Process associate vs accounts payable clerk

The differences between process associates and accounts payable clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a process associate and an accounts payable clerk. Additionally, an accounts payable clerk has an average salary of $38,333, which is higher than the $37,954 average annual salary of a process associate.

The top three skills for a process associate include patients, customer service and extraction. The most important skills for an accounts payable clerk are customer service, data entry, and purchase orders.

Process associate vs accounts payable clerk overview

	Process Associate	Accounts Payable Clerk
Yearly salary	$37,954	$38,333
Hourly rate	$18.25	$18.43
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	27,408	89,564
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Average age	51	51
Years of experience	6	6

What does a process associate do?

Process Associates are responsible for maintaining, monitoring, and improving the production processes for manufacturing organizations. They are responsible for inspecting existing processes to guide system upgrades, servicing production equipment, maintaining supplies and inventory, and adhering to safety and quality regulations for production processes. Process associates also write production process reports and help to troubleshoot issues pertinent to processes. They must be detailed oriented and possess technical knowledge of mechanical processes. A goof process associate will maintain the smooth running to achieve cost reduction and production rate improvement.

What does an accounts payable clerk do?

An accounts payable clerk is responsible for supporting the accounting department by performing clerical duties to file financial reports timely and accurately. Accounts payable clerks manage and verify invoices documents, reconcile balance spreadsheets, process payments for suppliers and vendors, resolve billing discrepancies, confirm and post account statements, record outstanding credits, and maintain an organized record of transactions. An accounts payable clerk must have excellent knowledge of the accounting principles to deliver high-quality services and help the business minimize excessive financial loss.

Process associate vs accounts payable clerk salary

Process associates and accounts payable clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Process Associate	Accounts Payable Clerk
Average salary	$37,954	$38,333
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $63,000	Between $30,000 And $48,000
Highest paying City	South San Francisco, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	California	Massachusetts
Best paying company	McKinsey & Company Inc	Jane Street
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between process associate and accounts payable clerk education

There are a few differences between a process associate and an accounts payable clerk in terms of educational background:

	Process Associate	Accounts Payable Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Most common major	Business	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Process associate vs accounts payable clerk demographics

Here are the differences between process associates' and accounts payable clerks' demographics:

	Process Associate	Accounts Payable Clerk
Average age	51	51
Gender ratio	Male, 43.3% Female, 56.7%	Male, 17.2% Female, 82.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 6.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between process associate and accounts payable clerk duties and responsibilities

Process associate example responsibilities.

Manage large scale MVS/ESA, VM & UNIX computer systems.
Manage all aspects of the shipping dock, including TDR, truck arrival/departure scheduling, and associate dock assignments.
Manage and operate departmental HPLC equipment.
Manage distillation process to determine product specification compliance, and prepare unit for shutdown or turnaround process.
Design layouts on the front-end using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.
Manufacture sterile commercial human blood therapeutics in an ISO 5 clean room within BSC per FDA requirements.

Accounts payable clerk example responsibilities.

Manage revenue ledger including other subsidiary ledgers and responsible for the reconciliation of various income accounts to ensure accuracy of postings.
Match, code, and process vendor payments via MAS90 accounting system - including check runs and ACH payments.
Perform duties in compliance with GAAP, company and department policies and procedures, internal controls, and Sarbanes-Oxley requirements.
Process division payroll in coordination with ADP payroll systems for semi-monthly and weekly union contract employees.
Scan and store documents daily, retrieve W2 and W9 information along with service provider agreements when or if need.
Print, review, research, edit, code and batch invoices for processing via the various ERP financial systems.

Process associate vs accounts payable clerk skills

Common process associate skills

Patients, 17%
Customer Service, 9%
Extraction, 8%
Business Process, 8%
Data Entry, 8%
HR, 7%

Common accounts payable clerk skills

Customer Service, 13%
Data Entry, 10%
Purchase Orders, 8%
Expense Reports, 6%
Vendor Invoices, 6%
Vendor Statements, 5%

Process Associate vs. similar jobs

Process Associate related careers

Process Associate related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Office and Administrative Industry
Process Associate
Process Associate vs Accounts Payable Clerk

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse office and administrative jobs