Accounting staff vs accounting clerk

The differences between accounting staff 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 staff and an accounting clerk. Additionally, an accounting staff has an average salary of $53,322, which is higher than the $38,683 average annual salary of an accounting clerk.

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

Accounting staff vs accounting clerk overview

	Accounting Staff	Accounting Clerk
Yearly salary	$53,322	$38,683
Hourly rate	$25.64	$18.60
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	108,836	106,969
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
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 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 staff vs accounting clerk salary

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

	Accounting Staff	Accounting Clerk
Average salary	$53,322	$38,683
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $73,000	Between $29,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	San Mateo, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Oregon	New York
Best paying company	Essex Property Trust	Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker Llp
Best paying industry	Professional	Government

Differences between accounting staff and accounting clerk education

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

	Accounting Staff	Accounting Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Accounting staff vs accounting clerk demographics

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

	Accounting Staff	Accounting Clerk
Average age	51	51
Gender ratio	Male, 31.9% Female, 68.1%	Male, 20.0% Female, 80.0%
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, 6.9% 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 staff and accounting clerk 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.

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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.

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Accounting staff vs accounting clerk 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 clerk skills

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

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Updated January 8, 2025

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