Office clerk vs accounting clerk

The differences between office clerks and accounting clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an office clerk, becoming an accounting clerk takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, an accounting clerk has an average salary of $38,683, which is higher than the $30,927 average annual salary of an office clerk.

The top three skills for an office clerk include customer service, data entry and telephone calls. The most important skills for an accounting clerk are data entry, customer service, and purchase orders.

Office clerk vs accounting clerk overview

	Office Clerk	Accounting Clerk
Yearly salary	$30,927	$38,683
Hourly rate	$14.87	$18.60
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	106,497	106,969
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	47	51
Years of experience	2	6

What does an office clerk do?

Office clerks are administrative employees who handle clerical activities for the organization. They are in charge of managing company records, organizing and storing documents, filing and sorting hard copies of documents, and liaising with other departments or external partners. They are also in charge of handling and scheduling meetings and appointments, managing the reservation of office meeting rooms, and manning telephone lines. Office clerks may also be in charge of ordering office supplies, preparing purchase requisitions for office needs, sending out and receiving official company documents, and other correspondences.

What does an accounting clerk do?

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.

Office clerk vs accounting clerk salary

Office clerks and accounting clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Office Clerk	Accounting Clerk
Average salary	$30,927	$38,683
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $38,000	Between $29,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	Englewood, CO	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Alaska	New York
Best paying company	University of Massachusetts Boston	Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker Llp
Best paying industry	Transportation	Government

Differences between office clerk and accounting clerk education

There are a few differences between an office clerk and an accounting clerk in terms of educational background:

	Office Clerk	Accounting Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Business	Accounting
Most common college	Western Carolina University	University of Pennsylvania

Office clerk vs accounting clerk demographics

Here are the differences between office clerks' and accounting clerks' demographics:

	Office Clerk	Accounting Clerk
Average age	47	51
Gender ratio	Male, 23.3% Female, 76.7%	Male, 20.0% Female, 80.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 23.7% Asian, 7.9% White, 53.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	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	6%	7%

Differences between office clerk and accounting clerk duties and responsibilities

Office clerk example responsibilities.

Complete medical records requests as specified under HIPAA regulations.
Scan EOB's and attach to payments in software system.
Perform electronic billing of Medicare, Medicaid, and HMO/PPO submissions.
Follow all HIPAA guidelines and safety rules as required within the healthcare policy.
Perform account analysis on credit balance accounts using insurance explanation of benefit information (EOB).
Provide information about establishment, such as location of departments or offices, employees within the organization, or services provide.

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Accounting clerk example responsibilities.

Manage revenue ledger including other subsidiary ledgers and responsible for the reconciliation of various income accounts to ensure accuracy of postings.
Perform balance sheet reconciliations and resolve open items by notifying employees and vendors of transaction discrepancies.
Assist in monthly financial close process by analyzing preliminary departmental expense reports and making necessary adjustments and accruals.
Develop a spreadsheet that pulls all data relate to project hours by operation from the ERP system.
Process all incoming payments receive via ACH, EFT, or the web; ensure accounts are accurately balance and reconcile.
Digitize proof of delivery receipts into ERP system (AS400) serving as an easy backup for employees to verify occurrence.

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Office clerk vs accounting clerk skills

Common office clerk skills

Customer Service, 21%
Data Entry, 18%
Telephone Calls, 7%
Payroll, 5%
Office Equipment, 4%
Office Machines, 3%

Common accounting clerk skills

Data Entry, 15%
Customer Service, 10%
Purchase Orders, 9%
Reconciliations, 6%
Vendor Invoices, 6%
QuickBooks, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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