Salary Range for Accounting Clerk
Accounting clerks perform accounting functions such as entering receipts into a computer, sorting payments and reconciling books. They may range in expertise from clerks who handle specific tasks to bookkeepers who manage the financial transactions of entire organizations. A high-school degree is the minimum requirement, and many are trained on the job. They may supplement their knowledge with post-secondary accounting courses for personal and promotional reasons.
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Work
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Accounting clerks generally work in office environments for the standard 40 hours a week, though some overtime and evening work is necessary during busy periods, such as the end of a fiscal year or on April 15. Their median salary is $33,450 annually, with a range of $21,280 to $50,450. This breaks down to $16.08 hourly, with a range of $10.23 to $24.25.
Employers
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The BLS states that the most common employers of accounting clerks are in the accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services. These employees comprise over five percent of the 1.7 million available positions and receive close to the median pay at $16.40 per hour or $34,100 per year. The highest-paying employers are with the postal industry, whose in-house staff earns $27.13 per hour or $56,430. However, with only 820 jobs, this workplace is difficult to break into.
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Experience
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The salaries of accounting clerks increase with experience as they gain more knowledge of their field, and work with a wider variety of supervisors and clients. Those with one to four years of experience make $28,068 to $36,635 annually, while those with five to nine years earn $29,563 to $40,519. At 10 to 19 years of experience, they receive $30,453 to $41,017, and at 20 years or more, they are paid $31,261 to $41,665.
Status
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Compensation can vary by employment status with part-timers showing the widest and highest ranges at $22,601 to $44,621 per year. The lower end may be due to new workers who fill in when times are busy, while the high end may come from those who service several clients at the same time, and can choose the highest compensation among that group. Permanent workers, who perform in-house functions for the organizations that hire them, make a narrower and lower range of $29,143 to $39,365 annually.
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References
- Photo Credit Accounting image by Guitar75 from Fotolia.com
