Accounts Payable Job Description (Duties, Skills, Salary & More)

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What Will be Your Job?

Accounts Payable’s job entails providing accounting, logistical, and clerical help to the company. Receiving orders, as well as sorting, checking, and reconciling invoices. The Job requires a responsible individual who can process all the invoices that are received for payment and can also monitor and undertake payments of all creditors in an accurate, efficient and timely manner. Some of the key responsibilities of this job include processing accounts and incoming payments. Taking care of day to day financial transactions, including verifying, classifying, and recording accounts payable data and preparing bills, invoices and bank deposits for the firm you are working for.

Accounts Payable Job Description

Educational Requirements

Although a degree is not mandatory for this field it is very important to have prior knowledge about bookkeeping and certain accounting skills are required for the the role of accounts payable. Having a degree always increases your chances of getting hired therefore, having a degree in the following can prove to be beneficial-

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Business
  • Economics

Having any of these degrees will not only increase your chances of getting hired but will also increase your efficiency. If you have knowledge about the job then you will enjoy it and will not be alienated from your work.

Even if you do not have the required degree a person holding an high school diploma or GED can also be hired for this job, depending on the company/firm that you might be applying in.

Where Will You Work?

Below is a list of places where you can be hired-

Hotels

You can be hired at a hotel where you will have to keep a and maintain a record of their financial transactions. You can work with a particular department or head the entire financial section. This depends on your qualifications, skill-sets, interests and prior experience.

Academic Institutions

Schools and universities also hire accounts payable clerks to maintain their accounts and finances. You will have to monitor the staff payments along with keeping an eye on fee receipts and numerous others transactions of your institute.

Corporate

You can also be hired by corporates depending upon their needs. You will have to maintain the records of their financial dealings. Depending upon the size of the company you can either work alone or with a team looking at different financial records. You might or might not have to deal with vendors as it also depends on the department you might be working with.

Stores

You can also be hired by departmental stores, daily need stores or supermarkets and other outlets where you will have to work over the maintenance of the stock and financial records of the place where you might be working. You will have to deal with vendors you procure your material from and manage their payments.

Private Firms

Private firms also need accounts payable clerks to maintain their financial records and transactions. There are numerous transactions that they need to keep a track. These firms are smaller in size therefore cannot afford multiple employees hence, you will have to keep a track of all their transactions by yourself and there are more chances of a higher income while working with private firms.

What Will Be Your Responsibilities?

1. Tracking Payments

You will have to keep a track of all the expenditures and payments which can include maintaining a record of purchase orders, invoices, stock statements etc. You will also have to keep a check on employees’ payments by verifying expense reports and preparing checks.

2. Reconciliation

You will have to reconcile the processed work by verifying the entries and comparing the stock records with balances.

3. Maintaining Historical Records

You will also have to keep a through record of all the transactions made in the past and time to time update the required records carefully. All the transactions including payments made to vendors and received from the customers is to be properly maintained.

4. Scheduling Payments

Your work will include scheduling the payments to your vendors depending on the financial cycle. You will be responsible for the smooth payment process and also will have to respond to the general queries of the vendors regarding finance.

5. Maintaining Proper Accounts

Lastly, your job includes maintaining and preparing proper financial records of all the transactions. You have to analyze the records and produce monthly reports that can help improving the payment process.

What Skills Do You Require?

Every job comes with its own requirements. Here is a list of skills that you need to have in order to perform better at this job

  • Accounting
  • Budget Tracking
  • Attention to detail
  • Data Analysis
  • Vendor relationships/ Communication Skills
  • Critical Thinking
  • IT Skills
  • Data Entry Skills
  • General Mathematical Skills

Salaries

As per the reports from the Bureau of Labor Statics the average salary of an accounts payable clerk ranged from $28,300 to $58,820 per annum as of May 2020, with the median salary being $39,590.

Conclusion

This article provides a through job description of an accounts payable. Your jobs and salaries largely depends on your qualifications and work experience. Having a degree will always give you an added advantage. If you possess the required skill sets and are really good at your job then there are possible chances of getting a higher pay.

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