How To Become An Account Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an account officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Laura Sansoni

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an account officer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.45 an hour? That's $55,021 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 17% and produce 123,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an account officer?

Laura Sansoni

Director, Career Development, CBA Career Center, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Whenever I work with a new graduate, I see them experiencing many emotions ranging from excitement from completing their education to anxiety about starting their careers.

For the graduates that have a job, I highly encourage them to take advantage of any opportunity presented to them. Participate in workplace events, take advantage of professional development opportunities like attending conferences or trainings, and volunteer to work on projects when asked to. Taking advantage of these opportunities in your workplace will increase your skills and experiences while deepening your connections to your colleagues and growing your personal network.

For graduates that are still looking for jobs, I remind them that the worst things that can happen in the job search are an employer saying "no", "we went with another candidate", or not responding to your application at all. While that can be scary and defeating at times, think about the positives of the situation. You didn't get the interview or the job, but you didn't lose anything either. Instead, you gained more experience in the job search process that you can improve upon for the next time. I also remind new grads to let the employers decide if they are the right fit for the job instead of counting yourself out too early. If you meet 75 percent of the qualifications in the job description, apply for the job and let the recruiter decide whether to set up an interview. Don't be so afraid of the next "no" that it prevents you from finding the next possible "yes".

ScoreAccount OfficerUS Average

Salary

4.3

Avg. Salary $55,021

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.5

Growth rate 17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.34%

Asian 9.95%

Black or African American 7.40%

Hispanic or Latino 14.12%

Unknown 4.10%

White 64.10%

Gender

female 43.43%

male 56.57%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

9.5

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.3

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an account officer

Explore account officer education requirements

Most common account officer degrees

Bachelor's

62.2 %

Master's

15.0 %

Diploma

9.1 %

Start to develop specific account officer skills

Skills	Percentages
Payroll	8.31%
KYC	7.09%
External Auditors	7.01%
General Ledger Accounts	6.94%
Loan Applications	6.20%

Complete relevant account officer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New account officers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an account officer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real account officer resumes.

Research account officer duties and responsibilities

Develop RFP responses and consistently demonstrate flawless execution to achieve continual growth in each account.
Perform payroll function such as maintaining timekeeping information, processing and submitting payroll.
Maintain staff payroll and ensure early remittance of statutory deductions to the relevant authorities.
Secure a promotion within one year by assuming journal entry and basic reconciliations responsibilities in addition to already performing AP functions.

Prepare your account officer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your account officer resume.

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Choose from 10+ customizable account officer resume templates

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