Financial companies require financial clerks to maintain organized records, assist customers and perform financial transactions. This administrative work supports a companies’ day-to-day workflow, though specific job duties vary by setting and specialty. Below we’ll take a look at the typical job duties of a financial clerk along with required education and potential salary and job growth data.
Job Outlook
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statics (BLS) predicts an 11% job growth for financial clerks by 2020. This is about the average growth for all occupations. More specifically, employment of billing and posting clerks is expected to grow by 20%, payroll and timekeeping clerks by 15%, insurance claims- and policy-processing clerks by 9%, procurement clerks by 6%, brokerage clerks by 6% and new accounts clerks by 2%.
Financial Clerk Job Duties
Financial clerks are primarily responsible for administrative work in banking, insurance and other companies. This generally involves maintaining and updating financial records, computing bills and charges, assisting customers and processing financial transactions.
While the basic duties of financial clerks remain consistent across industry, other responsibilities vary according to specialty and setting. Billing and posting clerks, for example, are responsible for calculating charges, developing and mailing bills and reviewing purchase orders, sales tickets and charge slips, among other documents.
Other common specialties:
- Payroll and timekeeping clerkscompile and post employee time and payroll data, in addition to ensuring employees are paid on time.
- Brokerage clerkswrite orders for stock purchases and sales, compute transfer taxes, verify stock transactions, distribute dividends and keep records of transactions and holdings.
- Claims- and policy-processing clerksprocess insurance policy applications and requests to change or cancel existing policies, which involves interviewing clients and working with agents and accounting departments.
Potential Salary for a Financial Clerk
The median annual wage of financial clerks is $33,710 according to 2010 BLS data. This means that half of financial clerks earned more than $33,710, while the other half earned less. The lowest 10% made less than $22,920 and the top 10% earned over $49,500.
Required Education and Training
Financial clerks typically need just a high school diploma for an entry-level role. Brokerage clerks, on the other hand, are typically required to have a 2- or 4-year college degree in business or economics. Most clerks learn their responsibilities through on-the-job training, which can usually take place in less than a single month. This also allows them learn individual company procedures and formal technical training, if necessary. Financial clerks should have excellent math skills for calculating charges, checking credit accounts and other financial tasks, in addition to strong communication and organizational skills.