Accounts Payable Jobs: A Complete Guide to Invoices, Payments and Month-End

The short version

Accounts payable (AP) makes sure a company pays what it owes, to the right supplier, in the right amount and on time. The work looks simple from outside, but the quality of AP protects a company from errors, duplicate payments and fraud.

Daily tasks

1. Collect invoices from email, a portal or scanning.
2. Check supplier name, invoice number, date, amounts and tax.
3. Match the invoice with the PO and goods receipt where required.
4. Code the invoice to the correct expense account and cost centre.
5. Route it for approval and fix queries.
6. Post the invoice in the system.
7. Prepare payments in batches by due date and get approvals.
8. Respond to supplier statements and payment queries.

Month-end duties

• Accrue for goods and services received but not yet invoiced
• Reconcile the AP sub-ledger with the general ledger
• Review aged payables and unusual items
• Clear unmatched receipts and old open items
• Support audit and reporting requests

Key controls in AP

• Segregation of duties: the person who creates a vendor should not approve their payments
• Duplicate invoice checks
• Verification of changes to supplier bank details
• Approval limits and documentation
• Tax and withholding checks

Tools

Most AP teams use an ERP such as SAP or Oracle, or accounting software such as Tally for smaller businesses. They also use invoice capture tools, workflow approvals, bank portals and Excel for reports.

Skills

• Accounting fundamentals: debit and credit, accruals and payables
• Excel: lookups, pivot tables, filters
• Tax awareness, including GST and withholding tax basics
• Written communication with suppliers
• Accuracy under deadlines

Career path

AP executive, senior executive, team lead, AP manager, then finance operations manager, controller or P2P head. Some move into audit, treasury or finance analytics.

Self-test: are you ready to apply?

• Can you explain what AP is in two sentences?
• Can you describe a three-way match?
• Can you build a simple pivot table in Excel?
• Can you explain what an accrual is?
• Can you write a polite email asking a supplier for a missing invoice?

Next step

If you answered yes to most, register on JobKarle and apply to accounts payable roles.