Accounting clerk vs accounts receivable specialist

The differences between accounting clerks and accounts receivable specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an accounting clerk, becoming an accounts receivable specialist takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an accounts receivable specialist has an average salary of $39,873, which is higher than the $38,683 average annual salary of an accounting clerk.

The top three skills for an accounting clerk include data entry, customer service and purchase orders. The most important skills for an accounts receivable specialist are customer service, patients, and data entry.

Accounting clerk vs accounts receivable specialist overview

	Accounting Clerk	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Yearly salary	$38,683	$39,873
Hourly rate	$18.60	$19.17
Growth rate	-5%	-8%
Number of jobs	106,969	61,988
Job satisfaction	-	4.5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	51	46
Years of experience	6	12

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.

What does an accounts receivable specialist do?

Accounts receivable specialists are members of the organization's finance or accounting department. They are responsible for managing the collection of payments for the company. They prepare official receipts and coordinate with account payable specialists from other companies with pending payables. They ensure that clients pay on time, and they also follow up on payments when necessary. They are responsible for checking whether the clients have already paid in full. Accounts receivable specialists are in charge of updating accounting records as well to ensure that client records are up to date.

Accounting clerk vs accounts receivable specialist salary

Accounting clerks and accounts receivable specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Accounting Clerk	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Average salary	$38,683	$39,873
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $51,000	Between $31,000 And $50,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	New York	Connecticut
Best paying company	Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker Llp	InfosysPublicService
Best paying industry	Government	Technology

Differences between accounting clerk and accounts receivable specialist education

There are a few differences between an accounting clerk and an accounts receivable specialist in terms of educational background:

	Accounting Clerk	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Accounting	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	-

Accounting clerk vs accounts receivable specialist demographics

Here are the differences between accounting clerks' and accounts receivable specialists' demographics:

	Accounting Clerk	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Average age	51	46
Gender ratio	Male, 20.0% Female, 80.0%	Male, 18.2% Female, 81.8%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 12.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 3.9% White, 59.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	8%

Differences between accounting clerk and accounts receivable specialist duties and responsibilities

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.

Accounts receivable specialist example responsibilities.

Manage profitable accounts receivable ledgers for existing and new clientele maintaining accuracy of monies enter to appropriate relate account.
Perform accounts reconciliations, complex invoice research, statement reconciliations, complex invoice research, statement reconciliation and journal entries.
Follow company's standard operating procedures in cooperation with Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance providers to resolve billing issues.
Cash and credit allocation of customer payments in ROSS ERP system.
Prepare PowerPoint presentations, word documents, letters and spreadsheets while meeting deadlines.
Reconcile direct billing accounts and adjust product pricing utilizing JD Edwards EnterpriseONE ERP system.

Accounting clerk vs accounts receivable specialist skills

Common accounting clerk skills

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

Common accounts receivable specialist skills

Customer Service, 15%
Patients, 9%
Data Entry, 5%
Credit Card Payments, 4%
Reconciliations, 4%
Accounts Receivables, 3%

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Accounting Clerk
Accounting Clerk vs Accounts Receivable Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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