Accounting staff vs accounting assistant

The differences between accounting staff and accounting assistants 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 staff and an accounting assistant. Additionally, an accounting staff has an average salary of $53,322, which is higher than the $39,569 average annual salary of an accounting assistant.

The top three skills for an accounting staff include reconciliations, journal entries and general ledger accounts. The most important skills for an accounting assistant are data entry, customer service, and reconciliations.

Accounting staff vs accounting assistant overview

	Accounting Staff	Accounting Assistant
Yearly salary	$53,322	$39,569
Hourly rate	$25.64	$19.02
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	108,836	63,945
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	51	51
Years of experience	6	6

What does an accounting staff do?

The accounting staff works alongside the head accountant in an organization, company, or business. Proper accounting is essential for all companies as it will help management assess areas of the company that needs adjustments, especially budget-wise. Aside from this, a competent accounting staff assists in the company's bookkeeping and filing its taxes. The accounting staff must be highly organized, communicate well with colleagues, and generate accurate reports for the executives and management.

What does an accounting assistant do?

An accounting assistant is responsible for supporting the daily operations of the business' accounting department, from reviewing financial transactions to the submission of financial reports. Accounting assistants' duties include performing data entry and clerical tasks, maintaining a safe record of account statements, updating and analyzing transactions, verifying the accuracy of financial records, and managing customers and vendors' inquiries as immediate as possible. An accounting assistant must have a broad knowledge of the accounting principles and processes, as well as excellent communication and time-management skills, especially on meeting strict deadlines and doing complex tasks as needed.

Accounting staff vs accounting assistant salary

Accounting staff and accounting assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Accounting Staff	Accounting Assistant
Average salary	$53,322	$39,569
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $73,000	Between $30,000 And $50,000
Highest paying City	San Mateo, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Oregon	New York
Best paying company	Essex Property Trust	Los Alamos National Laboratory
Best paying industry	Professional	Finance

Differences between accounting staff and accounting assistant education

There are a few differences between an accounting staff and an accounting assistant in terms of educational background:

	Accounting Staff	Accounting Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Accounting staff vs accounting assistant demographics

Here are the differences between accounting staff' and accounting assistants' demographics:

	Accounting Staff	Accounting Assistant
Average age	51	51
Gender ratio	Male, 31.9% Female, 68.1%	Male, 20.1% Female, 79.9%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between accounting staff and accounting assistant duties and responsibilities

Accounting staff example responsibilities.

Manage accounts payable activities such as receiving and processing invoices, preparing relate journal entries and completing monthly reconciliations.
Manage revenue ledger including other subsidiary ledgers and responsible for the reconciliation of various income accounts to ensure accuracy of postings.
Administer management of AR transactions in support of optimizing cash-inflow, including establishing and maintaining account reconciliations.
Ensure accuracy of financial statements in accordance with GAAP and internal policies.
Audit reports and approve invoices to ensure proper coding are done in compliance with GAAP.
Manage revenue ledger including other subsidiary ledgers and responsible for the reconciliation of various income accounts to ensure accuracy of postings.

Accounting assistant example responsibilities.

Manage revenue ledger including other subsidiary ledgers and responsible for the reconciliation of various income accounts to ensure accuracy of postings.
Participate in weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly audits to ensure SOX compliance and propose opportunities for improvement.
Meet with account teams to discuss job structure, new projects, client requests, billing procedures, and SOX requirements.
Reconcile departmental report cash against banking ACH transactions.
Process mortgage portfolio monthly payments and interest accruals.
Utilize online system for calculating payroll and family tuition payments.

Accounting staff vs accounting assistant skills

Common accounting staff skills

Reconciliations, 9%
Journal Entries, 8%
General Ledger Accounts, 6%
Payroll Taxes, 6%
Cash Management, 5%
Accounts Payable Processing, 5%

Common accounting assistant skills

Data Entry, 13%
Customer Service, 11%
Reconciliations, 8%
Purchase Orders, 7%
Credit Card Payments, 6%
General Ledger Accounts, 5%

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Accounting Staff
Accounting Staff vs Accounting Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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