What does a senior accounting technician do?
Senior accounting technician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior accounting technician resumes:
- Manage payroll general ledger accounts including account reconciliations and monthly accruals.
- Process weekly check run and ACH deposit run.
- Ensure the accuracy of the personal and mortgage loan subsidiary ledgers.
- Prepare and review documents for disbursements in compliance with IRS laws.
- Perform a variety of routine and many ad-hoc accounting functions using GAAP principles.
- Prepare and maintain documentation for key procedures and processes in accordance with SOX.
- Process and calculate all ACH and rush check payments done on a weekly schedule.
- Maintain accounting ledgers by analyzing problems; preparing journal entry for expense transfer and monthly utility charges.
- Review accounting documents for accuracy and compliance with IRS regulations.
- Prepare higher level of reconciliations between administrative systems and other sources.
- Perform intricate general accounting functions, including preparation of journal entries, account analysis and reconciliations.
- Identify and interview patients for Medicaid applications.
- Review and analyze data of various state-sponsore programs; process Medicaid, Medicare and insurance claims.
Senior accounting technician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Senior Accounting Technicians are proficient in Financial Statements, GAAP, and General Ledger. They’re also known for soft skills such as Computer skills, Integrity, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Senior Accounting Technicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Financial Statements, 14%
Prepared corporate monthly, quarterly and yearly financial statements.
- GAAP, 10%
Developed and implemented accounting policies and procedures to ensure external financial statement and internal management report adherence to GAAP and policies/procedures.
- General Ledger, 8%
Summarized transactions and prepared control documents or other posting documents to maintain all general ledger accounts covering operations of different programs.
- SOX, 6%
Developed and presented training presentations to employees and management addressing both SOX and internal audit activities.
- Reconciliations, 6%
Team Participation: Complete financial reports and finalize monthly reconciliations with Accounting Team.
- Treasury, 6%
Entered deposited checks into National Treasury Database for processing.
Most senior accounting technicians use their skills in "financial statements," "gaap," and "general ledger" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential senior accounting technician responsibilities here:
Computer skills. The most essential soft skill for a senior accounting technician to carry out their responsibilities is computer skills. This skill is important for the role because "bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks need to be comfortable using computer spreadsheets and bookkeeping software." Additionally, a senior accounting technician resume shows how their duties depend on computer skills: "entered financial transactions (payables and receivables) into an automated system for several army depots using computer and 10 key. "
Integrity. Another essential skill to perform senior accounting technician duties is integrity. Senior accounting technicians responsibilities require that "bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks have control of an organization’s financial documentation, which they must use properly and keep confidential." Senior accounting technicians also use integrity in their role according to a real resume snippet: "entrusted with forensic accounting duties for aging account entries. "
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for senior accounting technicians to perform their duties. For an example of how senior accounting technician responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks are responsible for producing accurate financial records." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a senior accounting technician: "trained and reviewed employee balance sheets and detail correspondence".
Math skills. senior accounting technician responsibilities often require "math skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks deal with numbers daily and should be comfortable with basic arithmetic." This resume example shows what senior accounting technicians do with math skills on a typical day: "prepared monthly cash flow estimates for corporate accounting and maintained billing statistics for project. "
The three companies that hire the most senior accounting technicians are:
- Ernst & Young83 senior accounting technicians jobs
- Oregon Health & Science University2 senior accounting technicians jobs
- Concord Group Insurance2 senior accounting technicians jobs
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Senior accounting technician vs. Bookkeeper
Bookkeepers are employees who are in charge of the company's general ledger. They are well-versed in basic accounting principles, and they apply these in their work. Bookkeepers manage the entry of items in the general ledger, assign items into their proper categories, and ensure that the entries are balanced. They also act as auditors by checking the accuracy and veracity of the receipts or vouchers in their possession before entering them into the system. Bookkeepers ensure that their files are up to date and free of errors.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a senior accounting technician are more likely to require skills like "financial statements," "gaap," "general ledger," and "sox." On the other hand, a job as a bookkeeper requires skills like "payroll tax returns," "data entry," "journal entries," and "general ledger accounts." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Bookkeepers tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $42,063. In contrast, senior accounting technicians make the biggest average salary, $71,887, in the pharmaceutical industry.On average, bookkeepers reach similar levels of education than senior accounting technicians. Bookkeepers are 1.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior accounting technician vs. Account payables analyst
An accounts payable analyst is primarily responsible for managing and processing invoices and payments, ensuring accuracy and timeliness. They are also responsible for coordinating with various departments to obtain and acquire data and invoices, submitting payments to external vendors and suppliers, identifying errors and inconsistencies, and providing corrective measures. One may also perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports and presentations, managing schedules, addressing issues and concerns through calls and correspondence, and resolving them promptly and efficiently.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, senior accounting technician responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "general ledger," "payroll functions," "internal controls," and "ledgers." Meanwhile, an account payables analyst has duties that require skills in areas such as "data entry," "vendor invoices," "vendor statements," and "erp." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, account payables analysts earn a lower salary than senior accounting technicians. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, account payables analysts earn the most pay in the energy industry with an average salary of $66,023. Whereas senior accounting technicians have higher pay in the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $71,887.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Account payables analysts tend to reach similar levels of education than senior accounting technicians. In fact, they're 1.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior accounting technicians in the next 3-5 years?
Senior accounting technician vs. Accounts payable clerk
An accounts payable clerk is responsible for supporting the accounting department by performing clerical duties to file financial reports timely and accurately. Accounts payable clerks manage and verify invoices documents, reconcile balance spreadsheets, process payments for suppliers and vendors, resolve billing discrepancies, confirm and post account statements, record outstanding credits, and maintain an organized record of transactions. An accounts payable clerk must have excellent knowledge of the accounting principles to deliver high-quality services and help the business minimize excessive financial loss.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, senior accounting technicians are more likely to have skills like "gaap," "general ledger," "sox," and "treasury." But a accounts payable clerk is more likely to have skills like "data entry," "vendor invoices," "vendor statements," and "payroll."
Accounts payable clerks earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $41,570. Comparatively, senior accounting technicians have the highest earning potential in the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $71,887.accounts payable clerks typically earn similar educational levels compared to senior accounting technicians. Specifically, they're 2.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Senior accounting technician vs. Accounts payable lead
Accounts payable leads are accounting professionals who are responsible for leading a team of professionals that manage the company's accounts payable, a short-term debt payment that needs to be paid to avoid default. These professionals are required to evaluate vendor invoices and prepare payments to pay vendors while preparing the daily expense reports. They must create the general ledger at the end of the month to reconcile closing balances. Accounts payable leads must also assist purchasing agents in resolving vendor or customer issues that pertained to inaccurate information on purchase orders.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior accounting technicians and accounts payable leads, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior accounting technician might have more use for skills like "general ledger," "treasury," "customer service," and "senior accounting." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of accounts payable leads require skills like "faa," "vendor invoices," "data entry," and "accruals. "
Accounts payable leads enjoy the best pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $60,374. For comparison, senior accounting technicians earn the highest salary in the pharmaceutical industry.The average resume of accounts payable leads showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to senior accounting technicians. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.0%.Types of senior accounting technician
Updated January 8, 2025











