How To Become A Senior Accounting Assistant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior accounting assistant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Stephen Moehrle Ph.D.,

Jodi Olson

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a senior accounting assistant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.78 an hour? That's $51,551 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -77,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a senior accounting assistant?

Stephen Moehrle Ph.D.

Professor and Chairman of Accounting, University of Missouri - St. Louis

It was a great time to be entering the accounting industry, before the pandemic. Our students were serving in internships in huge numbers and our graduates were enjoying 100% placement, usually with multiple offers. The entry-level professionals were entering a profession marked by emerging and evolving technologies that made even the entry-level duties especially interesting. Further, our tech-comfortable young professionals were experiencing quick advancement because of their ability to employ the new technologies.

Most of the above remains true so the only open question is job availability. It would be unrealistic to say things are great. However, it seems that job prospects for accounting majors will be better than for those of virtually every other entry-level profession during difficult times. I have been speaking with firm leaders across the spectrum of firms and most do intend to be on campus in the fall recruiting season. Of course, they have a lot of time to learn more about the economy over the next few months, but we are cautiously optimistic. Again, I am confident that whatever the state of job availability for young CPAs-to-be, prospects will be better for accounting graduates than virtually any other profession.

They will be entering the profession at a fascinating moment in time. Of course, the technological advances assure this regardless of economic conditions. However, there are business disruption-related issues that will provide rich opportunities for making a difference. For example, audit staff will be working with clients to see them through these troubling times. Lamentably, I fear that these young professionals will learn more about the going concern determination than they desire to know. Tax staff will help clients to optimally use the tax loss carrybacks and carryforwards that are arising by the day. Entry level professionals in corporate accounting will get a day-to-day front row seat in business management through crisis. While lamentable times, these are times when young professionals can make a difference that saves jobs.

ScoreSenior Accounting AssistantUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,551

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.0

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.63%

Asian 6.51%

Black or African American 6.72%

Hispanic or Latino 14.29%

Unknown 3.96%

White 67.90%

Gender

female 83.26%

male 16.74%

Age - 53

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 53

Stress level

6.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.4

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.3

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior accounting assistant

Explore senior accounting assistant education requirements

Most common senior accounting assistant degrees

Bachelor's

52.8 %

Associate

30.8 %

Master's

6.5 %

Start to develop specific senior accounting assistant skills

Skills	Percentages
Financial Reports	8.10%
Vendor Invoices	7.90%
Data Entry	7.43%
Payroll	7.07%
Purchase Orders	6.33%

Complete relevant senior accounting assistant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior accounting assistants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior accounting assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior accounting assistant resumes.

Research senior accounting assistant duties and responsibilities

Accomplish through collaboration with corporate finance to analyze bad debt reserve and recommend monthly accruals.
Prepare account reconciliations for cash receipts, company health club memberships and inter-company balances.
Enter and process checks, wire transfers, and ACH payments through accounting system.
Complete daily and monthly journal entries that are uploaded to the general ledger via PeopleSoft.

Get senior accounting assistant experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a senior accounting assistant. The most common roles before becoming a senior accounting assistant include accounting assistant, accounts payable clerk team lead and administrative assistant.

Prepare your senior accounting assistant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior accounting assistant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior accounting assistant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable senior accounting assistant resume templates

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