Account payables analyst vs accounting clerk

The differences between account payables analysts 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 payables analyst and an accounting clerk. Additionally, an account payables analyst has an average salary of $54,356, which is higher than the $38,683 average annual salary of an accounting clerk.

The top three skills for an account payables analyst include customer service, data entry and purchase orders. The most important skills for an accounting clerk are data entry, customer service, and purchase orders.

Account payables analyst vs accounting clerk overview

	Account Payables Analyst	Accounting Clerk
Yearly salary	$54,356	$38,683
Hourly rate	$26.13	$18.60
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	73,985	106,969
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	51	51
Years of experience	6	6

What does an account payables analyst do?

An accounts payable analyst is primarily responsible for managing and processing invoices and payments, ensuring accuracy and timeliness. They are also responsible for coordinating with various departments to obtain and acquire data and invoices, submitting payments to external vendors and suppliers, identifying errors and inconsistencies, and providing corrective measures. One may also perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports and presentations, managing schedules, addressing issues and concerns through calls and correspondence, and resolving them promptly and efficiently.

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 payables analyst vs accounting clerk salary

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

	Account Payables Analyst	Accounting Clerk
Average salary	$54,356	$38,683
Salary range	Between $39,000 And $74,000	Between $29,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	New York	New York
Best paying company	SMTC	Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker Llp
Best paying industry	Energy	Government

Differences between account payables analyst and accounting clerk education

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

	Account Payables Analyst	Accounting Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Account payables analyst vs accounting clerk demographics

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

	Account Payables Analyst	Accounting Clerk
Average age	51	51
Gender ratio	Male, 26.3% Female, 73.7%	Male, 20.0% Female, 80.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.6% 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 payables analyst and accounting clerk duties and responsibilities

Account payables analyst example responsibilities.

Manage budget submissions by subsidiaries in Europe/AFNE region in Hyperion.
Perform month end close activities such as account reconciliations and journal entries resulting in accurate financial statement reporting.
Perform validation in ERP to ensure invoices not already paid.
Maintain fixed assets in ERP system to report the correct depreciation monthly.
Request current vendors to switch payment type from check to ACH and enroll in e-Invoicing for faster and more efficient processing.
Coordinate ACH implementation/conversion to electronic payment system.

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.

Account payables analyst vs accounting clerk skills

Common account payables analyst skills

Customer Service, 11%
Data Entry, 6%
Purchase Orders, 5%
Reconciliations, 5%
Vendor Invoices, 5%
Expense Reports, 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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Account Payables Analyst
Account Payables Analyst vs Accounting Clerk

Updated January 8, 2025

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