Accounting Clerk vs Accountant: What's the Difference and Which Is Right for You

If you're considering a career in accounting, you might be wondering what the difference is between an accounting clerk and an accountant. An accounting clerk typically performs tasks such as data entry, reconciliations, and preparing financial statements.

Accounting clerks often work under the supervision of an accountant, who handles more complex tasks like financial analysis and planning. In contrast, accountants usually have a higher level of education and experience, and are responsible for tasks like auditing, tax preparation, and financial reporting.

Bookkeeping is at the bottom of the financial management pyramid, providing a solid foundation for a company's financial health. Accurate and meticulous journals are essential for this role.

Bookkeepers have a narrow focus within a business, computing, classifying, and recording financial data to keep financial records complete. They perform routine calculations and use accounting software to ensure transaction histories are accurate.

The bookkeeper's role is very literal and tied directly to the numbers. Their main task is to record financial transactions, ensuring all data is entered correctly.

Here's a simple breakdown of a bookkeeper's responsibilities:

Bookkeeping can be considered a more administrative and transactional role, simply recording unprocessed information regarding money coming in and going out, as well as revenue and expenses.

Accounting roles and responsibilities can be confusing, especially for those new to the field. Bookkeepers have a narrow focus on recording financial transactions, computing, and classifying financial data to keep financial records complete.

Bookkeepers perform routine calculations and use accounting software to ensure transaction histories are accurate. They are responsible for recording and classifying daily financial transactions, managing company payroll, handling accounts payable and receivable, maintaining accurate financial records, and generating basic financial reports.

In contrast, accountants have a holistic view of a business's financial health. They ensure taxes are paid properly, identify potential areas of opportunity and risk, and assess financial operations. Accountants are responsible for analyzing financial performance, performing audits, producing financial forecasts, and providing tax advice.

Here's a breakdown of the key differences between bookkeepers and accountants:

Accounting clerks, on the other hand, are responsible for bookkeeping, accounting, clerical, and administrative tasks. They keep track of balance sheet items, update senior management with information, and resolve their queries. Accounting clerks also provide solutions to auditors' queries related to the company's accounting books.

An accounting clerk's job description may include tasks such as keeping track of invoices, sorting them by date, and entering business transactions into the record book. They may also support senior executives in financial and accounting needs, maintain customer records, and process bills for payment.

Accounting vs Bookkeeping: What's the Difference?

Bookkeeping and accounting are two distinct roles in a business, with different day-to-day responsibilities. Bookkeepers have a narrow focus and are responsible for recording financial transactions accurately.

Bookkeepers use accounting software to ensure transaction histories are accurate, performing routine calculations to keep financial records complete. They have a very literal role, tied directly to the numbers.

Accountants, on the other hand, need to have a holistic picture of a business's financial health, ensuring taxes are paid properly and identifying potential areas of opportunity and risk.

An accountant's role is more subjective, lending itself to the interpretation of data and regulations to help a business perform at maximum efficiency. They analyze financial statements and provide strategic recommendations based on the groundwork laid by bookkeepers.

Here's a simple way to think about it: bookkeepers lay the groundwork by recording financial transactions, allowing accountants to analyze financial statements and provide strategic recommendations.

An accountant is a professional with specialized education and training, responsible for tasks that go beyond the scope of a bookkeeper. They have the expertise to sign off on year-end accounts, ensuring accuracy and resolving any discrepancies.

Accountants provide tax advice, helping business owners maximize their tax credits and deductions, and ensuring taxes are properly paid. This involves detailed tax code knowledge that a bookkeeper may not possess.

To give you a better idea of an accountant's role, here are some of their key responsibilities:

These tasks require a deeper understanding of financial trends, cost-cutting opportunities, and risk assessment, which is essential for businesses to operate effectively.

A bookkeeper's primary job is data entry, which involves maintaining all of the company's financial records. They're also responsible for invoicing customers and ensuring bills are paid.

Bookkeepers track revenue and expenses, ensuring no errors on any documents. They need to have a general appreciation of the duties of finance managers and accountants to keep all data in a usable format.

An accountant is a professional who plays a crucial role in a business's financial health. They are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of financial information, providing tax advice, and analyzing financial performance.

Accountants are required to have additional education and training beyond what a bookkeeper receives. This extra education and training enable them to perform tasks that bookkeepers can't, such as signing off on year-end accounts and producing financial forecasts.

To become an accountant, one must complete a certain level of education and training, which sets them apart from bookkeepers. With this expertise, accountants can provide valuable insights into financial trends, cost-cutting opportunities, and risk assessment.

Accountants are also responsible for performing internal audits to ensure accounting best practices are being followed and financial information is being tracked and stored appropriately. This is a critical task that requires a high level of expertise and attention to detail.

According to labor market analytics, accountants have a higher median annual salary than bookkeepers, with a median salary of $73,570 compared to $42,411 for bookkeepers. This significant difference in salary is due to the additional education, training, and strategic role of an accountant.

Here are some key responsibilities of an accountant:

Accountants are also in high demand, with a growth projection of 6.1% over the next 10 years. This is in contrast to bookkeepers, whose job demand is expected to decline by 1.9% due to the increasing use of technology to automate transactional functions.

As an accounting clerk, you can expect to work in an entry-level position, often requiring a certificate or associate's degree, whereas an accountant typically requires a bachelor's degree and professional certification.

Accounting clerks can work their way up to senior roles, but advancement opportunities are limited compared to accountants, who can move into leadership positions or specialize in areas like auditing or taxation.

In terms of hiring, accounting clerks are often hired as part-time or temporary employees, whereas accountants are typically full-time employees with benefits and job security.

A bookkeeper is a great first hire if you're looking to establish a strong financial foundation without breaking the bank. They can help set up and maintain your QuickBooks system and keep your financial records organized.

If you find yourself spending too much time managing daily QuickBooks entries and basic financial tasks, a bookkeeper can provide immediate relief. They excel at maintaining your day-to-day financial records while keeping costs manageable.

A bookkeeper is particularly valuable when your business has straightforward transactions that need consistent, accurate recording. They can help set up and maintain your QuickBooks system, ensure your transactions are properly recorded, and keep your financial records organized and up-to-date.

As your business grows and becomes more complex, an accountant's expertise becomes increasingly valuable. They can help you understand not just where your money is going, but how to use it more strategically to achieve your business goals.

An accountant becomes particularly important when you're dealing with complex financial structures or when you need sophisticated tax planning and advisory services that go beyond QuickBooks basics. They can help you understand the implications of major business decisions and provide expert tax planning advice.

Bookkeepers can advance to accountants by gaining the necessary qualifications. This can lead to a wide range of career opportunities.

Unless you have a bachelor's degree, growth potential for bookkeepers is limited. However, an associate degree in accounting can be a good starting point.

Associate degree credits can be applied toward bachelor's degrees, making it easier to advance. Up to 76% of the credits required for a bachelor's degree in accounting can be transferred at a transfer-friendly university.

Accountants can work in various sectors, including private industry, public accounting, government, and nonprofits. Career opportunities are wide open after earning a bachelor's degree in accounting.

Becoming a CPA is a must to advance to management at a public accounting firm. However, accountants can advance to management and beyond without a CPA license when working for a single company.