Research clerk vs accounting clerk

The differences between research clerks and accounting 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 research clerk and an accounting clerk. Additionally, an accounting clerk has an average salary of $38,683, which is higher than the $32,652 average annual salary of a research clerk.

The top three skills for a research clerk include telephone inquiries, customer accounts and financial institutions. The most important skills for an accounting clerk are data entry, customer service, and purchase orders.

Research clerk vs accounting clerk overview

	Research Clerk	Accounting Clerk
Yearly salary	$32,652	$38,683
Hourly rate	$15.70	$18.60
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	113,814	106,969
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	51	51
Years of experience	6	6

What does a research clerk do?

A research clerk executes and performs clerical activities in the research department. They also research and verify data useful for business clients as well as conducting research on client products or services to improvise business opportunities. Their duties and responsibilities also include assigning topics to other team members, verifying data before submission, and ensuring research does not violate best practices.

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.

Research clerk vs accounting clerk salary

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

	Research Clerk	Accounting Clerk
Average salary	$32,652	$38,683
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $39,000	Between $29,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	Minneapolis, MN	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	New York
Best paying company	Novant Health	Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker Llp
Best paying industry	Government	Government

Differences between research clerk and accounting clerk education

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

	Research Clerk	Accounting Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Business	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Research clerk vs accounting clerk demographics

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

	Research Clerk	Accounting Clerk
Average age	51	51
Gender ratio	Male, 24.8% Female, 75.2%	Male, 20.0% Female, 80.0%
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, 14.6% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between research clerk and accounting clerk duties and responsibilities

Research clerk example responsibilities.

Demonstrate strong math skills in managing inmate s accounts and calmly and effectively deescalating outbursts of belligerent inmates.
Re-created personal and commercial bank statements as requested by customers or in compliance with court-issu subpoenas.
Process work to the proof operators to encode checks.
Assist tellers in posting all deposit slips and withdrawals in NCR machine
Balance deposits make by customers, micro encode checks & deposit slips.
Create accounting worksheets and post entries for 3rd party lockbox, credit card settlements and product billing.

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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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Research clerk vs accounting clerk skills

Common research clerk skills

Telephone Inquiries, 16%
Customer Accounts, 9%
Financial Institutions, 9%
Subpoenas, 8%
Exception Reports, 8%
Legal Research, 7%

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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