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

What is a senior staff accountant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Stephen Moehrle Ph.D.

Individuals who have everything it takes to become top-notch accountants are interested in analyzing financial reports. Obtaining a high paying and top-level position is the ultimate career goal of many ambitious people. An example of such a position is the Senior Staff Accountant. The title demands a fair deal of professional career experience and good earning potential.

Senior Staff Accountant prepares tax documents, creates documents, analyses financial statements to ensure accuracy, and resolves account discrepancies. They are also accountable for managing the accounting department's work, finalizing business records, and reconciling accounts. Monitoring the financial transactions and analyzing the organization's financial status is also included in their job.

People who are willing to follow this career path should get a bachelor's degree in business or accounting. They can earn $32.09 per hour by working 9-5 on every business day. You will normally find them working at various private firms, offices, and business organizations.

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

Stephen Moehrle Ph.D.

Professor and Chairman of Accounting, University of Missouri - St. Louis

It was a great time to be entering the accounting industry, before the pandemic. Our students were serving in internships in huge numbers and our graduates were enjoying 100% placement, usually with multiple offers. The entry-level professionals were entering a profession marked by emerging and evolving technologies that made even the entry-level duties especially interesting. Further, our tech-comfortable young professionals were experiencing quick advancement because of their ability to employ the new technologies.

Most of the above remains true so the only open question is job availability. It would be unrealistic to say things are great. However, it seems that job prospects for accounting majors will be better than for those of virtually every other entry-level profession during difficult times. I have been speaking with firm leaders across the spectrum of firms and most do intend to be on campus in the fall recruiting season. Of course, they have a lot of time to learn more about the economy over the next few months, but we are cautiously optimistic. Again, I am confident that whatever the state of job availability for young CPAs-to-be, prospects will be better for accounting graduates than virtually any other profession.

They will be entering the profession at a fascinating moment in time. Of course, the technological advances assure this regardless of economic conditions. However, there are business disruption-related issues that will provide rich opportunities for making a difference. For example, audit staff will be working with clients to see them through these troubling times. Lamentably, I fear that these young professionals will learn more about the going concern determination than they desire to know. Tax staff will help clients to optimally use the tax loss carrybacks and carryforwards that are arising by the day. Entry level professionals in corporate accounting will get a day-to-day front row seat in business management through crisis. While lamentable times, these are times when young professionals can make a difference that saves jobs.

ScoreSenior Staff AccountantUS Average

Salary

5.1

Avg. Salary $65,019

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 12.11%

Black or African American 8.84%

Hispanic or Latino 11.18%

Unknown 3.97%

White 63.44%

Gender

female 57.42%

male 42.58%

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

8.6

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.7

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior staff accountant

Explore senior staff accountant education requirements

Most common senior staff accountant degrees

Bachelor's

77.3 %

Master's

12.1 %

Associate

9.1 %

Start to develop specific senior staff accountant skills

Skills	Percentages
Reconciliations	13.47%
Account Reconciliations	6.56%
CPA	6.52%
GAAP	5.46%
General Ledger Accounts	4.67%

Complete relevant senior staff accountant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior staff 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 staff accountant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior staff accountant resumes.

Gain additional senior staff accountant certifications

Senior staff accountant certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific senior staff accountant certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for senior staff accountants include Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Management Accountant (CMA).

More About Certifications

Research senior staff accountant duties and responsibilities

Manage month end close process including journal entries, departmental analysis and preparation of consolidate financial statements and account reconciliations.
Involve in revenue recognition research (ASC 985-605 vs. ASC 605-25).
Aid managers in performing AP duties, generate financial reports for CPA, and reconcile bank accounts for corporate office.
Prepare balance sheet reconciliations and general ledger analysis in accordance with GAAP.

Get senior staff accountant experience

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

Prepare your senior staff accountant resume

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

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior staff accountant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable senior staff accountant resume templates

Build a professional senior staff accountant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your senior staff accountant resume.