Senior staff accountant vs senior tax accountant

The differences between senior staff accountants and senior 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 staff accountant and a senior tax accountant. Additionally, a senior tax accountant has an average salary of $77,537, which is higher than the $65,019 average annual salary of a senior staff accountant.

The top three skills for a senior staff accountant include reconciliations, account reconciliations and CPA. The most important skills for a senior tax accountant are CPA, state income, and tax research.

Senior staff accountant vs senior tax accountant overview

	Senior Staff Accountant	Senior Tax Accountant
Yearly salary	$65,019	$77,537
Hourly rate	$31.26	$37.28
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	112,760	57,686
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does a senior staff accountant do?

A senior staff accountant is responsible for managing the accounting operations of the company's accounting department, reconciling accounts, and finalizing financial reports to discuss with the management. Senior staff accountants resolve account discrepancies, analyze the company's financial status, and verify financial transactions. They must have excellent analytical skills and extensive knowledge of the accounting principles to perform accounting duties that would minimize the financial risk of the company. A senior staff accountant provides strategic recommendations to prevent overspending and increase efficiency across all departments to drive more revenues and profits.

What does a senior tax accountant do?

Senior Tax Accountants recommend tax strategies, as well as assist the preparation of federal, state, and local taxes. They contact clients to resolve minor tax issues and work with the senior tax manager to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local tax legislation.

Senior staff accountant vs senior tax accountant salary

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

	Senior Staff Accountant	Senior Tax Accountant
Average salary	$65,019	$77,537
Salary range	Between $48,000 And $86,000	Between $60,000 And $99,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	New York	New York
Best paying company	Calumet Specialty Products Partners	Riverbed Holdings, Inc.
Best paying industry	Professional	Professional

Differences between senior staff accountant and senior tax accountant education

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

	Senior Staff Accountant	Senior Tax Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Southern California

Senior staff accountant vs senior tax accountant demographics

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

	Senior Staff Accountant	Senior Tax Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 42.6% Female, 57.4%	Male, 50.6% Female, 49.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 12.1% White, 63.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.7% Asian, 14.3% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between senior staff accountant and senior tax accountant duties and responsibilities

Senior staff accountant example 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.
Advance SaaS deal and rev accounting.
Cultivate productive, trustful relationship with external CPA firm, critical to producing successful audits and year-end reporting.

Senior tax accountant example responsibilities.

Research technical topics in taxation to present to the tax department and clients on areas of concern in the IRS code.
Participate in monthly accounting close with preparation and ownership of tax accrual journal entries and reconciliations.
Help implement, and maintain federal and state tax provision information into OneSource.
Work with internal and external resources to ensure implementation of CCH software on shopping cart is successful.
Assist and review the maintenance of the OneSource database relative to coding & mapping of the trial balance.
Conduct research with CCH and RIA on tax exposures, savings, refund, recovery, and credits.

Senior staff accountant vs senior tax accountant skills

Common senior staff accountant skills

Reconciliations, 13%
Account Reconciliations, 7%
CPA, 7%
GAAP, 5%
General Ledger Accounts, 5%
Balance Sheet Accounts, 4%

Common senior tax accountant skills

CPA, 14%
State Income, 5%
Tax Research, 5%
Income Tax Returns, 4%
Tax Planning, 4%
Tax Compliance, 4%

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Senior Staff Accountant vs Senior Tax Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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