Front office assistant vs general office assistant

The differences between front office assistants and general 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 front office assistant and a general office assistant. Additionally, a front office assistant has an average salary of $32,913, which is higher than the $30,764 average annual salary of a general office assistant.

The top three skills for a front office assistant include patients, customer service and excellent interpersonal. The most important skills for a general office assistant are data entry, customer service, and general office assistance.

Front office assistant vs general office assistant overview

	Front Office Assistant	General Office Assistant
Yearly salary	$32,913	$30,764
Hourly rate	$15.82	$14.79
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	149,847	131,527
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 24%	Bachelor's Degree, 41%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	2	2

What does a front office assistant do?

Front office assistants typically work and perform their duty within the office. They do office support duties like welcome and greet customers, answer phone calls, and schedule and plan appointments. It is their responsibility to sort mails, route calls, and listen to voicemails. They need to organize and give out communications promptly. Also, they do clerical tasks, manage inventory, and maintain their work area. They must be keen to details, can multitask and have excellent communication and customer service skills.

What does a general office assistant do?

A general office assistant is in charge of performing clerical support tasks to help an office run smoothly and efficiently. Their responsibilities include managing the office calendar and schedules, preparing and processing documents, handling calls and correspondence, organizing and disseminating files, greeting visitors, and running errands as needed. They must also monitor the inventory of office supplies, processing procurement requests as necessary. Furthermore, a general office assistant may assist staff in projects and programs while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.

Front office assistant vs general office assistant salary

Front office assistants and general office assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Front Office Assistant	General Office Assistant
Average salary	$32,913	$30,764
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $40,000	Between $24,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Annapolis, MD
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Alaska
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	Cargill
Best paying industry	Health Care	Finance

Differences between front office assistant and general office assistant education

There are a few differences between a front office assistant and a general office assistant in terms of educational background:

	Front Office Assistant	General Office Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 24%	Bachelor's Degree, 41%
Most common major	Medical Assisting Services	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Western Carolina University

Front office assistant vs general office assistant demographics

Here are the differences between front office assistants' and general office assistants' demographics:

	Front Office Assistant	General Office Assistant
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 9.7% Female, 90.3%	Male, 20.8% Female, 79.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 23.7% Asian, 7.5% White, 53.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.7% Asian, 9.1% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between front office assistant and general office assistant duties and responsibilities

Front office assistant example responsibilities.

Manage correspondence and documentation for OSHA compliance and hold some accounts payable responsibilities by coding invoices for processing and payment.
Ensure compliance with HIPAA and OSHA regulations to improve customer relations and promote favorable patient/physician interactions.
Download all transcription for the physicians and mail out letters and patient consults.
Utilize knowledge of ICD-9 and CPT coding by verifying explanation of benefits render to patient, for insurance purposes.
Collect co-pays, enter update demographics into EHR/EMR, enter ICD-9 and CPT codes as needed into patient records electronically
Verify insurance to include commercial and Medicaid.

General office assistant example responsibilities.

Manage operational FedEx relationship through order fulfillment, shipment tracking, and communication with parties involve in shipment transaction.
Utilize QuickBooks to prepare checks and process for submission to insurance companies.
Assign jobs to the installers into the computer by their installer identification number, addressed any payroll questions from the installers.
Distribute payroll and verify accuracy.
Maintain general office tidiness run errands and perform other job-relate duties as assigned.
Lead DoD team that assist Pakistan in gaining military capabilities to conduct counter-terrorism operations against the Taliban.

Front office assistant vs general office assistant skills

Common front office assistant skills

Patients, 21%
Customer Service, 9%
Excellent Interpersonal, 7%
Patient Demographics, 5%
Patient Care, 5%
Front Desk, 4%

Common general office assistant skills

Data Entry, 26%
Customer Service, 12%
General Office Assistance, 9%
Front Desk, 7%
Schedule Appointments, 6%
Office Equipment, 6%

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Front Office Assistant
Front Office Assistant vs General Office Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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