Accounts Payable Job Description Duties, Skills, Salary & More

By November 27, 2020February 9th, 2024Bookkeeping

The AP department will verify invoices against (purchase) orders and ensure the goods or services were received before issuing payment to their vendors. Use the accounts payable job description
to understand the typical accounts payable responsibilities and general
skill requirements for an accounts payable role in the organization. To write an effective AP accountant job description, begin by listing detailed duties, responsibilities and expectations. We have included AP accountant job description templates that you can modify and use.

Here’s a look at what you’ll probably need to bring to the table. But that doesn’t mean all you’d spend your time doing is writing checks (or, in the modern sense, paying bills online). The accounts payable job description goes much further than that. So, if you want to make sure that your employer keeps the lights on, accounts payable duties might be right for you.

  1. First, you need to understand; accounts payable isn’t necessarily the same thing as being an accountant.
  2. Generally, the door to the accounts payable world opens once you have a degree.
  3. We have included AP accountant job description templates that you can modify and use.
  4. If you don’t have the proper capabilities, handling the accounts payable duties is going to be a challenge.
  5. You can easily customize this template to add any accountant duties and responsibilities that are relevant to your company.

According to PayScale, the average salary for an Accounts Payable Accountant in the United States is $50,789 per year, with salaries ranging from $36,000 to $66,000 per year. However, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) can earn a significantly higher salary. On the site, look for the mission and values statements, as that gives you clues about the business’s culture and broader goals. The social media profiles also give you cultural insights, as well as showcase any recent company accomplishments.

By contrast, a low accounts payable turnover ratio means there is more time from receiving an invoice to the time payment is made. But that doesn’t mean that many of the duties listed in the accounts payable job description aren’t similar. When it comes to technical ability, most of the skills are universal.

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Ultimately, heading into the accounts payable world can be a smart professional move. Use all of the information above to your advantage, increasing the odds that you’ll be able to send your career in a direction that’s right for you. Generally, the door to the accounts payable world opens once you have a degree. Typically, you’ll need a Bachelor’s in a supporting field, such as accounting, mathematics, or a similar discipline. In the simplest terms, your soft skills are a reflection of how you navigate the corporate landscape.

Let them know how to submit their application and resume, or who to contact at your company to apply for the position. This is a full-time position based in our office in New York, NY. The salary range for this role is $50,000 – $60,000 per year, depending on experience and qualifications.

Accounting Supervisor Interview Questions

When dealing with procurement, especially for a larger organization with multiple departments, using a purchase to pay system can help automate a great deal of the tasks even for your AP clerks. Planergy allows for automatic three-way matching, which matches the purchase order to the receipt of the goods and to the invoice. This ensures that accounts payable clerks don’t have to spend time manually checking these things or tracking down the records. If something is different, it is triggered for manual review so your staff only looks at the situations that require human intervention. This ultimately allows for your accounts payable coordinators to be more productive while they’re on the clock. From there, you’ll lift the job responsibilities similar to the way they are shown above.

What skills are needed to be an accounts payable clerk?

By understanding what the hiring manager considers must-haves, you can address all of the critical points during your interview. Generally, the accounts payable provides administrative and clerical support for a subset of a company’s financial needs. Accounts payable focuses on outgoing money, like bills that need to be paid. If the business owes anyone cash, accounts payable deals with it.

There’s no upfront time or monetary investment required, so it won’t be long before you will see the true potential of your AP team. Instead, they will enjoy greater job satisfaction and productivity thanks to improved communication and faster approvals. An accounts payable workflow within any given organization begins when a supplier or vendor submits a bill or invoice to the accounts payable department. Accounts payable will then route the invoice for approval and when approved, the invoice is processed for payment. Although AP is largely a numbers-oriented job, it also requires solid communication skills.

We are looking for an Accounts Payable Accountant to join our finance team and manage the payment of invoices and expenses for our company. You will be responsible for ensuring timely and accurate processing of payments, maintaining vendor relationships, and reconciling accounts. At [Company X], we rely on a meticulous financial system to drive our business forward. The accounts payable (AP) department keeps that system running smoothly by managing cash flow and paying vendors and suppliers. We are searching for a skilled financial specialist to join our AP team to help process, track, and record payments in an accurate, efficient, and timely manner.

In double entry bookkeeping, the accounts payable department will receive an invoice and it will be recorded in the general ledger as a credit, then as an offsetting debit to the expense account. This matching principle follows the accrual accounting method where revenues https://turbo-tax.org/ and expensive are recorded in the same period, which takes place before the invoice is paid. While accounts payable (AP) is the amount of money a company owes its vendors, accounts receivable (AR) is the amount of money owed to a company from its customers.

They analyze invoices and expense reports, resolve accounting discrepancies, and charge expenses to accounts. This Accountant job description template is optimized for posting on online job boards or careers pages. You can easily customize this template to add any accountant ap accountant job description duties and responsibilities that are relevant to your company. Accounts Payable Specialist responsibilities include processing payments, verifying invoices and performing account reconciliations as needed. Accounts payable is a critical function in every finance department.

That’s right; there are a dozen or so accounts payable positions, not only one. Ideally, you want to have your job description be a few paragraphs or roughly 200 words. Mention the requisite years of experience and educational requirements, but be sure to mention what’s unique about your company and job.

When writing an accounts payable job description for your own company, you want to start with an introductory paragraph that introduces your company to prospective applicants. This is your chance to set your company apart from any competing job listings to sell yourself to potential employees. Accounts payable (AP) is a short-term debt and a liability on a balance sheet where a business owes money to its vendors/suppliers that have provided the business with goods or services on credit. Accounts payable is also referred to as the department that handles vendor invoices or bills and records the short-term debts in the general ledger (GL).

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