Senior tax associate vs senior cost accountant

The differences between senior tax associates and senior 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 tax associate and a senior cost accountant. Additionally, a senior tax associate has an average salary of $91,872, which is higher than the $65,824 average annual salary of a senior cost accountant.

The top three skills for a senior tax associate include CPA, tax compliance and client relationships. The most important skills for a senior cost accountant are reconciliations, variance analysis, and GAAP.

Senior tax associate vs senior cost accountant overview

	Senior Tax Associate	Senior Cost Accountant
Yearly salary	$91,872	$65,824
Hourly rate	$44.17	$31.65
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	28,339	45,010
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

What does a senior tax associate do?

A senior tax associate is responsible for assisting the accounting and finance department in processing tax requirements and analyzing documents for accurate completion of tax filings. Senior tax associates also support the analysis of financial transactions and account statements, resolving billing discrepancies, and performing account reconciliations. They handle tax disputes immediately to mitigate complications on tax systems and coordinate with the management and clients for the updates. A senior tax associate must have excellent analytical skills, as well as extensive knowledge of the financial and taxation industry.

What does a senior cost accountant do?

A senior cost accountant is an individual who maintains detailed costs in a company's system and provides cost analysis that supports operations and sales. Senior cost accountants are required to review inventory and deal with manufacturing personnel to control and analyze standard costs. They must record cost information to be used in controlling expenditures as well as recommend cost efficiencies in new product layouts. Senior cost accountants must also provide reports that specify and compare factors affecting prices and profitability of products or services to the management.

Senior tax associate vs senior cost accountant salary

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

	Senior Tax Associate	Senior Cost Accountant
Average salary	$91,872	$65,824
Salary range	Between $66,000 And $126,000	Between $48,000 And $89,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New York	New Jersey
Best paying company	Lord Abbett	OraSure Technologies
Best paying industry	Finance	Health Care

Differences between senior tax associate and senior cost accountant education

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

	Senior Tax Associate	Senior Cost Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Pennsylvania

Senior tax associate vs senior cost accountant demographics

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

	Senior Tax Associate	Senior Cost Accountant
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 49.7% Female, 50.3%	Male, 59.7% Female, 40.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.1% Asian, 17.8% White, 60.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 12.3% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between senior tax associate and senior cost accountant duties and responsibilities

Senior tax associate example responsibilities.

Prepare and review tax exempt-bond arbitrage rebate calculations; communicate findings to managing director and clients.
Identify book-tax differences to reconcile GAAP basis income to tax basis income.
Prepare and audit year-end/quarterly provision for public and private companies (ASC [].
Maintain tax and GAAP capital accounts for investors and respond to limit partner requests when necessary.
Assist in the booking of in-transit, and audit invoices, to ensure sales tax bill accurately.
Register all new DG store locations for sales and use tax with the appropriate jurisdiction within each assign state.

Senior cost accountant example responsibilities.

Manage quarterly inventory reserves in accordance with company policy which follows GAAP guidance.
Prepare internal financial reports for treasury manage accounts include in external compliance reports.
Process month end close including journal entries, account reconciliations, variance analysis, financial statement preparation and corporate reporting.
Provide user training and technical support for ERP and payroll systems.
Implement process improvements for monthly close process and SOX documentation retention.
Complete account reconciliations in accordance with maintaining the integrity of assets and liabilities for balance sheet inventory accounts.

Senior tax associate vs senior cost accountant skills

Common senior tax associate skills

CPA, 24%
Tax Compliance, 12%
Client Relationships, 5%
Taxation, 4%
FAS, 4%
Tax Planning, 3%

Common senior cost accountant skills

Reconciliations, 9%
Variance Analysis, 6%
GAAP, 5%
Account Reconciliations, 4%
SR, 4%
SOX, 3%

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Senior Tax Associate
Senior Tax Associate vs Senior Cost Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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