Firm administrator vs administrative director

The differences between firm administrators and administrative directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a firm administrator, becoming an administrative director takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an administrative director has an average salary of $80,158, which is higher than the $70,547 average annual salary of a firm administrator.

The top three skills for a firm administrator include payroll processing, law firm and litigation. The most important skills for an administrative director are patients, patient care, and customer service.

Firm administrator vs administrative director overview

	Firm Administrator	Administrative Director
Yearly salary	$70,547	$80,158
Hourly rate	$33.92	$38.54
Growth rate	-8%	7%
Number of jobs	51,906	52,849
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Average age	47	50
Years of experience	6	2

Firm administrator vs administrative director salary

Firm administrators and administrative directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Firm Administrator	Administrative Director
Average salary	$70,547	$80,158
Salary range	Between $50,000 And $99,000	Between $53,000 And $121,000
Highest paying City	-	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	-	Connecticut
Best paying company	-	Mayer Brown
Best paying industry	-	Media

Differences between firm administrator and administrative director education

There are a few differences between a firm administrator and an administrative director in terms of educational background:

	Firm Administrator	Administrative Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 59%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Firm administrator vs administrative director demographics

Here are the differences between firm administrators' and administrative directors' demographics:

	Firm Administrator	Administrative Director
Average age	47	50
Gender ratio	Male, 22.4% Female, 77.6%	Male, 33.8% Female, 66.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 5.2% White, 60.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 13.8% Asian, 4.3% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	5%

Differences between firm administrator and administrative director duties and responsibilities

Firm administrator example responsibilities.

Manage the purchase of supplies, A/R, A/P, general bookkeeping, trust account, and client billing.
Direct Medicaid health plan management division activities (manage care program operations, quality improvement, and contract administration).
Complete and review bi-monthly QuickBooks's journal entries.
Perform bank reconciliation and month-end close; submit to CPA for tax review.
Prepare in house semi monthly payroll for staff along with partner compensation with QuickBooks.
Act as liaison and communication link between management and staff, and among all offices for this CPA firm.

Administrative director example responsibilities.

Manage payroll system and provide staff and directors with essential reporting necessary for managing employee resources.
Manage A/P, A/R and general accounting.
Lead a change in system philosophy on physician equity interest in surgery centers.
Manage administrative operations for the business -purchasing, accounting, payroll, safety and environmental safety training and testing.
Receive and process incoming Medicaid, Medicare, government grants and donation checks.
Charge with improving customer service for patients and physicians as well as re-capturing lose outpatient radiology business.

Firm administrator vs administrative director skills

Common firm administrator skills

Payroll Processing, 16%
Law Firm, 12%
Litigation, 5%
Office Equipment, 3%
General Ledger, 3%
CPA, 3%

Common administrative director skills

Patients, 11%
Patient Care, 9%
Customer Service, 6%
Human Resources, 5%
Financial Reports, 5%
Payroll, 5%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Firm Administrator
Firm Administrator vs Administrative Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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