Account technician vs staff accountant

The differences between account technicians and staff accountants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an account technician, becoming a staff accountant takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a staff accountant has an average salary of $54,216, which is higher than the $51,115 average annual salary of an account technician.

The top three skills for an account technician include veterans, financial statements and patients. The most important skills for a staff accountant are reconciliations, account reconciliations, and GAAP.

Account technician vs staff accountant overview

	Account Technician	Staff Accountant
Yearly salary	$51,115	$54,216
Hourly rate	$24.57	$26.07
Growth rate	-5%	6%
Number of jobs	94,413	115,930
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age	51	44
Years of experience	6	4

What does an account technician do?

Account technicians are skilled professionals who are responsible for gathering data and preparing financial statements and reports from the account records they have maintained. These technicians are required to settle accounts with insurance companies and maximize benefits payments received from those companies. They must maintain a client management system for multiple accounts and coordinate marketing outreach for potential and existing clients. Account technicians must also monitor and compile all documents of the department, such as invoices, checks, and financial records.

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.

Account technician vs staff accountant salary

Account technicians and staff accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Account Technician	Staff Accountant
Average salary	$51,115	$54,216
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $97,000	Between $42,000 And $68,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	California	New York
Best paying company	Microsoft	Meta
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between account technician and staff accountant education

There are a few differences between an account technician and a staff accountant in terms of educational background:

	Account Technician	Staff Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common major	Business	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Account technician vs staff accountant demographics

Here are the differences between account technicians' and staff accountants' demographics:

	Account Technician	Staff Accountant
Average age	51	44
Gender ratio	Male, 31.3% Female, 68.7%	Male, 41.6% Female, 58.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 6.5% White, 67.8% 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	7%	7%

Differences between account technician and staff accountant duties and responsibilities

Account technician example responsibilities.

Develop expertise in use of PeopleSoft system to manage balance accounts for quarterly investment portfolio.
Process medical claims and workman compensation claims and Medicare & Medicaid claims.
Review accounts, record payments from first and third party billing to include Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance.
Close patient contact, appropriate decision-making concerning patient financial affairs and coordination between patients and third-party sponsorship for further financial assistance.
Issue manual checks from QuickBooks as needed.
Construct payment scheduling through utilization of QuickBooks.

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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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Account technician vs staff accountant skills

Common account technician skills

Veterans, 13%
Financial Statements, 10%
Patients, 8%
Data Entry, 6%
HR, 5%
Reconciliations, 5%

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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