How to hire an accounting clerk

How to hire an accounting clerk, step by step

Here's a step-by-step accounting clerk hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an accounting clerk job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new accounting clerk
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an accounting clerk do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your accounting clerk job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find an accounting clerk for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them an accounting clerk to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire an accounting clerk that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of accounting clerk salaries for various roles:

   Type of Accounting Clerk	Description	Hourly rate
   Accounting Clerk	Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks produce financial records for organizations. They record financial transactions, update statements, and check financial records for accuracy.	$13-24
   Bookkeeper	Bookkeepers are employees who are in charge of the company's general ledger. They are well-versed in basic accounting principles, and they apply these in their work... Show more	$14-25
   Clerk	Clerks are responsible for many of the general administrative tasks in the office. They are in charge of manning office telephone lines, managing incoming and outgoing mails, filing paperwork and other needed records, scheduling and documenting meetings, typing out documents when needed, disseminating memos and other official announcements, and keeping an inventory of office equipment and supplies... Show more	$11-18

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Data Entry
   • Customer Service
   • Purchase Orders
   • Reconciliations
   • Vendor Invoices
   • QuickBooks
   • General Ledger Accounts
   • HR
   • Credit Card Payments
   • Ledgers
   • Financial Reports
   • Cash Receipts
   • Bank Deposits
   • Account Reconciliations

   Check all skills

   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.

   More accounting clerk duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your accounting clerk job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An accounting clerk salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for an accounting clerk in Nebraska may be lower than in New York, and an entry-level accounting clerk usually earns less than a senior-level accounting clerk. Additionally, an accounting clerk with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average accounting clerk salary

   $38,683yearly

   $18.60 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level accounting clerk salary

   $29,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 24, 2025

   Average accounting clerk salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$54,288	$26
   2	California	$49,701	$24
   3	New York	$48,311	$23
   4	Massachusetts	$46,872	$23
   5	Washington	$44,428	$21
   6	Maryland	$43,041	$21
   7	Minnesota	$42,959	$21
   8	Pennsylvania	$41,836	$20
   9	Oregon	$41,341	$20
   10	Illinois	$40,037	$19
   11	Michigan	$39,027	$19
   12	Colorado	$38,914	$19
   13	Georgia	$38,220	$18
   14	Maine	$37,514	$18
   15	Ohio	$37,429	$18
   16	Nevada	$37,321	$18
   17	Arizona	$37,203	$18
   18	Texas	$36,887	$18
   19	Alabama	$36,703	$18
   20	Missouri	$36,038	$17

   Average accounting clerk salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker Llp	$61,077	$29.36	1
   2	Prolifics	$60,264	$28.97
   3	TIBCO Software	$59,320	$28.52
   4	Reckitt Benckiser	$57,954	$27.86	2
   5	World Fuel Services	$57,890	$27.83
   6	Syscon-Inc	$56,362	$27.10
   7	Jacobs Engineering Group	$56,012	$26.93
   8	Kent Daniels & Associates	$55,480	$26.67	1
   9	American Physical Society	$55,233	$26.55
   10	Vsoft Corporation	$54,810	$26.35
   11	Santander Bank	$53,222	$25.59	2
   12	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$51,983	$24.99	9
   13	Deloitte	$51,915	$24.96	27
   14	Kiewit	$51,741	$24.88	6
   15	Southwest Research Institute	$51,707	$24.86
   16	IDEO	$50,897	$24.47
   17	La Jolla Institute for Immunology	$50,842	$24.44
   18	Church & Dwight Co.	$50,684	$24.37
   19	Bechtel Corporation	$50,594	$24.32	3
   20	Northwestern University	$50,419	$24.24	3

4. Writing an accounting clerk job description

   An accounting clerk job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of an accounting clerk job description:

   Accounting clerk job description example

   Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is seeking an Accounting Specialist for the Rutgers Office for Research. As part of the Office for Research, the Accounting Specialist (accountant) works in Research Financial Services ( RFS ) to administer and coordinate post-award administration of assigned grants and contracts for research and other sponsored programs funded by external sources. Collectively these are referred to as awards. An award can consist of one general ledger account or multiple project accounts and/or cost-sharing accounts. This position serves as the appropriate principal investigator's/department contact for grant and contract accounting functions. The position reports to the Accounting Manager.
   Among the key duties of this position are the following:
   Reviews new award setup documentation for terms and conditions, award restrictions, or sponsor requirements for the fiscal and administrative management of awards. Communicates any differences to the Manager II and note any special instructions in Tracking Notes and the account file. Uses/designs appropriate Data Warehouse and General Ledger reports as well as spreadsheet and database programs to monitor, control, and report revenues and expenditures of awards to comply with requirements of funding sponsor/agency and University requirements. Offers guidance and serves as the principal contact for departments and PI's for information regarding the management of grants and contracts. Ensures Projects and General Ledger (Oracle Cloud) are accurate and current; initiate necessary action required which includes input of budget adjustments, suspense clearance, F & A cost rate maintenance, and other related tasks. Ensures that award end dates correspond to award documentation. Reviews financial transactions and related documents to assure allowability, conformity, reasonableness and to avoid waste, loss, misuse. Exercises sound judgment so that all transactions are in compliance with current agency and University regulations and cost principles. Reviews cost-sharing accounts to make sure the appropriate cost sharing is taking place as planned. Ensures all award supporting documents are complete and properly authorized. Determines specific agency reporting and billing requirements including frequency and format. Prepares and reviews worksheets and reporting forms using information from the financial Management System (Oracle Cloud) and the Financial Data Warehouse ( FDW ). Prepares periodic agency/sponsor required reports of expenditures, financial status, etc. All reporting must be accurate and within management agreed and agency-driven deadlines. Follows up with sponsors to assure that reporting requirements are met. Monitors interest-bearing accounts and ensure that interest is credited quarterly or as agreed with the sponsor. Plans and schedules closeouts of awards (including cost-sharing and project accounts) to minimize delays and in anticipation of problems. The objective is to meet or exceed management and sponsor-driven deadlines for the requirements of each award closeout. This includes but is not limited to working with departments to ensure a clean cutoff of payroll and closing of commitments. Prepares comprehensive workpapers that fully support the closeout in compliance with the RFS Closeout Checklist.
   
   Minimum Education and Experience
   
   Bachelor's degree with a major in finance, accounting, or business-related field or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience that demonstrates knowledge of Accounting/Financing principles. Minimum of two years relevant experience in a financial/accounting function, good communication skills, and computer literacy.
   
   Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
   
   Personal computer skills are essential, working knowledge of the Microsoft suite of programs is required. This includes spreadsheet, word processing and database applications. Must be capable of working with a diverse group of business and academic professionals. Must have strong verbal, writing, interpersonal, organizational, and analytical skills. Must be able to understand and apply the information pertaining to grant and contracts documents, University, Agency policies, and regulations. Must be able to handle multiple tasks and special assignments in a professional manner. The accountant must be willing to adapt to periodic changes made to their award workload assignment due to redistributions needed to balance the workload among all accountants.
   
   Overview
   
   The Office for Research's core mission is to advance Rutgers's preeminence in research. The Office for Research ( OFR or Research) provides essential services university-wide that support faculty research and scholarship. The OFR teams support identifying sponsored award funding opportunities, submission of grant proposals, post-award financial management, negotiation of contracts, research regulatory affairs, intellectual property and commercialization activities, core services, and animal care provided by the Comparative Medicine Resources organization.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right accounting clerk for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with accounting clerks they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit accounting clerks who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your accounting clerk job on Zippia to find and attract quality accounting clerk candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as efinancialcareers, financialjobsweb.com, careerbank, financial job bank.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit accounting clerks, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new accounting clerk

   Once you've decided on a perfect accounting clerk candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new accounting clerk. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire an accounting clerk?