Accounting technician vs finance clerk

The differences between accounting technicians and finance 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 technician and a finance clerk. Additionally, an accounting technician has an average salary of $41,337, which is higher than the $39,225 average annual salary of a finance clerk.

The top three skills for an accounting technician include customer service, financial reports and payroll. The most important skills for a finance clerk are data entry, purchase orders, and HR.

Accounting technician vs finance clerk overview

	Accounting Technician	Finance Clerk
Yearly salary	$41,337	$39,225
Hourly rate	$19.87	$18.86
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	39,972	143,372
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	51	51
Years of experience	6	6

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.

What does a finance clerk do?

Finance clerks are financial professionals who are responsible for performing various administrative tasks such as keeping financial records, preparing bills, and delivering excellent customer service. These clerks are required to process bills, checks, receipts, and other documents to ensure that they are all properly signed and distributed. They must verify financial and other data so that they can enter those data into the database and maintain updated records. Finance clerks must also assist with account reconciliations and should report the status of accounts and discrepancies to the management.

Accounting technician vs finance clerk salary

Accounting technicians and finance clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Accounting Technician	Finance Clerk
Average salary	$41,337	$39,225
Salary range	Between $31,000 And $53,000	Between $27,000 And $56,000
Highest paying City	Oakland, CA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	California	New York
Best paying company	W. R. Berkley	United States Courts
Best paying industry	Government	Government

Differences between accounting technician and finance clerk education

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

	Accounting Technician	Finance Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Accounting	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Accounting technician vs finance clerk demographics

Here are the differences between accounting technicians' and finance clerks' demographics:

	Accounting Technician	Finance Clerk
Average age	51	51
Gender ratio	Male, 22.7% Female, 77.3%	Male, 26.2% Female, 73.8%
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, 14.7% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between accounting technician and finance clerk duties and responsibilities

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.

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Finance clerk example responsibilities.

Manage resident's private information for insurance verification, billing, and eligibility to apply for Medicaid.
Collaborate with insurance company representatives, case managers and physicians to obtain treatment authorization for potential kidney and kidney/pancreas transplant patients.
Write checks in the QuickBooks software to vendors and to reimburse employees.
Establish customer files in QuickBooks, write and test work instructions for clients, log and close complete files.
Produce PowerPoint presentations in order to brief the command team of the on goings within the company.
Used an automate information system (PeopleSoft) to edit, modify, and verify customers personal and payment information.

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Accounting technician vs finance clerk skills

Common accounting technician skills

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

Common finance clerk skills

Data Entry, 16%
Purchase Orders, 9%
HR, 5%
Bank Statements, 5%
Bank Deposits, 5%
Credit Card, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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