Staff accountant vs accounting clerk

The differences between staff accountants and accounting clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a staff accountant, becoming an accounting clerk takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a staff accountant has an average salary of $54,216, which is higher than the $38,683 average annual salary of an accounting clerk.

The top three skills for a staff accountant include reconciliations, account reconciliations and GAAP. The most important skills for an accounting clerk are data entry, customer service, and purchase orders.

Staff accountant vs accounting clerk overview

	Staff Accountant	Accounting Clerk
Yearly salary	$54,216	$38,683
Hourly rate	$26.07	$18.60
Growth rate	6%	-5%
Number of jobs	115,930	106,969
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Average age	44	51
Years of experience	4	6

What does a staff accountant do?

Staff accountants are employees who are part of the company's accounting department. They are usually certified public accountants (CPAs). Staff accountants should be familiar with accounting tasks. Previous accounting experiences play a huge advantage in their success. They perform a variety of accounting responsibilities such as information verification and analysis, financial report preparation and presentation, financial account reconciliation, billing and payment receiving activities, vendor database management, and invoice processing requirements. They should also know how to do bookkeeping. Staff accountants should have good communication skills, analytical skills, and decision-making skills. They should also be organized and trustworthy since they will be handling confidential information.

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.

Staff accountant vs accounting clerk salary

Staff accountants and accounting clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Staff Accountant	Accounting Clerk
Average salary	$54,216	$38,683
Salary range	Between $42,000 And $68,000	Between $29,000 And $51,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	New York	New York
Best paying company	Meta	Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker Llp
Best paying industry	Government	Government

Differences between staff accountant and accounting clerk education

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

	Staff Accountant	Accounting Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Accounting	Accounting
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Staff accountant vs accounting clerk demographics

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

	Staff Accountant	Accounting Clerk
Average age	44	51
Gender ratio	Male, 41.6% Female, 58.4%	Male, 20.0% Female, 80.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.8% Asian, 14.4% White, 61.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	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 staff accountant and accounting clerk duties and responsibilities

Staff accountant example responsibilities.

Manage and monitor accounting procedures for compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and coordinate and facilitate external audit requirements.
Contribute revenue accruals using job cost system, fix assets including reclassification, reconciliation and depreciation.
Prepare month-end journal entries and assist in compilation of financial statements, reconcile bank statements and general ledgers.
Complete audit-quality account reconciliations monthly for balance sheet accounts including the capital projects in progress accounts and miscellaneous revenue accounts.
Assume responsibility for cash management encompassing wire and ACH transfers processing, bank activity confirmation, and monthly bank account reconciliations.
Handle all A/R and A/P, payroll, change orders, collections, lien placement and release, vendor account management.

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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.

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Staff accountant vs accounting clerk skills

Common staff accountant skills

Reconciliations, 15%
Account Reconciliations, 7%
GAAP, 6%
General Ledger Accounts, 4%
External Auditors, 4%
Internal Controls, 4%

Common accounting clerk skills

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

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Updated January 8, 2025

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