Job description

The Accounts Payable or Purchase Ledger function exists to ensure that a company or organisation maintains a reliable and accurate record of all of its purchases.

Accounts Payable Clerks work within finance departments to keep the accounts payable or purchase ledger up to date. All incoming invoices relating to purchases must be properly coded and recorded on a central database or ledger in order to allow a company to understand how much is owed to external creditors at any one time.

A senior finance professional typically has overall responsibility for the Accounts Payable function, although day to day duties will often be carried out by a junior clerk or assistant.

Typical duties include:

• Matching, batching and coding invoices.
• Processing expenses claims.
• Dealing with payment queries and resolving payment disputes.
• Arranging payments by cheque, BACS or CHAPS.
• Reconciling supplier statements.
• Filing invoices and statements.

Accounts Payable specialists work within the public sector or commerce and industry in any organisation or business that deals with and buys from external suppliers.

Qualifications

There are no requirements for qualifications for those wishing to work as Accounts Payable Clerks. However, a sound level of numeracy and literacy is essential, with most employers requiring as a minimum GCSEs in Mathematics and English. Computer skills, especially knowledge of spreadsheets and databases, will always be useful for this function.

More senior positions in Accounts Payable/Purchase Ledger are often filled by experienced professionals who may be qualified accounting technicians (AAT) or qualified accountants.

Salary Snapshot

Recent salaries advertised on TopFinancialJobs (November 2009) include:

• £20-22,000 per annum for an Accounts Payable Administrator working for a company in the Thames Valley.
• £11-15 per hour for a temporary part qualified Accounts Payable Supervisor working for a TV production company in London.
• £14 per hour for a temporary Accounts Payable Analyst working on historical invoices for a media business based in the West End of London.
• £24-28,000 for a qualified (AAT or qualified by experience) Accounts Payable Manager working in the head office finance department of a company in West Yorkshire.

Do you work in Accounts Payable? Would you like to contribute to our "Day in the Life of..." series? Email us at info@topfinancialjobs.co.uk for more details.