What Does an Accounts Payable Manager Do?
As long as an organization buys goods and services, someone has to make sure every bill is genuine, approved and paid exactly once. In a large company, hospital or university, that someone is usually an accounts payable manager, who runs the payables team, the payment calendar and the controls that stop duplicate or fraudulent payments.
Accounts Payable Manager Duties and Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities of an accounts payable manager include:
- Manage the AP team's daily workload, approval queues and invoice backlog against agreed turnaround times.
- Approve payment runs over set limits and sign off on wire transfers.
- Set vendor-master controls, including independent call-backs before any change to supplier bank details.
- Report days payable outstanding, early-payment discounts taken and aging to the controller each month.
- Hire, train and schedule AP clerks and coordinators, and cover the desk during peak weeks.
- Negotiate payment terms with major suppliers alongside procurement and resolve escalated disputes.
- Lead year-end 1099 reporting and unclaimed-property reviews for uncashed vendor checks.
- Oversee the move to e-invoicing and virtual card payments, including testing and staff training.
- Audit a sample of paid invoices each quarter for duplicate, split or policy-breaking payments.
- Write the AP policy manual and brief department heads on purchasing and payment rules.
Required Skills and Qualifications
To succeed as an accounts payable manager, you will need the following skills and qualifications:
- Payables controls and fraud prevention
- Managing and coaching a clerical team
- ERP payables modules: SAP, Oracle, Workday or NetSuite
- Excel and metrics reporting (DPO, aging, discount capture)
- Supplier negotiation and dispute handling
- 1099 and state unclaimed-property rules
- Bachelor's degree in accounting or finance
- Calm under month-end and year-end pressure
Education and Training
A bachelor's degree in accounting, finance or business gets an application read, and time spent running a payables desk gets it shortlisted. Most managers get there as AP coordinators or supervisors, though a few cross over from general accounting or audit. BLS reports that degree plus five years or more of related work as typical for financial managers, the wider group these figures describe. In smaller companies, promotion can come sooner.
Salary and Job Outlook
Typical pay: varies widely for this role, and BLS does not publish pay for it separately. In the wider BLS group it belongs to (Financial Managers), the middle half of earners made $125,490 to $219,980 a year, and the median was $166,570.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Financial Managers.
BLS projects employment of financial managers, the wider group that includes payables managers, controllers and treasurers, to grow about 10 percent from 2025 to 2035. BLS also expects roughly 65,600 openings a year. Automation has trimmed the clerical side of payables, so the managers in most demand are the ones who can run controls, handle suppliers and make new payment systems work.
Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, Financial managers.