Accounts payable technician vs accounts receivable specialist

The differences between accounts payable technicians and accounts receivable specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become an accounts payable technician, becoming an accounts receivable specialist takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an accounts payable technician has an average salary of $47,325, which is higher than the $39,873 average annual salary of an accounts receivable specialist.

The top three skills for an accounts payable technician include FAA, A/P and powerplant. The most important skills for an accounts receivable specialist are customer service, patients, and data entry.

Accounts payable technician vs accounts receivable specialist overview

	Accounts Payable Technician	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Yearly salary	$47,325	$39,873
Hourly rate	$22.75	$19.17
Growth rate	6%	-8%
Number of jobs	23,079	61,988
Job satisfaction	-	4.5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	40	46
Years of experience	4	12

What does an accounts payable technician do?

An Accounts Payable Technician performs the day-to-day processing of accounts payable transactions. They prepare and process invoices and other financial documents manually or by using specialized automated software.

What does an accounts receivable specialist do?

Accounts receivable specialists are members of the organization's finance or accounting department. They are responsible for managing the collection of payments for the company. They prepare official receipts and coordinate with account payable specialists from other companies with pending payables. They ensure that clients pay on time, and they also follow up on payments when necessary. They are responsible for checking whether the clients have already paid in full. Accounts receivable specialists are in charge of updating accounting records as well to ensure that client records are up to date.

Accounts payable technician vs accounts receivable specialist salary

Accounts payable technicians and accounts receivable specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Accounts Payable Technician	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Average salary	$47,325	$39,873
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $66,000	Between $31,000 And $50,000
Highest paying City	Juneau, AK	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Alaska	Connecticut
Best paying company	Baptist Health Care	InfosysPublicService
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Technology

Differences between accounts payable technician and accounts receivable specialist education

There are a few differences between an accounts payable technician and an accounts receivable specialist in terms of educational background:

	Accounts Payable Technician	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Accounting	Business
Most common college	SUNY Farmingdale	-

Accounts payable technician vs accounts receivable specialist demographics

Here are the differences between accounts payable technicians' and accounts receivable specialists' demographics:

	Accounts Payable Technician	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Average age	40	46
Gender ratio	Male, 55.0% Female, 45.0%	Male, 18.2% Female, 81.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 23.2% Asian, 6.8% White, 55.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 12.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 3.9% White, 59.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	2%	8%

Differences between accounts payable technician and accounts receivable specialist duties and responsibilities

Accounts payable technician example responsibilities.

Manage the FOD prevention program to reduce costly repairs and increase the participation in FOD awareness and FOD walk downs.
Utilize technical data to troubleshoot maintenance issues.
Obtain practical experience on the Garrett TPE-331 powerplant.
Maintain catalog of store A/P, A/R source documents.
Enter all invoices into a/p software, assigns g/l account numbers & appropriate cost centers.
Obtain practical experience on the TFE-731 Garrett powerplant and hot section inspection experience on the Pratt and Whitney PT6.

Accounts receivable specialist example responsibilities.

Manage profitable accounts receivable ledgers for existing and new clientele maintaining accuracy of monies enter to appropriate relate account.
Perform accounts reconciliations, complex invoice research, statement reconciliations, complex invoice research, statement reconciliation and journal entries.
Follow company's standard operating procedures in cooperation with Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance providers to resolve billing issues.
Cash and credit allocation of customer payments in ROSS ERP system.
Prepare PowerPoint presentations, word documents, letters and spreadsheets while meeting deadlines.
Reconcile direct billing accounts and adjust product pricing utilizing JD Edwards EnterpriseONE ERP system.

Accounts payable technician vs accounts receivable specialist skills

Common accounts payable technician skills

FAA, 13%
A/P, 9%
Powerplant, 9%
Airframe, 8%
Troubleshoot, 7%
Hand Tools, 5%

Common accounts receivable specialist skills

Customer Service, 15%
Patients, 9%
Data Entry, 5%
Credit Card Payments, 4%
Reconciliations, 4%
Accounts Receivables, 3%

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Accounts Payable Technician
Accounts Payable Technician vs Accounts Receivable Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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