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The differences between business office assistants and administrative office assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a business office assistant and an administrative office assistant. Additionally, an administrative office assistant has an average salary of $33,318, which is higher than the $31,747 average annual salary of a business office assistant.
The top three skills for a business office assistant include patients, customer service and data entry. The most important skills for an administrative office assistant are customer service, data entry, and phone calls.
| Business Office Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $31,747 | $33,318 |
| Hourly rate | $15.26 | $16.02 |
| Growth rate | -5% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 132,916 | 81,528 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Average age | 47 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A business office assistant is in charge of performing clerical support tasks to maintain a smooth workflow in offices and business establishments. Their responsibilities typically include answering phone calls and correspondence, preparing and filing documents, greeting visitors, relaying messages to managers or executives, arranging meetings and appointments, and organizing files, disseminating them to other offices when necessary. They may also monitor the inventory of office supplies and process procurement requests. Furthermore, a business office assistant may also participate in developing programs and projects, assisting staff and executives as needed.
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.
Business office assistants and administrative office assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Business Office Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Average salary | $31,747 | $33,318 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $41,000 | Between $25,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Sacramento, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | - | Buckley King |
| Best paying industry | - | Government |
There are a few differences between a business office assistant and an administrative office assistant in terms of educational background:
| Business Office Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 46% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between business office assistants' and administrative office assistants' demographics:
| Business Office Assistant | Administrative Office Assistant | |
| Average age | 47 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 15.6% Female, 84.4% | Male, 14.7% Female, 85.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 19.7% Asian, 7.7% White, 56.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |