Accounts Payable Manager Job Description

Salary Range

Varies by employer

Experience

Senior, 5 years or more

Work Environment

Corporate, hospital or campus finance office

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.

Other Job Titles for This Work

Workers in this occupation report titles such as Accounting Supervisor, Banking Center Manager (BCM), Branch Manager, Business Banking Manager, Credit Administration Manager, Credit Manager, Financial Center Manager, Financial Planning Manager.

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

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.

Accounts Payable Manager Pay Range

Highest-Paying States for Accounts Payable Managers

The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are New York ($219,880), Massachusetts ($206,760), New Jersey ($199,110), District of Columbia ($188,880), Virginia ($185,220). Pay is lowest in Arkansas ($116,570), West Virginia ($113,140), Mississippi ($111,390).

What the Work Is Like

O*NET surveys people who work as financial managers about their daily conditions. Of those surveyed:

• 100% say teamwork is very or extremely important in their job
• 99% use email every day
• 95% say being exact and accurate is very or extremely important
• 93% work indoors in a climate-controlled space every day
• 85% spend more than half the workday sitting
• 73% usually work more than 40 hours a week
• 58% are on the phone every day

Education Workers Say the Job Needs

Tools and Software Accounts Payable Managers Use

Tools and equipment

• 10-key calculators
• Desktop computers
• Notebook computers
• Personal computers
• Personal digital assistants PDA
• Scanners
• Tablet computers

Software

• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Office software
• Microsoft Outlook
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• SAP software
• Adobe Acrobat
• Alteryx software
• IBM SPSS Statistics
• Intuit QuickBooks
• Marketo Marketing Automation
• Microsoft Access
• Microsoft Project

Is This Job a Good Fit for You?

People who do well in this job tend to enjoy leading, persuading and making business decisions as well as organized work with data, records and clear procedures.

Skills O*NET rates most important: Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Critical Thinking, Writing, Monitoring.

Knowledge areas used most: Customer and Personal Service, Administration and Management, Economics and Accounting, Mathematics, Administrative.

Preparation: O*NET places this occupation in Job Zone 4 of 5, which means considerable preparation.

Related Careers

These jobs use similar skills, according to O*NET's related-occupation data:

• Chief Financial Officer job description
• Bank Manager job description
• Accounting Manager job description
• Accounts Receivable Manager job description
• Budget Director job description
• Bursar job description
• Controller job description
• Payroll Manager job description

Applying for an Accounts Payable Manager Job

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