Post job

Tax associate vs fund accountant

The differences between tax associates and fund accountants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a tax associate has an average salary of $62,466, which is higher than the $60,203 average annual salary of a fund accountant.

The top three skills for a tax associate include strong customer service, CPA and tax planning. The most important skills for a fund accountant are reconciliations, calculation, and securities.

Tax associate vs fund accountant overview

Tax AssociateFund Accountant
Yearly salary$62,466$60,203
Hourly rate$30.03$28.94
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs42,01935,702
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 56%Bachelor's Degree, 84%
Average age4744
Years of experience-4

What does a tax associate do?

Tax associates are responsible for helping businesses and individuals with state and federal income tax preparation and compliance. These professionals often work for accounting firms and financial services companies. They perform varied tasks that include reviewing income statements, financial records, and expenditures, interviewing clients about income and expenses, and minimizing their clients' tax liability. Tax associates also conduct research on tax issues and assist with tax audits, advise clients on compensation and tax information, and maintain accurate and current client records.

What does a fund accountant do?

A fund accountant provides accounting for an investment portfolio. The investments needed include commodities, securities, and/or real estate in an investment fund like a hedge fund or mutual fund. The role of fund accountants includes activity capturing and recording. Fund accountants prepare accurate and timely values, distributions, yields, and fund accounting output for review. They manage activities associated with fund accounting and domestic equity transactions. Also, they work alongside supervisors when it comes to budget development.

Tax associate vs fund accountant salary

Tax associates and fund accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Tax AssociateFund Accountant
Average salary$62,466$60,203
Salary rangeBetween $40,000 And $95,000Between $44,000 And $80,000
Highest paying CityLas Vegas, NVNew York, NY
Highest paying stateNevadaNew York
Best paying companyRopes & GrayWarburg Pincus
Best paying industryFinanceFinance

Differences between tax associate and fund accountant education

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

Tax AssociateFund Accountant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 56%Bachelor's Degree, 84%
Most common majorAccountingAccounting
Most common collegeUniversity of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Tax associate vs fund accountant demographics

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

Tax AssociateFund Accountant
Average age4744
Gender ratioMale, 36.4% Female, 63.6%Male, 61.5% Female, 38.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 10.2% White, 57.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 18.4% White, 59.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage8%7%

Differences between tax associate and fund accountant duties and responsibilities

Tax associate example responsibilities.

  • Provide tax planning and preparation services for corporate, individual and high net-worth clients of this midsize CPA firm.
  • Implement process to identify and prepare the balances for W2 purposes at year end.
  • Prepare customer taxes from w-2's and other tax information, answer phones, print checks, filing
  • Resolve a major system problems with split process level errors so employee W2's and companies returns are correct.
  • Respond to inquiries from the IRS and other tax authorities regarding reconciliation of filings, liabilities, and other associate matters.
  • Advise clients on questions they have pertaining to their tax liabilities and ensure that they are compliant to the IRS regulations.
  • Show more

Fund accountant example responsibilities.

  • Manage fund accounting activities for five funds for an investment manager with $80b in AUM.
  • Manage accoutningtransition from Quickbooks to Yardi.
  • Prepare internal financial reports for treasury manage accounts include in external compliance reports.
  • Record efficiently accounting records, securities positions, corporate actions and journal entries accordance with department policies and procedures.
  • Process complex transactions for foreign and domestic bonds, equities, futures, and options.
  • Prepare annual and semi-annual financial statements using GAAP.
  • Show more

Tax associate vs fund accountant skills

Common tax associate skills
  • Strong Customer Service, 26%
  • CPA, 13%
  • Tax Planning, 6%
  • Taxation, 5%
  • Tax Research, 4%
  • Local Tax Returns, 4%
Common fund accountant skills
  • Reconciliations, 12%
  • Calculation, 5%
  • Securities, 5%
  • GAAP, 5%
  • Accruals, 5%
  • Journal Entries, 4%

Browse business and financial jobs