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The differences between cash accountants and accounting clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a cash accountant, becoming an accounting clerk takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a cash accountant has an average salary of $57,971, which is higher than the $38,683 average annual salary of an accounting clerk.
The top three skills for a cash accountant include reconciliations, cash management and general ledger accounts. The most important skills for an accounting clerk are data entry, customer service, and purchase orders.
| Cash Accountant | Accounting Clerk | |
| Yearly salary | $57,971 | $38,683 |
| Hourly rate | $27.87 | $18.60 |
| Growth rate | 6% | -5% |
| Number of jobs | 40,765 | 106,969 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 44 | 51 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
Cash accountants are accounting professionals who are responsible for recording revenues and expenses during the period when cash is received and paid, respectively. These accountants are required to prepare journal entries and perform cash account reconciliations to balance bank and book balances during month-end closing activities. They must prepare all bank deposits and generate financial and payroll reports that are submitted to the operational and executive management team. Cash accountants must also provide analysis and resolution about the discrepancies in the bank and general ledger entries to internal departments and bank representatives.
Accounting clerks are employees assigned to manage administrative and clerical tasks in the accounting department. Accounting clerks handle office accounting records and ensure that files are properly labeled and stored. They validate records and check whether these are updated. They also sort through documents to ensure that they are in their proper storage bins. Aside from document handling, they also help with creating and validating financial statements and bookkeeping. As such, accounting clerks should have a strong background in accounting to manage their tasks better.
Cash accountants and accounting clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Cash Accountant | Accounting Clerk | |
| Average salary | $57,971 | $38,683 |
| Salary range | Between $44,000 And $76,000 | Between $29,000 And $51,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | - | New York |
| Best paying company | - | Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker Llp |
| Best paying industry | - | Government |
There are a few differences between a cash accountant and an accounting clerk in terms of educational background:
| Cash Accountant | Accounting Clerk | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Accounting | Accounting |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between cash accountants' and accounting clerks' demographics:
| Cash Accountant | Accounting Clerk | |
| Average age | 44 | 51 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 31.2% Female, 68.8% | Male, 20.0% Female, 80.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 12.2% White, 63.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |