Skip to content
Boston Career Explorer

Office and Administrative Support

Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks

Compute, classify, and record numerical data to keep financial records complete. Perform any combination of routine calculating, posting, and verifying duties to obtain primary financial data for use in maintaining accounting records. May also check the accuracy of figures, calculations, and postings pertaining to business transactions recorded by other workers.

Also called: Account Clerk, Accounting Assistant, Accounting Associate, Accounting Clerk, Accounting Specialist, Accounting Technician

Median pay in Greater Boston
$60,960
$29.31/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
21,170
Massachusetts 2024–2034
−6.8%
3,380 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Some college, no degree
plus Moderate-term on-the-job training

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$41,590$50,450$60,960$71,660$82,710

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Operate computers programmed with accounting software to record, store, and analyze information.
  • Check figures, postings, and documents for correct entry, mathematical accuracy, and proper codes.
  • Comply with federal, state, and company policies, procedures, and regulations.
  • Operate 10-key calculators, typewriters, and copy machines to perform calculations and produce documents.
  • Receive, record, and bank cash, checks, and vouchers.
  • Code documents according to company procedures.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Moderate exposure65 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 74
  • Language-model AIOE 69
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 51

Observed AI use today: Substantial (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for this job is moderate, and observed AI use is substantial. Accounting software and AI tools can help with recording, storing, and analyzing data and with checking figures. Federal projections say fewer workers will be needed as bookkeeping software improves, and Massachusetts jobs are projected to shrink 6.8% from 2024 to 2034. Tasks like following company and legal rules and handling cash and checks still rely on people.

Likely to change

  • Recording and analyzing data in accounting software
  • Checking figures and postings for accuracy

Still relies on people

  • Following federal, state, and company rules
  • Handling and banking cash and checks

What federal projections say

“Productivity change - share decreases as automated bookkeeping software will allow more bookkeeping work to be done by fewer employees.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

Related jobs that build on what you already do.

  • Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers

    Checking documents for accuracy carries over to verifying load paperwork. This move offers median Boston pay of $64,010 and 8.5% projected growth.

    Pay difference
    +$3,050 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +8.5%
    To get started
    Postsecondary nondegree award

  • Machinists

    Comfort with precise calculations carries over to figuring dimensions and tolerances. This move offers median Boston pay of $72,060, but it takes long-term on-the-job training.

    Pay difference
    +$11,100 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +2.2%
    To get started
    High school diploma or equivalent

  • Electricians

    Following rules and codes carries over to working from blueprints to meet safety codes. This move offers median Boston pay of $79,910 through an apprenticeship.

    Pay difference
    +$18,950 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +11.6%
    To get started
    High school diploma or equivalent

Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

4 programs near Boston

Related occupations

Talk to a career coach

A coach at the Office of Workforce Development can help you plan your next step, and connect you with training, apprenticeships and City partner programs that are not listed here.

Talk to a career coach