Tax internship vs staff accountant

The differences between tax interns and staff accountants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a staff accountant has an average salary of $54,216, which is higher than the $46,283 average annual salary of a tax internship.

The top three skills for a tax internship include first hand, CPA and taxation. The most important skills for a staff accountant are reconciliations, account reconciliations, and GAAP.

Tax internship vs staff accountant overview

	Tax Internship	Staff Accountant
Yearly salary	$46,283	$54,216
Hourly rate	$22.25	$26.07
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	71,991	115,930
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age	47	44
Years of experience	-	4

What does a tax internship do?

A tax intern is responsible for supporting the finance and accounting department on preparing tax documents, including analyzing financial statements and performing account reconciliations, under the supervision of a tenured tax preparer. Tax interns observe tax processes, shadowing the staff on daily operations, and utilizing their classroom knowledge to practical applications by recommending strategic procedures to handle tax filings efficiently and accurately. A tax intern must have excellent knowledge of the financial industry, as well as high-organizational skills on processing paper works and following instructions from the tax consultant.

What does a staff accountant do?

Staff accountants are employees who are part of the company's accounting department. They are usually certified public accountants (CPAs). Staff accountants should be familiar with accounting tasks. Previous accounting experiences play a huge advantage in their success. They perform a variety of accounting responsibilities such as information verification and analysis, financial report preparation and presentation, financial account reconciliation, billing and payment receiving activities, vendor database management, and invoice processing requirements. They should also know how to do bookkeeping. Staff accountants should have good communication skills, analytical skills, and decision-making skills. They should also be organized and trustworthy since they will be handling confidential information.

Tax internship vs staff accountant salary

Tax interns and staff accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Tax Internship	Staff Accountant
Average salary	$46,283	$54,216
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $71,000	Between $42,000 And $68,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	Meta
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between tax internship and staff accountant education

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

	Tax Internship	Staff Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Pennsylvania

Tax internship vs staff accountant demographics

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

	Tax Internship	Staff Accountant
Average age	47	44
Gender ratio	Male, 53.6% Female, 46.4%	Male, 41.6% Female, 58.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 14.1% Asian, 11.4% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 14.4% White, 61.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	7%

Differences between tax internship and staff accountant duties and responsibilities

Tax internship example responsibilities.

Manage client accounts by organizing and categorizing financial data in QuickBooks files.
Enter clients info on w-2 for tax preparers.
Amortize treasury bonds, company own stocks and bonds.
Prepare tax returns for individuals, corporations, businesses, partnerships and provide CPA's with add help where need
Answer phones, make appointments, solve issues clients have, input data w-2 information conduct interview and collect signatures.
Learned from working closely with veteran CPA's in a small and personal office space where growth and interaction are encouraged.

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Staff accountant example responsibilities.

Manage and monitor accounting procedures for compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and coordinate and facilitate external audit requirements.
Contribute revenue accruals using job cost system, fix assets including reclassification, reconciliation and depreciation.
Prepare month-end journal entries and assist in compilation of financial statements, reconcile bank statements and general ledgers.
Complete audit-quality account reconciliations monthly for balance sheet accounts including the capital projects in progress accounts and miscellaneous revenue accounts.
Assume responsibility for cash management encompassing wire and ACH transfers processing, bank activity confirmation, and monthly bank account reconciliations.
Handle all A/R and A/P, payroll, change orders, collections, lien placement and release, vendor account management.

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Tax internship vs staff accountant skills

Common tax internship skills

First Hand, 25%
CPA, 8%
Taxation, 7%
Tax Planning, 5%
Local Tax Returns, 5%
Tax Issues, 4%

Common staff accountant skills

Reconciliations, 15%
Account Reconciliations, 7%
GAAP, 6%
General Ledger Accounts, 4%
External Auditors, 4%
Internal Controls, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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