Associate administrative assistant vs front desk administrative assistant

The differences between associate administrative assistants and front desk 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 associate administrative assistant and a front desk administrative assistant. Additionally, an associate administrative assistant has an average salary of $46,939, which is higher than the $33,037 average annual salary of a front desk administrative assistant.

The top three skills for an associate administrative assistant include customer service, data entry and powerpoint. The most important skills for a front desk administrative assistant are customer service, patients, and data entry.

Associate administrative assistant vs front desk administrative assistant overview

	Associate Administrative Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Yearly salary	$46,939	$33,037
Hourly rate	$22.57	$15.88
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	57,908	95,732
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does an associate administrative assistant do?

An associate administrative assistant is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to support the business operations, ensuring the timely submission of deliverables. Associate administrative assistants work closely with the financial department, especially on organizing financial reports, issuing invoices, verifying time sheets for payroll purposes, and releasing petty cash. They also manage meeting and conference schedules, coordinate with suppliers and third-party vendors for inventories, and sort documents for reference. An associate administrative assistant must have excellent communication and organization skills, as well as the knowledge of the data processing procedures to update information and track business transactions within the database.

What does a front desk administrative assistant do?

A front desk administrative assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to support daily business functions and operations. Front desk administrative assistants assist guests, respond to their inquiries and concerns, and direct them to the appropriate personnel for their needs. They also monitor office inventories, write purchase requests, and distribute mails across the departments. A front desk administrative assistants review business and financial transactions to generate reports, update information on the company's database, and sort documents for reference.

Associate administrative assistant vs front desk administrative assistant salary

Associate administrative assistants and front desk administrative assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Associate Administrative Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Average salary	$46,939	$33,037
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $77,000	Between $27,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	Beverly, MA	Springfield, MA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Connecticut
Best paying company	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	-	Professional

Differences between associate administrative assistant and front desk administrative assistant education

There are a few differences between an associate administrative assistant and a front desk administrative assistant in terms of educational background:

	Associate Administrative Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 52%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Associate administrative assistant vs front desk administrative assistant demographics

Here are the differences between associate administrative assistants' and front desk administrative assistants' demographics:

	Associate Administrative Assistant	Front Desk Administrative Assistant
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%	Male, 10.0% Female, 90.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between associate administrative assistant and front desk administrative assistant duties and responsibilities

Associate administrative assistant example responsibilities.

Direct correspondence and communications, monitoring emails and phone calls and managing social media and online presence on Facebook and website.
Support medical doctors, manage sensitive and confidential records pertaining to high risk patients with emphasis on accuracy.
Reconcile credit card purchases and identify and resolve all payroll discrepancies.
Post photos of available properties on company's Facebook page.
Prepare spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and documentation.
Create spreadsheet to calculate payroll information collect from audit to determine findings.

Front desk administrative assistant example responsibilities.

Manage day-to-day operations including scheduling and coordinating appointments, verify patient insurance, prepare correspondences between medical providers and their patients.
Process member and team member paperwork; including member cancellations, updates, new hires/terminations/status changes, and payroll paperwork.
Monitor and complete payroll information.
Demonstrate great initiative in assisting tech team with minor technical issues and create PowerPoint presentations for business strategic purposes.
Register patients, verify eligibility of insurance, interview them in order to obtain other demographic information that are needed.
Manage day-to-day operations including scheduling and coordinating appointments, verify patient insurance, prepare correspondences between medical providers and their patients.

Associate administrative assistant vs front desk administrative assistant skills

Common associate administrative assistant skills

Customer Service, 13%
Data Entry, 10%
PowerPoint, 7%
Financial Reports, 5%
Payroll, 5%
Travel Arrangements, 5%

Common front desk administrative assistant skills

Customer Service, 15%
Patients, 12%
Data Entry, 8%
Phone Calls, 8%
Front Desk Operations, 7%
Check-In, 4%

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Associate Administrative Assistant
Associate Administrative Assistant vs Front Desk Administrative Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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