5 Great Jobs with an Associate Degree in Accounting

Entry Level Accounting Jobs

  • Accounts Receivable Clerk
  • Billing Clerk
  • Payroll Clerk
  • Auditing Clerk
  • General Bookkeeping

Graduates with an associate degree in accounting can perform various duties in companies without having to deal with 4 years of schooling or obtaining a certificate in public accounting. This is one of many degrees that you can get after a few years that will pay for itself immediately with great accounting jobs. You’ll be able to start your career sooner than other people who have to attend college for 4 years or more.

Accounts Receivable Clerk

The AR clerk will handle one aspect of the accounting system, which is the receipt of payments for services or products. All of the transactions have to be recorded properly into the accounting software. The clerk has to be incredibly organized to ensure that all the numbers are calculated correctly. The clerk will be dealing with customers and clients to collect payments too. In some instances, the clerk might have interaction with lawyers and collection agencies if the customer or client refuses to pay.

Billing Clerk

The billing clerk can work in tandem with the accounts receivable clerk to collect payments. While the AR clerk will collect the actual payments, the billing clerk will prepare the bills and invoices the client will have to pay. The billing clerk will have to calculate sales tax as well as work with the client on their account. Every month, they’ll send out bills for recurring customer balances as well as handle calls from clients about those bills.

Payroll Clerk

In this position, the graduate with an accounting degree might actually work in the human resources department. The payroll clerk could work alone depending on the size of the company too. In this role, the person will keep track of employees’ work hours, monitor overtime and benefits that add up over time. The clerk will handle vacation time and sick pay as well as filing employee taxes and generating tax information at the end of the year.

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Auditing Clerk

This position oversees the work of many departments from receivables to payables to billing. The auditing department checks the payroll functions and ensures that all the numbers are accurate. They’ll examine loans, expense accounts and interest payments to ensure that the company isn’t losing money to mistakes or fraud. The auditing clerk has to pay special attention to the details and know their accounting functions deeply. They’re working to catch people making mistakes or committing fraud, which means the company will lose money.

General Bookkeeping

The general bookkeeper can work within a small company to maintain various accounts in the ledger. This person will handle payroll, billing, accounts receivable as well as payables too. The bookkeeper will send overdue accounts to a collection company or work with a law firm to get the money due to the company. Balancing the receipts and dealing with banking is also a duty of the bookkeeper. It’s many positions rolled into one general bookkeeping position. In small companies, this is one person. In large companies, the position is split into different clerks and departments since the work is on a larger scale.

Whether it’s receivables, payables or general bookkeeping, graduates with an associate in accounting can count on obtaining fulfilling accounting jobs directly out of school. Within 2 years, the accounting student can get a degree and start working in a great career with the possibility of advancement later due to their on-the-job learning potential.