest pay from the technology industry, with an average salary of $69,735.When it comes to education, accounting consultants tend to earn similar degree levels compared to senior project accountants. In fact, they're 3.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior project accountant vs. Tax accountant
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.
Types of senior project accountant
Updated January 8, 2025
