Senior accounting assistant vs senior staff accountant

The differences between senior accounting assistants and senior staff accountants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a senior accounting assistant, becoming a senior staff accountant takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a senior staff accountant has an average salary of $65,019, which is higher than the $51,551 average annual salary of a senior accounting assistant.

The top three skills for a senior accounting assistant include financial reports, vendor invoices and data entry. The most important skills for a senior staff accountant are reconciliations, account reconciliations, and CPA.

Senior accounting assistant vs senior staff accountant overview

	Senior Accounting Assistant	Senior Staff Accountant
Yearly salary	$51,551	$65,019
Hourly rate	$24.78	$31.26
Growth rate	-5%	6%
Number of jobs	27,841	112,760
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age	51	44
Years of experience	6	4

Senior accounting assistant vs senior staff accountant salary

Senior accounting assistants and senior staff accountants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Accounting Assistant	Senior Staff Accountant
Average salary	$51,551	$65,019
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $77,000	Between $48,000 And $86,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	Calumet Specialty Products Partners
Best paying industry	-	Professional

Differences between senior accounting assistant and senior staff accountant education

There are a few differences between a senior accounting assistant and a senior staff accountant in terms of educational background:

	Senior Accounting Assistant	Senior Staff Accountant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Senior accounting assistant vs senior staff accountant demographics

Here are the differences between senior accounting assistants' and senior staff accountants' demographics:

	Senior Accounting Assistant	Senior Staff Accountant
Average age	51	44
Gender ratio	Male, 16.7% Female, 83.3%	Male, 42.6% Female, 57.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 6.5% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 12.1% White, 63.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between senior accounting assistant and senior staff accountant duties and responsibilities

Senior accounting assistant example 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.
Assist in the testing and implementation of the PeopleSoft accounts payable and travel and expense software.
Develop and implement operating procedures for ATM and ACH balancing as well as cash ordering, bank returns and others.

Senior staff accountant example responsibilities.

Manage month end close process including journal entries, departmental analysis and preparation of consolidate financial statements and account reconciliations.
Involve in revenue recognition research (ASC 985-605 vs. ASC 605-25).
Aid managers in performing AP duties, generate financial reports for CPA, and reconcile bank accounts for corporate office.
Prepare balance sheet reconciliations and general ledger analysis in accordance with GAAP.
Advance SaaS deal and rev accounting.
Cultivate productive, trustful relationship with external CPA firm, critical to producing successful audits and year-end reporting.

Senior accounting assistant vs senior staff accountant skills

Common senior accounting assistant skills

Financial Reports, 8%
Vendor Invoices, 8%
Data Entry, 7%
Payroll, 7%
Purchase Orders, 6%
Reconciliations, 6%

Common senior staff accountant skills

Reconciliations, 13%
Account Reconciliations, 7%
CPA, 7%
GAAP, 5%
General Ledger Accounts, 5%
Balance Sheet Accounts, 4%

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Senior Accounting Assistant vs Senior Staff Accountant

Updated January 8, 2025

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