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The differences between senior accounts payable specialists and accounts payable leads 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 accounts payable lead. Additionally, a senior accounts payable specialist has an average salary of $60,557, which is higher than the $57,175 average annual salary of an accounts payable lead.
The top three skills for a senior accounts payable specialist include vendor statements, expense reports and purchase orders. The most important skills for an accounts payable lead are FAA, purchase orders, and vendor invoices.
| Senior Accounts Payable Specialist | Accounts Payable Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $60,557 | $57,175 |
| Hourly rate | $29.11 | $27.49 |
| Growth rate | -5% | -5% |
| Number of jobs | 31,611 | 31,041 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Average age | 51 | 51 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
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.
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.
Senior accounts payable specialists and accounts payable leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Accounts Payable Specialist | Accounts Payable Lead | |
| Average salary | $60,557 | $57,175 |
| Salary range | Between $43,000 And $83,000 | Between $41,000 And $79,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Delaware | New York |
| Best paying company | Pacific Investment Management Company LLC | NV Energy |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior accounts payable specialist and an accounts payable lead in terms of educational background:
| Senior Accounts Payable Specialist | Accounts Payable Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Accounting | Accounting |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between senior accounts payable specialists' and accounts payable leads' demographics:
| Senior Accounts Payable Specialist | Accounts Payable Lead | |
| Average age | 51 | 51 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 15.2% Female, 84.8% | Male, 28.7% Female, 71.3% |
| 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, 6.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 6.5% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |