Bursar vs accounting assistant

The differences between bursars 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 a bursar and an accounting assistant. Additionally, a bursar has an average salary of $52,195, which is higher than the $39,569 average annual salary of an accounting assistant.

The top three skills for a bursar include financial aid, student payments and credit card payments. The most important skills for an accounting assistant are data entry, customer service, and reconciliations.

Bursar vs accounting assistant overview

	Bursar	Accounting Assistant
Yearly salary	$52,195	$39,569
Hourly rate	$25.09	$19.02
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	475	63,945
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	51	51
Years of experience	6	6

Bursar vs accounting assistant salary

Bursars and accounting assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Bursar	Accounting Assistant
Average salary	$52,195	$39,569
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $79,000	Between $30,000 And $50,000
Highest paying City	Dartmouth, MA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	New York
Best paying company	Colorado State Express	Los Alamos National Laboratory
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between bursar and accounting assistant education

There are a few differences between a bursar and an accounting assistant in terms of educational background:

	Bursar	Accounting Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Business	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Bursar vs accounting assistant demographics

Here are the differences between bursars' and accounting assistants' demographics:

	Bursar	Accounting Assistant
Average age	51	51
Gender ratio	Male, 31.6% Female, 68.4%	Male, 20.1% Female, 79.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.3% 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 Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between bursar and accounting assistant duties and responsibilities

Bursar example responsibilities.

Manage all financial reporting, accounts receivable, general ledgers and reconciliations.
Process accounting documents concerning entitlement to travel expenses for military and /or civilian personnel in activities service by DFAS.
Respond to inquiries from internal organization and external customers regarding package processing, delivery information and services offer by USPS stores.

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.

Bursar vs accounting assistant skills

Common bursar skills

Financial Aid, 22%
Student Payments, 8%
Credit Card Payments, 5%
Customer Service, 4%
Cash Handling, 4%
Bank Deposits, 4%

Common accounting assistant skills

Data Entry, 13%
Customer Service, 11%
Reconciliations, 8%
Purchase Orders, 7%
Credit Card Payments, 6%
General Ledger Accounts, 5%