If one takes a cursory look at the duties performed by an office accountant and a basic secretary, the differences might be hard to see. Both deal with a company's bills. Both work through customer complaints. Both take a huge part in keeping an office organized. And if you've never really thought about this before, you're probably thinking ''Yeah, what is the difference?''

A secretary or receptionist makes around $22,000 yearly, while entry level accountants begin making around $31,000—though the amount grows as your experience does. That’s quite a difference already, and that’s not the only one.

Another important difference between these two separate careers exists in educational requirements. A receptionist needs to have a high school diploma, or the equivalent GED. There are training courses open for receptionists, and a degree won’t hurt you, but it is by no means necessary.

An accounting assistant also needs a high school diploma or GED, but in addition needs 15 credit hours in college-level business, general studies, or accounting. Generally you also need at least 2 years of bookkeeping, or accounting experience. Again, it makes quite a difference.

And what does an accounting assistant do? Well, like all accounting jobs, they focus mainly on keeping track of all business transactions. Any bills, paychecks, money transfers, payments—all of it goes through the accounting assistant. They not only verify all of these things, they also are in charge of balancing the company’s budget the entire time. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg—they do much more.

But that’s not all you need to know. There are many other skills that are very important to your success as an assistant accountant. Your math skills, of course, are fundamental. You must not only be able to understand math principles, but also be quick and precise in calculations and tabulating totals. An accounting assistant will basically be in charge of all business funds; meaning there will surely be audits in your future, along with many board meetings. You will be responsible for the business’s money, and that is a responsibility that a company does not take lightly.

You will also need to have good people skills, because you will probably be dealing with some disgruntled customers. You will need good communication capabilities, because the majority of your work will be done through communications on your part and the part of others. Clarity in both oral communications and writing will greatly help you. Also, you will be keeping and filing many important records and documents—you will need to have basic organization skills, and be able to file alphabetically and numerically. All accounting positions need these filing skills—whether you work in this office capacity or as a general tax consultant.

Another highly important ability that will do wonders in recommending you will be the ability to use a computer effectively. All office tools are important—fax machine, copier, printer, pencil sharpener—but your skills with the computer are paramount. Many jobs today require competence with the computer, but since you will be working so much with bookkeeping and communications, a computer will be your best friend.

There are many types of accounting jobs around, and if you decide to make accounting assistant your title, you will most likely work in this office setting. You will be the accountant first and foremost, but you will have some secretarial duties—you will probably be put in charge of an office’s ordering, and it’s very possible that you will also oversee the office’s phone communications.

So while there are similarities between a secretary and an office accountant, there are differences; beginning with the most important one—the salary.

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