Principal account clerk vs accounting assistant

The differences between principal account clerks and accounting assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a principal account clerk and an accounting assistant. Additionally, an accounting assistant has an average salary of $39,569, which is higher than the $32,077 average annual salary of a principal account clerk.

The top three skills for a principal account clerk include payroll processing, purchase orders and data entry. The most important skills for an accounting assistant are data entry, customer service, and reconciliations.

Principal account clerk vs accounting assistant overview

	Principal Account Clerk	Accounting Assistant
Yearly salary	$32,077	$39,569
Hourly rate	$15.42	$19.02
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	157,387	63,945
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	51	51
Years of experience	6	6

Principal account clerk vs accounting assistant salary

Principal account clerks and accounting assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Principal Account Clerk	Accounting Assistant
Average salary	$32,077	$39,569
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $39,000	Between $30,000 And $50,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	Los Alamos National Laboratory
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between principal account clerk and accounting assistant education

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

	Principal Account Clerk	Accounting Assistant
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Principal account clerk vs accounting assistant demographics

Here are the differences between principal account clerks' and accounting assistants' demographics:

	Principal Account Clerk	Accounting Assistant
Average age	51	51
Gender ratio	Male, 18.3% Female, 81.7%	Male, 20.1% Female, 79.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 6.7% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between principal account clerk and accounting assistant duties and responsibilities

Principal account clerk example responsibilities.

Manage resident's private information for insurance verification, billing, and eligibility to apply for Medicaid.
Prepare garnishments for processing into PeopleSoft as well as notifying employees and the different garnishing services.
Close patient contact, appropriate decision-making concerning patient financial affairs and coordination between patients and third-party sponsorship for further financial assistance.
Process and file claims against courier or ATM owners for shortages unresolve.
Respond to inquiries from internal organization and external customers regarding package processing, delivery information and services offer by USPS stores.

Accounting assistant example responsibilities.

Manage revenue ledger including other subsidiary ledgers and responsible for the reconciliation of various income accounts to ensure accuracy of postings.
Participate in weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly audits to ensure SOX compliance and propose opportunities for improvement.
Meet with account teams to discuss job structure, new projects, client requests, billing procedures, and SOX requirements.
Reconcile departmental report cash against banking ACH transactions.
Process mortgage portfolio monthly payments and interest accruals.
Utilize online system for calculating payroll and family tuition payments.

Principal account clerk vs accounting assistant skills

Common principal account clerk skills

Payroll Processing, 23%
Purchase Orders, 16%
Data Entry, 13%
Journal Entries, 10%
Vendor Checks, 9%
Reconciliations, 8%

Common accounting assistant skills

Data Entry, 13%
Customer Service, 11%
Reconciliations, 8%
Purchase Orders, 7%
Credit Card Payments, 6%
General Ledger Accounts, 5%

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Principal Account Clerk
Principal Account Clerk vs Accounting Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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