Account associate vs accounting clerk

The differences between account associates and accounting clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an account associate and an accounting clerk. Additionally, an account associate has an average salary of $48,927, which is higher than the $38,683 average annual salary of an accounting clerk.

The top three skills for an account associate include customer service, work ethic and develop leads. The most important skills for an accounting clerk are data entry, customer service, and purchase orders.

Account associate vs accounting clerk overview

	Account Associate	Accounting Clerk
Yearly salary	$48,927	$38,683
Hourly rate	$23.52	$18.60
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	98,235	106,969
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	51	51
Years of experience	6	6

What does an account associate do?

An account associate is responsible for supporting the accounting and finance department in performing accounting operations, bookkeeping functions, and other related clerical tasks. Account associates analyze and sort financial statements accordingly, assist on payroll processing, evaluate account reconciliations and receivables, create financial reports, and updating recent account information on the database. They also handle clients' inquiries and concerns, routing calls to the appropriate accounting staff or department. An account associate must have excellent analytical and communication skills, as well as comprehensive knowledge of the accounting principles.

What does an accounting clerk do?

Accounting clerks are employees assigned to manage administrative and clerical tasks in the accounting department. Accounting clerks handle office accounting records and ensure that files are properly labeled and stored. They validate records and check whether these are updated. They also sort through documents to ensure that they are in their proper storage bins. Aside from document handling, they also help with creating and validating financial statements and bookkeeping. As such, accounting clerks should have a strong background in accounting to manage their tasks better.

Account associate vs accounting clerk salary

Account associates and accounting clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Account Associate	Accounting Clerk
Average salary	$48,927	$38,683
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $67,000	Between $29,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	California	New York
Best paying company	Pacific Investment Management Company LLC	Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker Llp
Best paying industry	Finance	Government

Differences between account associate and accounting clerk education

There are a few differences between an account associate and an accounting clerk in terms of educational background:

	Account Associate	Accounting Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Business	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Account associate vs accounting clerk demographics

Here are the differences between account associates' and accounting clerks' demographics:

	Account Associate	Accounting Clerk
Average age	51	51
Gender ratio	Male, 38.9% Female, 61.1%	Male, 20.0% Female, 80.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 6.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between account associate and accounting clerk duties and responsibilities

Account associate example responsibilities.

Manage corporate Google+ and Instagram accounts.
Input and manage the company CRM system.
Utilize LinkedIn, Google search to identify B2B decision-makers and generate warm leads.
Install network software, create company inventory, and manage financial records in QuickBooks, and act as secretary
Manage social media accounts and advertise the soir e events through email and Instagram resulting in increase in follower count.
Manage data, creative, premium and POS fulfillment, follow-up telemarketing to dealers and legal requirements for group dealer programs.

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Accounting clerk example responsibilities.

Manage revenue ledger including other subsidiary ledgers and responsible for the reconciliation of various income accounts to ensure accuracy of postings.
Perform balance sheet reconciliations and resolve open items by notifying employees and vendors of transaction discrepancies.
Assist in monthly financial close process by analyzing preliminary departmental expense reports and making necessary adjustments and accruals.
Develop a spreadsheet that pulls all data relate to project hours by operation from the ERP system.
Process all incoming payments receive via ACH, EFT, or the web; ensure accounts are accurately balance and reconcile.
Digitize proof of delivery receipts into ERP system (AS400) serving as an easy backup for employees to verify occurrence.

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Account associate vs accounting clerk skills

Common account associate skills

Customer Service, 29%
Work Ethic, 8%
Develop Leads, 7%
Patients, 5%
Account Management, 5%
PowerPoint, 4%

Common accounting clerk skills

Data Entry, 15%
Customer Service, 10%
Purchase Orders, 9%
Reconciliations, 6%
Vendor Invoices, 6%
QuickBooks, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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