Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between receiving clerks and accounting clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a receiving 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 $31,482 average annual salary of a receiving clerk.
The top three skills for a receiving clerk include customer service, purchase orders and data entry. The most important skills for an accounting clerk are data entry, customer service, and purchase orders.
| Receiving Clerk | Accounting Clerk | |
| Yearly salary | $31,482 | $38,683 |
| Hourly rate | $15.14 | $18.60 |
| Growth rate | -3% | -5% |
| Number of jobs | 237,705 | 106,969 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 43 | 51 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 6 |
Usually assigned at a warehouse or retail store, a receiving clerk's primary role is to accept product deliveries upon arrival and sign necessary documents, prioritizing the accuracy of all invoices. It is also the task of a receiving clerk to unload heavy packages, verify its contents, place it in the appropriate storage place, and keep records for inventory. They must process returns should it be necessary. There are also instances where a receiving clerk may have to engage with retailers and vendors, ensuring that all shipments arrive in time.
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.
Receiving clerks and accounting clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Receiving Clerk | Accounting Clerk | |
| Average salary | $31,482 | $38,683 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $38,000 | Between $29,000 And $51,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | North Dakota | New York |
| Best paying company | Los Alamos National Laboratory | Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker Llp |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Government |
There are a few differences between a receiving clerk and an accounting clerk in terms of educational background:
| Receiving Clerk | Accounting Clerk | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Business | Accounting |
| Most common college | - | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between receiving clerks' and accounting clerks' demographics:
| Receiving Clerk | Accounting Clerk | |
| Average age | 43 | 51 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 60.2% Female, 39.8% | Male, 20.0% Female, 80.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.5% Asian, 6.7% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | 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% |