Accounting Specialist Job Description

Salary Range

$43,520 - $61,470

Experience

Early to mid-career

Work Environment

University or corporate finance office

What Does an Accounting Specialist Do?

Whether working with research grants, department budgets, or a company's general ledger, accounting specialists need to be able to trace a balance back to the entries behind it, such as a salary charged to the wrong fund. The job is distinguished from an assistant's in that specialists fix and explain the records for the finance office and department managers, usually with little day-to-day supervision.

Also known as: Accounting Technician, Senior Accounting Technician

Other Job Titles for This Work

Workers in this occupation report titles such as Account Clerk, Accounting Assistant, Accounting Associate, Accounting Clerk, Accounting Technician, Accounts Payable Clerk, Accounts Payable Specialist, Accounts Payables Clerk.

Accounting Specialist Duties and Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of an accounting specialist include:

• Reconcile general ledger and subsidiary accounts each month and clear old reconciling items.
• Prepare journal entries for corrections, transfers and recurring accruals, with backup attached.
• Monitor grant and fund balances; alert principal investigators and department managers to overspending.
• Review expenses charged to grants against sponsor rules and the institution's own policies.
• Maintain the fixed-asset register, including additions, transfers, disposals and depreciation runs.
• Analyze account variances and write short explanations for the accountant or controller.
• Process cost transfers and interdepartmental charges within the finance office's deadlines.
• Train department staff on coding rules, forms and the accounting system's report screens.
• Pull audit samples and answer auditors' questions about specific entries and approvals.
• Update desk procedures when a system upgrade or new policy changes how a task is done.

Required Skills and Qualifications

To succeed as an accounting specialist, you will need the following skills and qualifications:

• Account reconciliation and journal entries
• Fund and grant accounting, including federal Uniform Guidance cost rules
• Excel lookups, pivot tables and data cleanup
• PeopleSoft, Oracle, Workday or a similar ERP
• An associate degree or college accounting coursework
• Orderly, precise work habits
• Explaining accounting rules to staff outside finance
• Discretion with salary and financial records

Education and Training

An associate degree in accounting gives applicants an edge, although some specialists are hired without a degree after working as accounting clerks. Coursework in cost or fund accounting pays off in the grant and fund work many specialists handle. For the wider group of bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks, the BLS norm is some college but no degree, plus several months of training on the job.

Salary and Job Outlook

According to BLS, employment of bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks is projected to fall about 6 percent from 2025 to 2035. The figure covers every level in that group, from junior bookkeeping clerks to senior technicians. While most of the decline falls on routine data entry, reconciling and explaining accounts still takes a person who knows where each number came from and why it changed. BLS still expects roughly 144,100 openings a year.

Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks.

Accounting Specialist Pay Range

Highest-Paying States for Accounting Specialists

The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are District of Columbia ($65,180), Connecticut ($59,970), Massachusetts ($59,830), California ($59,230), Washington ($58,620). Pay is lowest in West Virginia ($42,890), Mississippi ($42,840), Arkansas ($42,840).

What the Work Is Like

O*NET surveys people who work as bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks about their daily conditions. Of those surveyed:

• 95% work indoors in a climate-controlled space every day
• 94% use email every day
• 91% spend more than half the workday sitting
• 91% say being exact and accurate is very or extremely important
• 86% are on the phone every day
• 69% say teamwork is very or extremely important in their job
• 54% use their hands on tools, objects or controls for more than half the day

Education Workers Say the Job Needs

Tools and Software Accounting Specialists Use

Tools and equipment

• 10-key calculators
• Desktop computers
• Financial calculators
• Image scanners
• Ledger sheets
• Notebook computers
• Receipt books

Software

• Intuit QuickBooks
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Office software
• Microsoft Outlook
• Microsoft Word
• SAP software
• Adobe Acrobat
• Epic Systems
• Google Docs
• MEDITECH software
• Microsoft Access
• Microsoft PowerPoint

Is This Job a Good Fit for You?

People who do well in this job tend to enjoy organized work with data, records and clear procedures as well as leading, persuading and making business decisions.

Skills O*NET rates most important: Mathematics, Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Writing, Speaking.

Knowledge areas used most: Customer and Personal Service, Administrative, Mathematics, English Language, Economics and Accounting.

Preparation: O*NET places this occupation in Job Zone 3 of 5, which means medium preparation.

Related Careers

These jobs use similar skills, according to O*NET's related-occupation data:

• Accountant Associate job description
• Budget Assistant job description
• Accounting Assistant job description
• Accounts Payable Coordinator job description
• Payroll Assistant job description
• Office Specialist job description
• Teller job description
• Accountant job description

Applying for an Accounting Specialist Job

• Business cover letter sample
• How to write the skills section of a resume
• How to describe your work experience
• Job interview tips
• Interview thank-you note

The Job Explorer never charges candidates any money. If someone asks you to pay to apply for a accounting specialist job or to get hired, treat it as a warning sign.