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Accounts payable team lead vs accounting assistant

The differences between accounts payable team leads 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 accounts payable team lead and an accounting assistant. Additionally, an accounts payable team lead has an average salary of $70,092, which is higher than the $39,569 average annual salary of an accounting assistant.

The top three skills for an accounts payable team lead include vendor invoices, general ledger and reconciliations. The most important skills for an accounting assistant are data entry, customer service, and reconciliations.

Accounts payable team lead vs accounting assistant overview

Accounts Payable Team LeadAccounting Assistant
Yearly salary$70,092$39,569
Hourly rate$33.70$19.02
Growth rate-5%-5%
Number of jobs55,41563,945
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 52%Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age5151
Years of experience66

What does an accounts payable team lead do?

An accounts payable team lead supervises the finance department's budgeting team. They manage the clerical side of a company's budgeting process. Their team's responsibilities include issuing invoices, managing purchase orders, tracking logistics expenses, and documenting financial transactions. They must ensure that all their team members work cohesively to complete these tasks.

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.

Accounts payable team lead vs accounting assistant salary

Accounts payable team leads and accounting assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Accounts Payable Team LeadAccounting Assistant
Average salary$70,092$39,569
Salary rangeBetween $50,000 And $97,000Between $30,000 And $50,000
Highest paying City-Washington, DC
Highest paying state-New York
Best paying company-Los Alamos National Laboratory
Best paying industry-Finance

Differences between accounts payable team lead and accounting assistant education

There are a few differences between an accounts payable team lead and an accounting assistant in terms of educational background:

Accounts Payable Team LeadAccounting Assistant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 52%Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common majorAccountingAccounting
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Accounts payable team lead vs accounting assistant demographics

Here are the differences between accounts payable team leads' and accounting assistants' demographics:

Accounts Payable Team LeadAccounting Assistant
Average age5151
Gender ratioMale, 24.4% Female, 75.6%Male, 20.1% Female, 79.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.1% 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 Percentage7%7%

Differences between accounts payable team lead and accounting assistant duties and responsibilities

Accounts payable team lead example responsibilities.

  • Manage annual IRS 1099 and 1042 reporting.
  • Handle cash items, manage vendor set ups and maintain accurate W9 information.
  • Manage ten RPG developers maintaining and modifying a AS400 base JDA MMS ERP system for a large retailer.
  • Manage payroll transactions utilizing ADP payroll software.
  • Manage preparation of monthly account reconciliations, journal entries, inter-company accounting and year-end audit schedules.
  • Verify receipts and ensure GAAP compliance for employee expense accounts.
  • Show more

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.
  • Show more

Accounts payable team lead vs accounting assistant skills

Common accounts payable team lead skills
  • Vendor Invoices, 7%
  • General Ledger, 6%
  • Reconciliations, 5%
  • Purchase Orders, 5%
  • ACH, 5%
  • Customer Service, 4%
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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