Administrative office assistant vs finance/administrative assistant

The differences between administrative office assistants and finance/administrative assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an administrative office assistant and a finance/administrative assistant. Additionally, a finance/administrative assistant has an average salary of $39,756, which is higher than the $33,318 average annual salary of an administrative office assistant.

The top three skills for an administrative office assistant include customer service, data entry and phone calls. The most important skills for a finance/administrative assistant are data entry, powerpoint, and travel arrangements.

Administrative office assistant vs finance/administrative assistant overview

	Administrative Office Assistant	Finance/Administrative Assistant
Yearly salary	$33,318	$39,756
Hourly rate	$16.02	$19.11
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	81,528	127,379
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 46%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an administrative office assistant do?

An administrative office assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to assist in daily management operations. These duties include taking calls and responding to client and customers' inquiries and concerns, scheduling meetings and conferences, organizing files and submitting required documents, sorting invoices for release, processing travel arrangements, receiving emails, forwarding reports to the appropriate department, and coordinating with company's events. An administrative assistant must be detail-oriented, as well as having excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform duties even under minimal supervision.

What does a finance/administrative assistant do?

A finance administrative assistant is responsible for performing clerical duties and basic bookkeeping tasks to support financial operations under the supervision of financial executives. Finance administrative assistants generate financial and business reports, update account information on the database, assist with payroll release, and help the accounting staff in resolving financial discrepancies and disputes. They also reach out to the clients for payments and billing, respond to their inquiries and concerns, and escalate their complaints to the supervisor for immediate resolution.

Administrative office assistant vs finance/administrative assistant salary

Administrative office assistants and finance/administrative assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Administrative Office Assistant	Finance/Administrative Assistant
Average salary	$33,318	$39,756
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $43,000	Between $29,000 And $52,000
Highest paying City	Sacramento, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Hawaii	Connecticut
Best paying company	Buckley King	TALENT Software Services
Best paying industry	Government	Professional

Differences between administrative office assistant and finance/administrative assistant education

There are a few differences between an administrative office assistant and a finance/administrative assistant in terms of educational background:

	Administrative Office Assistant	Finance/Administrative Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 46%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	University of Pennsylvania

Administrative office assistant vs finance/administrative assistant demographics

Here are the differences between administrative office assistants' and finance/administrative assistants' demographics:

	Administrative Office Assistant	Finance/Administrative Assistant
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 14.7% Female, 85.3%	Male, 12.8% Female, 87.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between administrative office assistant and finance/administrative assistant duties and responsibilities

Administrative office assistant example responsibilities.

Develop and manage external financial relationships between clients and the IRS.
Manage the receptionist area, including greeting visitors and responding to telephone and in-person requests for information.
Establish and maintain effective communications and cohesive working relationships with company associates, telephone and walk-in customers, and site visitors.
Dust offices and clean windows and doors.
Update information in CATT database, as well as make appointments for therapists and psychiatrists in Sharepoint.
Create electronic filing system to alleviate paper copies and recruit fellow co-workers to get on board with SharePoint.

Finance/administrative assistant example responsibilities.

Initiate both domestic and international wire transfers as well as ACH payments to manage vendor payments.
Manage all AR, AP, sales orders, work orders, and prepay inventory reconciliation.
Orchestrate special events and reservations; manage customer relations and provide exemplary service to all customers.
Alphabetize, sort, files FAFSA's code, and assemble letters for mass mailing.
Help students and officials file and summit FAFSA application forms and develop and maintain spreadsheets for documenting cases.
Process accounts payable and receivable utilizing QuickBooks.

Administrative office assistant vs finance/administrative assistant skills

Common administrative office assistant skills

Customer Service, 14%
Data Entry, 13%
Phone Calls, 7%
Payroll, 5%
PowerPoint, 4%
Database Management, 4%

Common finance/administrative assistant skills

Data Entry, 11%
PowerPoint, 10%
Travel Arrangements, 7%
Purchase Orders, 6%
Financial Aid, 5%
Expense Reports, 5%

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Administrative Office Assistant
Administrative Office Assistant vs Finance/Administrative Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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