Purchasing administrative assistant vs associate administrative assistant

The differences between purchasing administrative assistants and associate administrative 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 purchasing administrative assistant and an associate administrative assistant. Additionally, an associate administrative assistant has an average salary of $46,939, which is higher than the $37,889 average annual salary of a purchasing administrative assistant.

The top three skills for a purchasing administrative assistant include purchase orders, data entry and customer service. The most important skills for an associate administrative assistant are customer service, data entry, and powerpoint.

Purchasing administrative assistant vs associate administrative assistant overview

	Purchasing Administrative Assistant	Associate Administrative Assistant
Yearly salary	$37,889	$46,939
Hourly rate	$18.22	$22.57
Growth rate	-8%	-8%
Number of jobs	48,872	57,908
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does a purchasing administrative assistant do?

Purchasing Administrative Assistants will require a high school diploma or GED, but an associate degree or higher is preferred, as well as three or more years in a purchasing role. This career will require skills in communication and negotiation, as well as a proven history of good supply management and the ability to create and administer task priority lists based on the needs of the respective company. Paying an average salary of $42K per year, but ranging between $37K and $49K, this career choice will demand the provision of support to the purchasing process and department staff, processing documents and materials and responding to inquiries, as well as maintaining information and inventories about vendors and sources.

What does an associate administrative assistant do?

An associate administrative assistant is responsible for performing administrative and clerical duties to support the business operations, ensuring the timely submission of deliverables. Associate administrative assistants work closely with the financial department, especially on organizing financial reports, issuing invoices, verifying time sheets for payroll purposes, and releasing petty cash. They also manage meeting and conference schedules, coordinate with suppliers and third-party vendors for inventories, and sort documents for reference. An associate administrative assistant must have excellent communication and organization skills, as well as the knowledge of the data processing procedures to update information and track business transactions within the database.

Purchasing administrative assistant vs associate administrative assistant salary

Purchasing administrative assistants and associate administrative assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Purchasing Administrative Assistant	Associate Administrative Assistant
Average salary	$37,889	$46,939
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $48,000	Between $28,000 And $77,000
Highest paying City	Milpitas, CA	Beverly, MA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Connecticut
Best paying company	Aspen Snowmass	JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Best paying industry	Construction	-

Differences between purchasing administrative assistant and associate administrative assistant education

There are a few differences between a purchasing administrative assistant and an associate administrative assistant in terms of educational background:

	Purchasing Administrative Assistant	Associate Administrative Assistant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 52%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Purchasing administrative assistant vs associate administrative assistant demographics

Here are the differences between purchasing administrative assistants' and associate administrative assistants' demographics:

	Purchasing Administrative Assistant	Associate Administrative Assistant
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 8.3% Female, 91.7%	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between purchasing administrative assistant and associate administrative assistant duties and responsibilities

Purchasing administrative assistant example responsibilities.

Support medical doctors, manage sensitive and confidential records pertaining to high risk patients with emphasis on accuracy.
Prepare purchase orders, review requisitions, supply requests and MRP purchase reports.
Assess and close A/P, A/R monthly.
Support A/P by resolving invoice problems.
Verify shipments and check into ERP system.
Certify to internally audit group for ISO compliance.

Associate administrative assistant example responsibilities.

Direct correspondence and communications, monitoring emails and phone calls and managing social media and online presence on Facebook and website.
Support medical doctors, manage sensitive and confidential records pertaining to high risk patients with emphasis on accuracy.
Reconcile credit card purchases and identify and resolve all payroll discrepancies.
Post photos of available properties on company's Facebook page.
Prepare spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and documentation.
Create spreadsheet to calculate payroll information collect from audit to determine findings.

Purchasing administrative assistant vs associate administrative assistant skills

Common purchasing administrative assistant skills

Purchase Orders, 33%
Data Entry, 9%
Customer Service, 9%
Provides Administrative Support, 4%
Office Equipment, 4%
Travel Arrangements, 3%

Common associate administrative assistant skills

Customer Service, 13%
Data Entry, 10%
PowerPoint, 7%
Financial Reports, 5%
Payroll, 5%
Travel Arrangements, 5%

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Purchasing Administrative Assistant
Purchasing Administrative Assistant vs Associate Administrative Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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