Administrative Clerk Job Description Templates
Free administrative clerk job description templates for small business: general, medical, legal, construction, and first-hire versions. Download as DOCX.
Administrative Clerk Job Description Templates
6 free templates for small business, by industry, with the FLSA non-exempt and first-hire guidance generic templates skip. Download as DOCX.
An administrative clerk keeps an office running: filing, data entry, phones, correspondence, and scheduling. It is one of the most common hires a small business makes, and often the first administrative person on the team, reporting straight to the owner. Two things make the posting worth getting right: the role is non-exempt and hourly, which a surprising number of employers get wrong, and a clerk is not the same as an administrative assistant. This page covers both, with templates by setting and the details generic templates skip.
At FirstHR, we build onboarding for small businesses hiring without an HR department, where the owner or office manager writes the posting. The six templates below cover a general role, a small-business first hire, and medical, legal, construction, and records-focused versions. Each is ready to use. Fill in the brackets and post, and the guide to writing a job description covers the fundamentals.
What Is an Administrative Clerk?
An administrative clerk provides the general clerical and office support that keeps a workplace running: answering phones, entering data, filing and maintaining records, handling mail and correspondence, scheduling, and preparing documents. It is an entry-level, hands-on role that is the backbone of a functioning office, and in a small business the clerk is often the only administrative person, covering a broad range of tasks.
The federal occupation is office clerks, general (SOC 43-9061), which lists administrative clerk, office clerk, and general clerk among its job titles. They are the same broad role, distinct from more specialized clerks like a court clerk or an accounting clerk. The two things that shape the posting most are the setting, which changes the specific duties, and the non-exempt classification. The six templates split by setting so the document matches the real role.
Administrative Clerk Duties and Responsibilities
Administrative clerk duties cluster into four areas: front office and communication, data and documents, filing and records, and office support. A strong job description picks the specific responsibilities from each area that match your office rather than listing every possible task. These are the duties grouped the way the templates use them.
The emphasis shifts by setting: a medical clerk leans into scheduling and patient records, a legal clerk into confidential case files, and a records clerk into data entry and retrieval. For a structured way to scope the role, the guide to defining job responsibilities walks through the process.
Which Template Should You Use?
Pick the template by setting. The clerical core runs through all six, but each one emphasizes the duties and considerations that fit a specific kind of office. Use this guide to choose the closest fit, then adjust.
6 Free Administrative Clerk Job Description Templates
Download all six as a single Word document or copy individual templates. Each follows the same structure: company summary, job summary, key responsibilities, required and preferred qualifications, the non-exempt classification, pay, and how to apply, with an EEO statement. Fill in the brackets and post.
Template 1: General Administrative Clerk
The universal base: phones, filing, data entry, correspondence, and scheduling. Start here for any general office and adapt.
Template 2: Small Business / First Admin Hire
For a company's first admin hire reporting straight to the owner, with a broad scope and an honest non-exempt overtime note.
Template 3: Medical / Dental Office Clerk
For a medical or dental practice: patient scheduling and records, with confidentiality and privacy built into the role.
Template 4: Legal / Professional Services Clerk
For a law or accounting firm: client and case files, billing support, and confidential document handling.
Template 5: Construction / Trades Office Clerk
For a construction or trades business: job costing, purchase orders, and permit and compliance paperwork.
Template 6: Data Entry / Records Clerk
For a records-heavy role: accurate data entry, organized recordkeeping, and document systems that stay searchable.
What to Include in an Administrative Clerk Job Description
Every strong administrative clerk job description includes the same core sections. The templates above are built around them, so you can fill in the blanks, but it helps to know what each one is for.
| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Job title and reports-to | A clear title and who the clerk reports to |
| Classification | Non-exempt and hourly, full or part-time |
| Company overview | One or two lines about your office |
| Job summary | Two or three sentences on the support role |
| Key responsibilities | 8 to 12 duties across the four areas |
| Required qualifications | High school diploma and office-software skills |
| Preferred qualifications | Associate degree or industry experience |
| Pay and apply | An honest pay range and clear apply steps |
Keep the language neutral and inclusive throughout. The EEOC prohibits job advertisements that show a preference based on a protected characteristic, and the SHRM guide covers the standard sections of a job description.
Administrative Clerk vs Administrative Assistant
These two roles get confused constantly, and hiring the wrong one wastes time and money. The short version: a clerk handles routine office support, while an assistant supports a specific person and exercises judgment. Here is how they compare.
| Factor | Administrative Clerk | Administrative Assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Routine clerical support for the office | Support for a specific person or executive |
| Judgment | Follows established procedures | Exercises independent judgment |
| Typical work | Filing, data entry, phones, mail | Calendar, communications, projects |
| Level | Entry-level | More experienced, higher responsibility |
| Pay | Generally lower | Generally higher |
| FLSA | Non-exempt | Often non-exempt; depends on duties |
If you need routine office support, you want a clerk; if you need a right-hand person who manages priorities and makes judgment calls, you want an administrative assistant. In a very small office one person may do both, but the distinction still shapes the pay and the expectations you set.
Why Administrative Clerks Are Non-Exempt
This is the compliance point employers most often get wrong with clerical roles, so it is worth being clear: an administrative clerk is non-exempt, and paying a flat salary does not change that.
For the underlying rules, the exempt versus non-exempt guide and the Fair Labor Standards Act overview explain how overtime and the exemption tests work. Classify by the actual duties, not the title or how you pay, and confirm your state's rules, since many are stricter than the federal floor.
Administrative Clerk Pay
Administrative clerks are paid hourly, with pay varying by location and experience. Set your range using government data as a baseline, then adjust for your local market and minimum wage.
Because the role is non-exempt, overtime applies above 40 hours in a week. The occupation is projected to decline slightly over the decade, but with about 282,400 openings a year from replacement, so a competitive, transparent pay range still helps a small employer attract a reliable clerk. Set your range using current local data, and post a range where required.
Hiring an Administrative Clerk for a Small Office
A large office hires a clerk into a defined clerical layer. A small business hires differently, and faces three things the generic templates ignore: the role is broader and reports to the owner, it is non-exempt in a way that is easy to get wrong, and a clerk handles your records from day one, so onboarding is part of the hire. Here is how to handle all three.
From Hiring to Onboarding
The job description is step one. Once a candidate accepts, the same document becomes the basis for the offer and onboarding, and because a clerk works with your records and systems from the start, a structured first week pays off. The I-9 documentation and tax forms are part of getting started right, and an onboarding checklist keeps the first week on track.
Once your offer is ready, the offer letter template handles the next step, and an onboarding template gives the new hire a structured start. FirstHR connects the offer, paperwork, e-signatures, office-procedure training, and the onboarding workflow in one place so a small business can manage the full process, including the document management a clerk will help maintain, from one system. FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not an accounting or records tool, and it does not run payroll or administer benefits, so connect those separately. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an administrative clerk do?
An administrative clerk provides general clerical and office support that keeps a workplace running. Day to day, that means answering phones and greeting visitors, entering and updating data, filing and maintaining physical and digital records, sorting and routing mail and correspondence, scheduling appointments, preparing and formatting documents, and ordering office supplies. The exact mix varies by setting: a medical office clerk handles patient scheduling and records, a legal clerk manages case files and billing support, and a construction office clerk tracks job costs and permits. In a small business the clerk is often the only administrative person and covers a broader range of tasks, reporting directly to the owner. The role is hands-on, organized, and detail-oriented, and it is the backbone of a functioning office.
Is an administrative clerk the same as an office clerk?
Practically yes. The federal occupational classification places both under the same code, office clerks, general (SOC 43-9061), and lists administrative clerk, general clerk, office assistant, and office clerk among the sample job titles for that occupation. The terms are used interchangeably for a general clerical and office-support role. There are more specialized clerk roles that are genuinely different, such as a court clerk, an accounting or payroll clerk, or a dedicated file clerk, but administrative clerk, office clerk, and general clerk all describe the same broad role. When you write the posting, pick whichever title is most familiar to candidates in your area and industry, and describe the actual duties clearly so applicants know what to expect.
What is the difference between an administrative clerk and an administrative assistant?
The difference is scope and level of judgment. An administrative clerk handles routine clerical tasks that support the whole office: filing, data entry, phones, mail, and scheduling. An administrative assistant typically supports a specific person or executive and takes on higher-judgment work, such as managing a calendar and priorities, drafting communications, coordinating projects, and handling sensitive matters with discretion. The assistant role usually carries more responsibility, more independent decision-making, and often higher pay. In a very small business the lines blur and one person may do both, but when you are writing a job description, decide whether you need routine office support, which is a clerk, or a right-hand person who exercises judgment, which is an assistant, because that distinction shapes the duties, the pay, and even the FLSA classification.
Is an administrative clerk exempt or non-exempt under the FLSA?
An administrative clerk is non-exempt, which means hourly and entitled to overtime. A common and costly mistake is to put a clerk on a salary and assume the administrative exemption applies, but that exemption requires that the employee's primary duty include the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance. Routine clerical work, following established procedures for filing, data entry, and correspondence, does not meet that standard, so the role stays non-exempt regardless of whether you pay hourly or a flat salary. The Department of Labor specifically lists misapplying the administrative exemption to clerical workers as a frequent error. Track hours and pay overtime above 40 in a workweek, and state the non-exempt classification clearly in the offer. This is general information, not legal advice.
What qualifications does an administrative clerk need?
An administrative clerk typically needs a high school diploma or equivalent, with most skills learned through short on-the-job training rather than formal education. The core requirements are proficiency with common office software such as word processing, spreadsheets, and email, strong organization and attention to detail, accurate data entry, and clear written and verbal communication. Reliability and the ability to handle routine tasks independently matter as much as any credential. Preferred but not required qualifications can include an associate degree, prior office experience, or familiarity with industry-specific software, such as scheduling tools in a medical office or accounting software in a construction firm. Keep the must-haves short and realistic for an entry-level role, since over-specifying requirements shrinks your candidate pool for a position most capable people can learn quickly.
How much does an administrative clerk make?
Administrative clerks are paid hourly. The federal occupation that covers the role, office clerks, general, had a median hourly wage of 20.97 dollars, or about 43,630 dollars a year, as of the May 2024 data, with the lowest 10 percent earning under 14.00 dollars an hour and the highest 10 percent over 30.69 dollars an hour. National employment is around 2.6 million. Pay varies widely by location and experience, running higher in high-cost areas and for senior clerks, and lower in lower-cost regions and for entry-level hires. Because the role is non-exempt, overtime applies above 40 hours in a week. Set your range using current local market data and the applicable minimum wage, and post a range where your state requires it.
What should an administrative clerk job description include?
A strong administrative clerk job description includes a clear title and who the role reports to, the non-exempt and hourly classification, and whether it is full or part-time. Add a short company summary, a two or three sentence job summary, and eight to twelve key responsibilities grouped into front-office and communication, data and documents, filing and records, and office support. List required qualifications, usually a high school diploma and office-software proficiency, separately from preferred ones like an associate degree or industry experience. State an honest pay range, since a growing number of states require one, and close with an equal opportunity statement and clear apply instructions. For a small business, the most useful addition that generic templates skip is framing the role as a first admin hire reporting to the owner. This is general information, not legal advice.
Do I need a different job description for a small business?
Often yes. In a small business the administrative clerk usually reports directly to the owner and covers a wider range of work than a clerk at a larger company, where the role is narrower and sits within a defined clerical layer. A first admin hire at a five-to-fifty-person company might handle phones, filing, data entry, vendor coordination, and basic bookkeeping support all at once, so a generic big-office template undersells the breadth of the job and can attract the wrong candidates. The Small Business template on this page is written for exactly this situation, with a broad scope and an owner reporting line. Using a small-business-specific version helps you set accurate expectations and attract someone comfortable wearing several hats. This is general information, not legal advice.