Accounting staff vs accounting technician

The differences between accounting staff and accounting technicians 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 technician. Additionally, an accounting staff has an average salary of $53,322, which is higher than the $41,337 average annual salary of an accounting technician.

The top three skills for an accounting staff include reconciliations, journal entries and general ledger accounts. The most important skills for an accounting technician are customer service, financial reports, and payroll.

Accounting staff vs accounting technician overview

	Accounting Staff	Accounting Technician
Yearly salary	$53,322	$41,337
Hourly rate	$25.64	$19.87
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	108,836	39,972
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
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 technician do?

An accounting technician is responsible for evaluating financial information procedures to support accounting and taxation tasks, verifying the accuracy of account statements for the reference of accountants. Accounting technicians manage the payroll processes, generate invoices, perform account reconciliations, analyze account receivables, prepare budget reports, and monitor the company's financial transactions. Accounting technicians should always adhere to taxation legislation, comply with accounting disciplines, and coordinate with the account management for any findings and concerns, requiring them to have excellent communication and analytical skills.

Accounting staff vs accounting technician salary

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

	Accounting Staff	Accounting Technician
Average salary	$53,322	$41,337
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $73,000	Between $31,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	San Mateo, CA	Oakland, CA
Highest paying state	Oregon	California
Best paying company	Essex Property Trust	W. R. Berkley
Best paying industry	Professional	Government

Differences between accounting staff and accounting technician education

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

	Accounting Staff	Accounting Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 51%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Accounting staff vs accounting technician demographics

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

	Accounting Staff	Accounting Technician
Average age	51	51
Gender ratio	Male, 31.9% Female, 68.1%	Male, 22.7% Female, 77.3%
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, 6.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 6.5% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between accounting staff and accounting technician 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 technician example responsibilities.

Develop expertise in use of PeopleSoft system to manage balance accounts for quarterly investment portfolio.
Reconcile the agency SPCC statement each month
Audit includes reviewing SPCC invoices and receipts to ensure appropriate tax exemptions are follow.
Analyze cases to determine if ICD-9 and CPT codes are covered benefits according to insurance's medical policy.
Apply GAAP following applicable federal regulations.
Maintain adherence to university accounting and GAAP standards.

Accounting staff vs accounting technician 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 technician skills

Customer Service, 12%
Financial Reports, 10%
Payroll, 8%
Purchase Orders, 7%
Data Entry, 6%
Reconciliations, 5%

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Accounting Staff
Accounting Staff vs Accounting Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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