Accounting internship vs accounting clerk

The differences between accounting interns and accounting clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an accounting internship and an accounting clerk. Additionally, an accounting clerk has an average salary of $38,683, which is higher than the $30,642 average annual salary of an accounting internship.

The top three skills for an accounting internship include reconciliations, data entry and payroll. The most important skills for an accounting clerk are data entry, customer service, and purchase orders.

Accounting internship vs accounting clerk overview

	Accounting Internship	Accounting Clerk
Yearly salary	$30,642	$38,683
Hourly rate	$14.73	$18.60
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	80,299	106,969
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	51	51
Years of experience	6	6

What does an accounting internship do?

An accounting internship is a trainee who reports to an organization's accountant in order to learn about the accounting field, complete financial projects and files taxes, and financial reports. An intern should be a graduate of a Bachelor's or Master's in Accounting and should have an aptitude for mathematics and proficiency with computers. In order to prepare financial reports, an intern should possess knowledge with bookkeeping software. An intern must also know how to handle sensitive information with honesty and integrity.

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.

Accounting internship vs accounting clerk salary

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

	Accounting Internship	Accounting Clerk
Average salary	$30,642	$38,683
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $38,000	Between $29,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	California	New York
Best paying company	BWX Technologies	Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker Llp
Best paying industry	Telecommunication	Government

Differences between accounting internship and accounting clerk education

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

	Accounting Internship	Accounting Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Accounting internship vs accounting clerk demographics

Here are the differences between accounting interns' and accounting clerks' demographics:

	Accounting Internship	Accounting Clerk
Average age	51	51
Gender ratio	Male, 53.3% Female, 46.7%	Male, 20.0% Female, 80.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 6.5% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	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%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between accounting internship and accounting clerk duties and responsibilities

Accounting internship example responsibilities.

Acquire training on the automated ADP payroll system which lead to a recommendation for the payroll manager position.
Manage revenue ledger including other subsidiary ledgers and responsible for the reconciliation of various income accounts to ensure accuracy of postings.
Prepare and process accounts payable checks and ACH payments.
Code diagnosis and add appropriate modifiers to CPT codes.
Prepare and maintain monthly departmental reports to maintain SOX compliance.
Demonstrate knowledge of medical terminology, ICD-9 codes, and CPT codes.

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.

Accounting internship vs accounting clerk skills

Common accounting internship skills

Reconciliations, 14%
Data Entry, 7%
Payroll, 6%
First Hand, 6%
Work Ethic, 6%
Account Reconciliations, 5%

Common accounting clerk skills

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

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Accounting Internship
Accounting Internship vs Accounting Clerk

Updated January 8, 2025

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