Accounting consultant vs senior accounting clerk

The differences between accounting consultants and senior accounting clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become an accounting consultant, becoming a senior accounting clerk takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, an accounting consultant has an average salary of $62,830, which is higher than the $46,531 average annual salary of a senior accounting clerk.

The top three skills for an accounting consultant include CPA, GAAP and reconciliations. The most important skills for a senior accounting clerk are data entry, general ledger accounts, and reconciliations.

Accounting consultant vs senior accounting clerk overview

	Accounting Consultant	Senior Accounting Clerk
Yearly salary	$62,830	$46,531
Hourly rate	$30.21	$22.37
Growth rate	6%	-5%
Number of jobs	74,894	82,627
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	44	51
Years of experience	4	6

What does an accounting consultant do?

An Accounting Consultant is a person tasked to assist the accounting department of a company. The consultant advises businesses concerning the accounting system used by the organization. It is also through the accounting consultant's help that improvements in the accounting process are proposed, the determination of problematic areas in the workflow, possible issues in the future, and everything that needs upgrading. The accounting consultant also helps businesses conform to legal policies set about by State and Federal legislation.

What does a senior accounting clerk do?

Senior Accounting Clerks lead in a complex set of work staff and are responsible for performing governmental fund accounting that involves reporting and financial record keeping. They are responsible for resolving discrepancies, verifying and auditing financial reports, and inputting data into their financial accounting system. They must know methods of verifying and reconciling accounting records, accounts payable and receivable, and how to familiarize themselves with their firm's financial accounting software. They must also be skilled in handling large sums of cash with integrity and making manual arithmetical calculations with speed and accuracy.

Accounting consultant vs senior accounting clerk salary

Accounting consultants and senior accounting clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Accounting Consultant	Senior Accounting Clerk
Average salary	$62,830	$46,531
Salary range	Between $45,000 And $86,000	Between $33,000 And $64,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Jose, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Jordan Company	Encore Capital Group
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Finance

Differences between accounting consultant and senior accounting clerk education

There are a few differences between an accounting consultant and a senior accounting clerk in terms of educational background:

	Accounting Consultant	Senior Accounting Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Accounting consultant vs senior accounting clerk demographics

Here are the differences between accounting consultants' and senior accounting clerks' demographics:

	Accounting Consultant	Senior Accounting Clerk
Average age	44	51
Gender ratio	Male, 49.3% Female, 50.7%	Male, 18.0% Female, 82.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 13.4% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between accounting consultant and senior accounting clerk duties and responsibilities

Accounting consultant example responsibilities.

Work independently on line of business projects to automate derivative processes and system enhancement testing.
Share oversight for recruitment, human resources and advertising.
Provide support to accounts payable department in tagging and recording of fix assets during an ERP system transition
Work with governance and internal audit team ensuring SOX compliance during monthly & quarterly reviews as well as the annual audit.
Collaborate with accounting department in monthly closing process and development of internal controls to support SOX requirements.
Improve audit performance of major medical center by clearing backlog of account reconciliations across multiple medical billing systems.

Senior accounting clerk example responsibilities.

Manage payroll general ledger accounts including account reconciliations and monthly accruals.
Implement premium accounting statistical reports of all monies collect, including return items and general accounting from bank reconciliations.
Process ACH payments in accordance with company deadlines.
Cross train on many functions within the ACH department.
Monitor and clear holding accounts daily using PeopleSoft; prepare journals as necessary.
Assist with monthly, quarterly, and yearly closing processes, including accruals.

Accounting consultant vs senior accounting clerk skills

Common accounting consultant skills

CPA, 15%
GAAP, 11%
Reconciliations, 8%
ERP, 4%
Shared Services, 4%
SOX, 4%

Common senior accounting clerk skills

Data Entry, 10%
General Ledger Accounts, 9%
Reconciliations, 8%
Senior Accounting, 7%
Purchase Orders, 7%
Credit Card Payments, 5%

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Accounting Consultant vs Senior Accounting Clerk

Updated January 8, 2025

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