Senior accounts payable specialist vs accounting clerk

The differences between senior accounts payable specialists 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 senior accounts payable specialist and an accounting clerk. Additionally, a senior accounts payable specialist has an average salary of $60,557, which is higher than the $38,683 average annual salary of an accounting clerk.

The top three skills for a senior accounts payable specialist include vendor statements, expense reports and purchase orders. The most important skills for an accounting clerk are data entry, customer service, and purchase orders.

Senior accounts payable specialist vs accounting clerk overview

	Senior Accounts Payable Specialist	Accounting Clerk
Yearly salary	$60,557	$38,683
Hourly rate	$29.11	$18.60
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	31,611	106,969
Job satisfaction	3	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	51	51
Years of experience	6	6

What does a senior accounts payable specialist do?

A senior accounts payable specialist is responsible for performing more complex tasks in the accounting department of an organization and assisting the junior staff in processing financial transactions. Senior accounts payable specialists manage invoice release for vendors and perform bank reconciliations. They also handle the vendors' inquiries and concerns regarding their paychecks and resolve billing discrepancies that they may have. A senior account payable specialist must have excellent knowledge of the accounting principles to generate payments accurately and maintain an organized record of the financial filing system.

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.

Senior accounts payable specialist vs accounting clerk salary

Senior accounts payable specialists and accounting clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Accounts Payable Specialist	Accounting Clerk
Average salary	$60,557	$38,683
Salary range	Between $43,000 And $83,000	Between $29,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Delaware	New York
Best paying company	Pacific Investment Management Company LLC	Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker Llp
Best paying industry	Finance	Government

Differences between senior accounts payable specialist and accounting clerk education

There are a few differences between a senior accounts payable specialist and an accounting clerk in terms of educational background:

	Senior Accounts Payable Specialist	Accounting Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Senior accounts payable specialist vs accounting clerk demographics

Here are the differences between senior accounts payable specialists' and accounting clerks' demographics:

	Senior Accounts Payable Specialist	Accounting Clerk
Average age	51	51
Gender ratio	Male, 15.2% Female, 84.8%	Male, 20.0% Female, 80.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 6.5% White, 67.7% 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 senior accounts payable specialist and accounting clerk duties and responsibilities

Senior accounts payable specialist example responsibilities.

Manage payroll garnishments to accurately comply with applicable state and municipal laws.
Prepare, process, and submit check files, wire transfers, ACH payments, and positive pay.
Maintain W9 forms for all vendors in the system.
Verify if all vendors W9's are on file.
Analyze and prepare the monthly/quarterly payments to IRS for FICA/FUTA taxes.
Train new staff on ERP software, AP policy and procedures, and customer service.

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.

Senior accounts payable specialist vs accounting clerk skills

Common senior accounts payable specialist skills

Vendor Statements, 10%
Expense Reports, 7%
Purchase Orders, 7%
Data Entry, 6%
Accruals, 5%
Reconciliations, 5%

Common accounting clerk skills

Data Entry, 15%
Customer Service, 10%
Purchase Orders, 9%
Reconciliations, 6%
Vendor Invoices, 6%
QuickBooks, 3%

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Senior Accounts Payable Specialist
Senior Accounts Payable Specialist vs Accounting Clerk

Updated January 8, 2025

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