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State comptroller vs finance director

The differences between state comptrollers and finance directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a state comptroller and a finance director. Additionally, a finance director has an average salary of $118,518, which is higher than the $68,776 average annual salary of a state comptroller.

The top three skills for a state comptroller include compliance audits, financial statements and payroll. The most important skills for a finance director are CPA, financial analysis, and payroll.

State comptroller vs finance director overview

State ComptrollerFinance Director
Yearly salary$68,776$118,518
Hourly rate$33.07$56.98
Growth rate17%17%
Number of jobs10,81990,012
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 69%Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Average age4646
Years of experience88

State comptroller vs finance director salary

State comptrollers and finance directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

State ComptrollerFinance Director
Average salary$68,776$118,518
Salary rangeBetween $51,000 And $91,000Between $76,000 And $183,000
Highest paying City-Palo Alto, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-Meta
Best paying industry-Manufacturing

Differences between state comptroller and finance director education

There are a few differences between a state comptroller and a finance director in terms of educational background:

State ComptrollerFinance Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 69%Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common majorAccountingAccounting
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

State comptroller vs finance director demographics

Here are the differences between state comptrollers' and finance directors' demographics:

State ComptrollerFinance Director
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 50.8% Female, 49.2%Male, 65.1% Female, 34.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 10.1% White, 63.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 9.4% White, 64.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between state comptroller and finance director duties and responsibilities

State comptroller example responsibilities.

  • Complete responsibility for high-volume billing functions and managing client trust accounts, including bank reconciliations.
  • Perform payroll data input and verification work in support of payroll production.
  • Encourage direct deposit of payroll checks saving administrative costs and help employees get compensate faster.
  • Perform database queries in order to confirm the transfer of data to the appropriate PeopleSoft tables.
  • Complete program oversight including policy/procedure development, budget, campus relations, campus program evaluation, and supervision of staff
  • Automate many processes with the CAFR audit which significantly improve productivity

Finance director example responsibilities.

  • Manage treasury functions considering the inflationary situation and changes in economic patterns to minimize any negative impact they may involve.
  • Improve internal controls and operating efficiency by training accountants and converting general ledger reconciliations to GAAP formats.
  • Prepare financial data and footnotes for independent CPA annual audit financial statements.
  • Develop financial models in Hyperion to aggregate sales data and allocate expenses for profitability analysis.
  • Complete Sarbanes-Oxley procedural requirements for entire incentive development, administration and reporting process.
  • Develop an electronic billing capacity and are the first Montana health care provider to bill Medicaid electronically.
  • Show more

State comptroller vs finance director skills

Common state comptroller skills
  • Compliance Audits, 28%
  • Financial Statements, 17%
  • Payroll, 9%
  • State Agencies, 8%
  • NYS, 8%
  • Local Government, 4%
Common finance director skills
  • CPA, 7%
  • Financial Analysis, 6%
  • Payroll, 4%
  • Work Ethic, 4%
  • Oversight, 4%
  • Financial Management, 4%

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