Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between accountant assistants and accounting bookkeepers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become an accountant assistant, becoming an accounting bookkeeper takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, an accounting bookkeeper has an average salary of $51,406, which is higher than the $40,537 average annual salary of an accountant assistant.
The top three skills for an accountant assistant include customer service, data entry and payroll taxes. The most important skills for an accounting bookkeeper are data entry, reconciliations, and payroll taxes.
| Accountant Assistant | Accounting Bookkeeper | |
| Yearly salary | $40,537 | $51,406 |
| Hourly rate | $19.49 | $24.71 |
| Growth rate | 6% | -5% |
| Number of jobs | 63,247 | 40,579 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 48% |
| Average age | 44 | 51 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
An accountant assistant is responsible for assisting the operations of a finance department, performing administrative and clerical tasks as advised. Accountant assistants create budget reports, process invoices, and manage accounts receivable. They also document purchase orders, monitor the payroll release, complete bank reconciliations, update the company's account statements and escalate discrepancies, assist with audit preparations, and sort financial documents. An accountant assistant must be familiar with the accounting processes and financial industry, as well as have strong analytical and time-management skills to perform tasks under minimal supervision.
An Accounting Bookkeeper supervises the financial data and compliance of a company. Accounting Bookkeepers maintain accurate books on accounts receivable and payable, daily financial reconciliations and entries, and payroll. They are in charge of recording various transactions like income and outgoings and posting these transactions to different accounts.
Accountant assistants and accounting bookkeepers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Accountant Assistant | Accounting Bookkeeper | |
| Average salary | $40,537 | $51,406 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $58,000 | Between $39,000 And $66,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Vallejo, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Delaware |
| Best paying company | Rodeo Realty | GrowthForce |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Professional |
There are a few differences between an accountant assistant and an accounting bookkeeper in terms of educational background:
| Accountant Assistant | Accounting Bookkeeper | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 48% |
| Most common major | Accounting | Accounting |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between accountant assistants' and accounting bookkeepers' demographics:
| Accountant Assistant | Accounting Bookkeeper | |
| Average age | 44 | 51 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.9% Female, 75.1% | Male, 15.5% Female, 84.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.1% Asian, 16.8% White, 60.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |