6 free templates for the four different jobs that share this title: finance and accounts, receivables and collections, bank portfolio, client services, senior, and part-time. Download as DOCX.
The first account officer posting I ever reviewed for a small business was four jobs stapled together. It asked for bank reconciliations, collections calls, new client acquisition, and month-end close, at one hourly rate, from one person. The owner was not being unreasonable. He had copied the title from somewhere and filled in every task he wanted off his own plate.
That is the specific problem with this title. Account officer is not one job in the United States, it is at least four, and they belong to different candidate pools with different pay and different overtime rules. A posting that does not choose between them gets a pile of resumes with nothing in common.
At FirstHR we write hiring templates for owners who do this work themselves. The six below split the title into the versions that actually exist: finance and accounts, receivables and collections, a bank or credit union portfolio, client services, senior, and part-time. Each one states its own classification instead of leaving you to guess.
TL;DR
Account officer covers four different jobs in US hiring: finance and accounts, receivables and collections, bank portfolio work, and client-side account management. Most versions are non-exempt hourly roles benchmarked near $50,670 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025, bookkeeping and accounting clerks). Pick one meaning, then use the matching template below.
What an Account Officer Actually Does
In most US small businesses, an account officer records and reconciles financial transactions: coding vendor bills, issuing customer invoices, running the payment cycle, applying receipts, and reconciling bank and card accounts on a fixed calendar. The role feeds the close rather than owning it.
That description matches an accounting clerk almost exactly, which is why the federal wage survey has no separate occupation for it. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 1,613,400 people in bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerk jobs as of 2024, with roughly 170,000 openings projected each year through 2034 even though total employment is expected to decline, because replacement demand dominates.
The title travels differently outside the United States, where account officer is a standard posting in banking and finance. That is worth knowing before you use it, because it shapes who finds your job and what they assume it pays.
Finance and accounts
The most common US usage
Ledger entry, coding, payables, receivables, bank reconciliations, and month-end schedules. The work sits one level below a staff accountant and reads almost exactly like an accounting clerk posting.
Receivables and collections
One ledger, one number
Invoicing, cash application, aging review, payment plans, and escalation. The measure of the job is days sales outstanding, and the posting should say so instead of listing generic accounting duties.
Bank or credit union
Portfolio and lending
Managing a book of client relationships, analyzing financials, recommending deposit and credit products, and keeping the portfolio inside credit policy. Closer to a relationship or lending officer than to bookkeeping.
Client services
Account management by another name
Owning a book of client accounts at an agency, brokerage, or professional services firm. Renewals, service calendars, and escalations. In most US listings this is called account manager instead.
Write the Day, Not the Title
Before you edit a template, write one sentence describing what this person does between nine and five. If the sentence contains both a bank reconciliation and a new client pitch, you are describing two jobs and you will hire badly. Split them, or price the combined role like the senior hybrid it actually is. Candidates from four different talent pools are reading the same posting, and the only thing that sorts them correctly is a plain description of the work.
One Title, Four Different Jobs
Choose the meaning first, then choose the American title that matches it. Candidates in the US search for accounting clerk, accounts payable specialist, collections specialist, bookkeeper, or account manager far more often than for account officer, so the title you publish decides who ever sees the posting.
The table below maps each version to the closest federal occupational classification, which is also how you benchmark the pay. Our guides to the neighboring roles go deeper on each: the accounting clerk templates and the bookkeeper templates cover the finance side.
If the job is mostly
Call it
Closest BLS classification
Typical FLSA status
Coding, entry, payables, and reconciliations
Accounting Clerk or Account Officer (Finance)
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks (43-3031)
Non-exempt
Invoicing and statement production
Billing Specialist
Billing and posting clerks (43-3021)
Non-exempt
Chasing overdue invoices and payment plans
Collections Specialist
Bill and account collectors (43-3011)
Non-exempt
Closing the books and financial reporting
Staff Accountant
Accountants and auditors (13-2011)
Usually exempt
Client lending, deposits, and portfolio work
Relationship Officer or Account Officer
Loan officers (13-2072)
Fact-specific
Keeping and growing a book of client accounts
Account Manager
Sales representatives of services (41-3091)
Fact-specific
If your role genuinely spans two rows, say so in the posting and pay for both. A person who can run the receivables ledger and hold the client relationship is worth more than either specialist, and pretending otherwise is how the hire falls through in week six. Our account manager templates cover the client-side version in full.
Account Officer Duties and Responsibilities
A finance-side account officer job description has four duty groups: transaction work, reconciliation and close, account relationships, and controls. Most postings list the first group and stop, which understates the job and attracts data-entry candidates rather than people who can own a ledger.
Transaction work
Code and enter vendor bills and customer invoices
Run the payment cycle on a fixed calendar
Apply incoming receipts and clear unapplied cash
Keep supporting documentation with every entry
Reconciliation and close
Reconcile bank, card, and merchant accounts
Clear variances, duplicates, and aged items
Prepare accruals, prepaid, and account schedules
Hand a clean file to the accountant on a deadline
Account relationships
Answer vendor and customer account questions
Work the aging report and follow up in writing
Negotiate payment plans inside written limits
Escalate accounts that will not pay
Controls and records
Maintain vendor master records and W-9 files
Follow approval limits and segregation of duties
Keep an audit-ready trail for every transaction
Flag anything that looks wrong instead of guessing
The fourth group is the one owners skip and the one that matters most at a small business. Naming controls in the posting signals that you take financial hygiene seriously, and it quietly filters out candidates who have never worked anywhere with approval limits. Our general guide to writing a job description covers the surrounding structure.
Which Template Should You Use?
Match the template to the version of the role you settled on above, not to the title on your organization chart. Each of the six carries its own classification note, because the overtime analysis differs sharply between them.
Finance and Accounts
The default version
Payables, receivables, coding, and reconciliations for a business that needs the transaction work done properly. Written as a non-exempt hourly role.
Receivables and Collections
Cash in the door
For a receivables ledger that needs an owner, with aging targets, payment plans, escalation policy, and the overtime trap that collection incentives create.
Bank or Credit Union
Portfolio and lending
For a community bank or credit union hiring a portfolio manager, with the financial services exemption analysis and the employment bar for insured institutions.
Client Account Officer
A book of clients
For an agency, brokerage, or professional services firm, with renewals, service calendars, escalation, and an honest classification test on the actual duties.
Senior Account Officer
Owns the close
For the person who sets controls, reviews other people’s reconciliations, and owns the close calendar, with the exemption analysis the title alone does not settle.
Part-Time (Small Business)
Twenty hours a week
For an owner who wants the books off their plate a few days a week, with the contractor misclassification warning stated in the posting itself.
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Download all six as one file or copy them individually. Each follows the same structure: company overview, position summary, key responsibilities, required qualifications, a classification and compliance note, an equal opportunity statement, and how to apply. The bracketed fields are the only parts you change.
Download All 6 Account Officer Job Description Templates
Finance and accounts, receivables and collections, bank or credit union, client account officer, senior, and part-time. All in one download.
Template 1: Account Officer (Finance and Accounts)
The default version: payables, receivables, coding, and reconciliations, written as a non-exempt hourly role with segregation of duties built into the compliance note. Pair it with the accounts payable templates if you are splitting the function in two.
Account Officer (Finance and Accounts) Job Description
ACCOUNT OFFICER (FINANCE AND ACCOUNTS) JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Controller / Finance Manager / Owner]
[Company Name] is a [industry] business in [City, State] with [number] employees
and roughly [number] vendor and customer accounts. We are hiring an Account
Officer to own the day-to-day transaction work behind our books.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Account Officer records and reconciles financial transactions, processes
payables and receivables, maintains supporting documentation, and prepares the
schedules our [accountant / bookkeeper / controller] needs to close each month.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Enter and code vendor bills, customer invoices, and expense transactions in
[accounting system]
•Process the [weekly / semi-monthly] payment run and record customer receipts
•Reconcile bank, credit card, and merchant accounts on a [weekly / monthly]
cycle
•Maintain vendor and customer master records, including W-9 collection and
banking details
•Investigate and clear variances, duplicate charges, and unapplied payments
•Prepare month-end schedules: accruals, prepaid, and account reconciliations
•Keep audit-ready documentation for every transaction you record
•Answer vendor and customer account questions within [number] business days
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Associate degree in accounting / bachelor's degree / equivalent experience:
choose your bar]
•[Number] years in a bookkeeping, accounts payable, or accounts receivable role
•Working knowledge of [QuickBooks / NetSuite / Xero / your system] and
spreadsheets at the lookup and pivot level
•Accuracy under a recurring deadline, and the judgment to escalate rather than
guess
•Must clear a background check appropriate to a role with financial system
access
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE (read before posting)
This role is non-exempt. Recording, reconciling, and processing transactions
under established procedures is production work, not the exercise of discretion
and independent judgment on matters of significance that the administrative
exemption requires. Pay overtime past 40 hours in a workweek, track hours
accurately, and expect month-end and year-end weeks to run long. A salary does
not make the role exempt. Separate duties so that the person who enters a vendor
does not also release the payment. This is general information, not legal
advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [overtime policy], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 2: Account Officer, Receivables and Collections
For a receivables ledger that needs a single owner, with aging targets, payment plan authority, escalation policy, and the regular-rate warning that collection incentives create. The accounts receivable templates cover the wider function.
Account Officer, Receivables and Collections Job Description
ACCOUNT OFFICER, RECEIVABLES AND COLLECTIONS JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Finance Manager / Controller / Owner]
Compensation: $_ per hour, [plus collection incentive if you offer one]
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] carries roughly $_ in open receivables across [number]
customer accounts, with average days sales outstanding of [number]. We are
hiring an Account Officer to own that ledger and bring the number down without
damaging customer relationships.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Account Officer owns the receivables ledger: invoicing, cash application,
aging review, customer follow-up, payment plans, and escalation of accounts that
will not pay.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Issue customer invoices and statements on the [weekly / monthly] cycle
•Apply incoming payments and resolve short pays, credits, and deductions
•Work the aging report every week and contact accounts past [number] days
•Negotiate and document payment plans within limits you are given in writing
•Place accounts on credit hold and recommend escalation to [collection agency /
counsel] under our written policy
•Maintain a contact log for every collection call and written notice
•Report weekly on days sales outstanding, aging buckets, and cash collected
•Coordinate with [sales / operations] before any account is put on hold
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[High school diploma / associate degree / equivalent experience]
•[Number] years in receivables, collections, or customer account servicing
•Comfort with direct payment conversations and a written follow-up trail
•Working knowledge of [accounting system] and spreadsheets
•Must clear a background check appropriate to a role with financial system
access
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
This role is non-exempt: hourly and overtime-eligible past 40 hours in a
workweek. If you pay a collection incentive, that bonus is generally
non-discretionary and must be folded back into the regular rate when you
calculate overtime, which is one of the most common wage-and-hour mistakes in
receivables teams. Collection activity on consumer debts is regulated; the
federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act primarily governs third-party
collectors, but many states extend similar rules to creditors collecting their
own debts, so confirm your state rules on call times, contact frequency, and
required disclosures before writing a script. This is general information, not
legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [incentive structure], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 3: Account Officer, Bank or Credit Union
For a community institution hiring a portfolio manager, with the financial services duties test and the federal employment bar for insured institutions written into the note.
Account Officer, Bank or Credit Union Job Description
ACCOUNT OFFICER JOB DESCRIPTION (BANK OR CREDIT UNION)
Institution: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Branch Manager / Commercial Lending Manager]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Fact-specific (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per year, [plus incentive]
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Institution Name] serves [small business / consumer / agricultural] members in
[market area]. We are hiring an Account Officer to manage a portfolio of roughly
[number] relationships worth $_ and to grow it through referrals and
outreach in our community.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Account Officer manages an assigned portfolio of client relationships,
gathers and analyzes financial information, recommends deposit and credit
products that fit each client's circumstances, and keeps the portfolio within
our credit and compliance policies.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Manage a portfolio of [number] client relationships in [market segment]
•Collect and analyze income, asset, debt, and business financial information
•Recommend deposit, treasury, and credit products suited to each client
•Prepare credit write-ups and present them to [the loan committee / underwriting]
•Monitor portfolio performance, covenants, and past-due accounts
•Complete customer due diligence and identification records at account opening
•Refer clients to [mortgage / wealth / treasury] colleagues where appropriate
•Represent the institution at [community / business association] events
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Bachelor's degree in business, finance, or a related field, or equivalent
experience
•[Number] years in lending, branch management, or commercial relationship work
•Credit analysis skills sufficient to read a financial statement and a tax
return
•[NMLS registration required / not required: confirm for your product mix]
•Must clear the background check required for employment at a financial
institution
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Classification is fact-specific. Under the federal regulation on the
administrative exemption, financial services employees generally meet the duties
test when they collect and analyze information about a client's income, assets,
investments, and debts, determine which products fit that client, advise on the
tradeoffs, and service the relationship. An employee whose primary duty is
selling financial products to individual customers does not qualify. Whichever
way the role falls, an exempt classification also requires the salary tests.
Separately, federal law restricts who a bank or credit union may employ:
individuals convicted of certain offenses involving dishonesty, breach of trust,
or money laundering are barred from working at an insured institution without
regulatory consent, so build that check into your offer process rather than
after the start date. Confirm your own registration and licensing requirements.
This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Institution Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [incentive plan], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 4: Client Account Officer
For an agency, brokerage, or professional services firm assigning a book of clients to a named owner, with renewals, service calendars, and an honest classification test on the duties rather than the title.
Client Account Officer Job Description
CLIENT ACCOUNT OFFICER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Client Services Director / Owner]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Fact-specific (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per year
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] is a [agency / professional services / insurance brokerage]
business serving [number] clients in [industry]. We are hiring a Client Account
Officer to be the named point of contact for a book of [number] accounts worth
roughly $_ in annual revenue.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Client Account Officer owns the ongoing relationship with an assigned book
of clients: onboarding new accounts, running the service calendar, resolving
issues, tracking renewals, and identifying additional work our team can do.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Serve as the named contact for [number] client accounts
•Onboard new clients: kickoff, documentation, systems access, and expectations
•Run scheduled check-ins and produce the [monthly / quarterly] account review
•Track deliverables and deadlines across internal teams and chase what slips
•Handle billing questions, scope changes, and change orders in writing
•Manage the renewal calendar and prepare renewal proposals [number] days out
•Log every account interaction in [CRM] so coverage survives your vacation
•Flag at-risk accounts early with a written save plan
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Bachelor's degree / equivalent experience: set your bar]
•[Number] years in client services, account management, or a service-delivery
role in [industry]
•Written communication strong enough to summarize a messy situation in one
paragraph
•Comfort with [CRM] and a documented process rather than memory
•[Industry license required / not required: for example, an insurance producer
license]
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Classification depends on the actual duties, not the title. An account officer
whose primary duty is servicing and advising clients, setting the plan for the
book, and making decisions of consequence for the business may meet the
administrative exemption if the salary tests are also satisfied. An account
officer who mainly executes tasks assigned by someone else, schedules meetings,
and passes messages is non-exempt and owed overtime past 40 hours in a workweek.
If a commission or bonus applies, non-discretionary payments go back into the
regular rate for overtime on non-exempt staff. Decide honestly on the day the
person actually works. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [bonus structure], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 5: Senior Account Officer
For the person who owns the close calendar, sets controls, and reviews other people's reconciliations, with the exemption analysis the word senior does not settle on its own. If the role is really the top finance seat, use the accountant templates instead.
Senior Account Officer Job Description
SENIOR ACCOUNT OFFICER JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Controller / Finance Director / Owner]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Assess against the exemption tests (see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per year
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] processes roughly [number] transactions a month across [number]
entities or locations. We are hiring a Senior Account Officer to own the close
calendar, set the controls, and guide [number] account officers who handle the
daily volume.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Senior Account Officer owns the transaction cycle end to end: the close
calendar, reconciliation standards, control procedures, exception review, and
the development of the account officers doing the daily work.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Own the month-end close calendar and hit the [number] business day deadline
•Review and approve reconciliations prepared by account officers
•Set and document control procedures: approval limits, segregation of duties,
and exception handling
•Investigate and resolve escalated account variances and aged items
•Prepare the schedules and support our [external accountant / auditor] requests
•Train and coach [number] account officers and review their work quality
•Recommend process and system changes, then implement the approved ones
•Report monthly on close timeliness, error rates, and open items
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•Bachelor's degree in accounting or finance, or equivalent experience
•[Number] years in accounting operations, with at least [number] reviewing the
work of others
•Demonstrated ownership of a close calendar in a business of similar complexity
•[CPA / CMA / bookkeeping certification: required, preferred, or not required]
•Must clear a background check appropriate to a role with financial system
access
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Do not assume the word senior makes this role exempt. Exemption requires both
the salary tests and a qualifying primary duty. Under current federal rules the
white-collar salary threshold is $684 per week, which is $35,568 a year, after
the 2024 rule was vacated in November 2024 and formally rescinded in May 2026;
several states set a higher floor, so use whichever is greater. On duties, a
senior account officer who sets controls, exercises discretion and independent
judgment on matters of significance, and directs the work of two or more
full-time employees may qualify under the administrative or executive exemption.
One who simply does higher-volume transaction work with a better title does not.
Document your analysis in writing before the offer goes out. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [bonus structure], [benefits summary]
For an owner who wants the books off their plate two or three days a week, with the contractor misclassification warning stated in the posting rather than discovered later.
accounts, and preparing the file our outside accountant works from.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Work [number] hours per week on a fixed schedule of [days and times]
•Enter and code all transactions in [accounting system]
•Run the vendor payment cycle and record customer receipts
•Issue invoices and follow up on accounts past [number] days
•Reconcile bank and credit card accounts monthly
•Prepare the month-end file for our outside accountant
•Maintain W-9 records for contractors and flag anyone approaching a reporting
threshold
•Tell the owner within [number] days when something looks wrong
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years of bookkeeping or accounts experience in a small business
•Working knowledge of [accounting system]
•Available [days and times] on a consistent weekly schedule
•Discretion with financial and payroll information
•Must clear a background check appropriate to a role with financial system
access
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Part-time does not mean contractor. If you set the schedule, the location, the
tools, and the method, you are directing an employee, and calling the person a
1099 contractor is misclassification with back tax, back overtime, and penalty
exposure. Part-time employees are non-exempt here: pay hourly and pay overtime
past 40 hours in a workweek even if the schedule normally says 20. Note the
current 1099-NEC reporting threshold of $2,000 for payments made on or after
January 1, 2026, if you do engage genuine contractors elsewhere in the business.
Confirm your state rules on scheduling notice, paid sick leave accrual for
part-time staff, and final pay. This is general information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [benefits summary], [schedule]
To apply, email __ with your resume and availability.
FLSA Classification: Usually Non-Exempt
Most account officer roles are non-exempt, meaning hourly pay and overtime past 40 hours in a workweek. Transaction processing under established procedures is production work, and the administrative exemption requires a primary duty involving the exercise of discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance.
The banking version is the real exception. The federal regulation covering administrative exemption examples addresses financial services employees directly: collecting and analyzing a customer's income, assets, investments, and debts, determining which products fit, and advising on the tradeoffs generally satisfies the duties test, while an employee whose primary duty is selling financial products does not qualify.
Transaction work is non-exempt
An account officer who codes invoices, runs payment cycles, applies receipts, and reconciles accounts under established procedures is doing production work. The administrative exemption asks for a primary duty of office work directly related to management or general business operations, performed with the exercise of discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance. Following a documented close checklist accurately, however skilled the person is at it, is not that. Two practical consequences. Pay overtime past 40 hours in a workweek, and expect to pay it, because month-end and year-end weeks run long by design. And put the role on hourly pay rather than a salary, because a salary neither creates the exemption nor removes the overtime obligation. This is general information, not legal advice.
Financial services roles get their own test
The federal regulation on the administrative exemption addresses financial services employees directly. Employees in that industry generally meet the duties requirement when their work includes collecting and analyzing information about a customer’s income, assets, investments, or debts, determining which financial products fit that customer, advising on the tradeoffs, and servicing or promoting those products. The carve-out matters as much as the rule: an employee whose primary duty is selling financial products to individual customers does not qualify. So an account officer at a community bank who underwrites and advises may be exempt, while one whose day is quota-driven product sales is not. The salary tests still have to be met either way. Document which side your role falls on before the offer letter goes out. This is general information, not legal advice.
Incentives change the overtime math
Collection bonuses, portfolio incentives, and per-account commissions are usually non-discretionary, which means they are part of the regular rate used to calculate overtime for a non-exempt employee. A collector paid twenty-five dollars an hour plus a monthly collection bonus does not get overtime at thirty-seven fifty; the bonus has to be allocated back across the hours it was earned in, and the overtime premium recalculated on the higher regular rate. This trips up small finance teams constantly because the payroll system will happily compute the wrong number if nobody tells it about the bonus. Decide up front whether the incentive is worth the administrative work, and if you keep it, write the recalculation step into your payroll process rather than into somebody’s memory. This is general information, not legal advice.
Money-touching roles carry a screening duty
An account officer has access to your banking credentials, your vendor master file, and your customer payment data, which is exactly the combination that fraud losses come from. Screening is reasonable here, and it is also regulated. Employers using a third-party consumer report, including credit history, need written disclosure and authorization before the check and a pre-adverse-action notice with a copy of the report before turning someone down on it. Several states and cities restrict employment credit checks outright or allow them only for positions with genuine financial responsibility, and criminal history rules vary widely by jurisdiction. Financial institutions face a separate federal bar on employing people convicted of offenses involving dishonesty, breach of trust, or money laundering without regulatory consent. Confirm your state and local rules before you write the posting. This is general information, not legal advice.
Whichever way a role falls, the exempt path also requires the salary tests. The federal white-collar threshold is $684 per week, which works out to $35,568 a year, after the 2024 rule was vacated in November 2024 and formally rescinded in May 2026. Several states set a higher floor, and the higher number governs. For the regular-rate math that collection incentives complicate, see our guide to overtime rules.
There is no federal occupation called account officer, so any single salary figure you see for the title is an aggregation of unrelated jobs. Benchmark instead against the classification that matches the duties you settled on, and adjust for your metro.
The Percentile Ladder for Finance-Side Account Officers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks earned a national median of $50,670 per year, or $24.36 per hour. The ladder runs $36,000 at the tenth percentile, $43,520 at the twenty-fifth, $61,470 at the seventy-fifth, and $74,550 at the ninetieth (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS national estimates).
Nearest BLS classification
National median (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
What it benchmarks
Bill and account collectors (43-3011)
$47,030 per year ($22.61 per hour)
A receivables and collections account officer
Billing and posting clerks (43-3021)
$48,500 per year ($23.32 per hour)
An invoicing-heavy version of the role
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks (43-3031)
$50,670 per year ($24.36 per hour)
The default finance and accounts version
Sales representatives of services (41-3091)
$69,990 per year
A client account officer at an agency or brokerage
Loan officers (13-2072)
$76,690 per year
An account officer at a bank or credit union
Accountants and auditors (13-2011)
$83,680 per year
A senior role that owns the close and the statements
The spread between those rows is the whole argument for choosing a meaning before you post. An owner who benchmarks a bookkeeping role against loan officer pay overpays by roughly $26,000 a year; one who benchmarks a bank portfolio role against clerk pay never gets a qualified applicant. Where a pay transparency law applies, publish a good-faith range built from the row that matches your duties.
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An account officer needs a documented screening step, because the role combines banking credentials, vendor master file access, and customer payment data. State the requirement in the posting so it filters early rather than surprising someone at the offer stage.
Screening is also regulated. The joint EEOC and FTC guidance on background checks for employers sets out the sequence: written disclosure and authorization before any third-party report, consistent standards across applicants, and a pre-adverse-action notice with a copy of the report before you decline anyone based on it. Our guides to running a background check and state background check laws cover the details.
Credit Checks Are Not Automatically Available to You
Several states and cities restrict employment credit checks or permit them only for positions with genuine financial responsibility, and some require you to state the reason in the posting itself. An account officer role often qualifies under those exceptions, but the exception has conditions and the conditions vary by jurisdiction. Confirm your state and local rules before you write a credit check into the requirements, and never run one without written authorization. Financial institutions carry a separate federal bar on employing people convicted of offenses involving dishonesty or breach of trust without regulatory consent.
Hiring an Account Officer Without an HR Department
Small business finance hiring fails in three predictable places: the posting describes several jobs at once, the controls around the role are never set up, and the paperwork for a money-touching hire is heavier than anyone budgeted for. Each has a fix that costs nothing but attention.
The posting describes four different jobs, so the applicants do too
This is the single most common failure with this title. An owner writes account officer, lists bookkeeping duties, adds a line about growing client relationships because it sounds ambitious, and mentions a bank reconciliation. The resulting pile of resumes contains bookkeepers, collectors, salespeople, and branch staff, none of whom can tell which one you wanted. The fix takes ten minutes: decide which of the four jobs you are hiring for, delete the duties from the other three, and put a one-line description of the actual day at the top of the posting. If you genuinely need two of them combined, say so explicitly and price the role for both, because a person who can do the ledger and the client relationship is worth more than either alone.
You are hiring the person who will have access to your money
At a small business the account officer is often the only person who touches the ledger, which means there is nobody to catch a mistake and nobody to deter a bad actor. Two controls cost nothing. Separate duties so the person who sets up a vendor is not the person who releases the payment, even if that means the owner clicks approve on the phone. And read the bank statement yourself once a month, unopened, before anyone reconciles it. Then run the screening properly: written authorization before any consumer report, a pre-adverse-action notice with a copy of the report before you decline anyone on it, and a check of your state rules on employment credit history, which several states restrict.
The paperwork for a finance hire is heavier than for anyone else
A new account officer needs more than an offer letter. There are system credentials to provision at the right permission level, a signed confidentiality agreement, banking and payment authority documented in writing, an acknowledgment of your approval limits and segregation of duties, tax and I-9 paperwork, and a handbook sign-off, all of it before the first payment run. FirstHR was built for that sequence. The onboarding wizard runs the same steps for every hire, built-in e-signature handles the confidentiality agreement and the policy acknowledgments, document management keeps the signed authorities against the employee profile, and training modules cover your controls before the person has access rather than after. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR. Note that FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider.
Speed matters more than most owners expect. Finance candidates at the clerk level typically hold multiple conversations at once, and a small business that can decide in a week rather than a month wins hires it would otherwise lose on pay. The hiring templates library has the rest of the finance roles if you are building out the function.
From Hiring to Onboarding
Once the offer is signed, an account officer needs more setup than almost any other hire, and the sequence has to run before the first payment cycle rather than alongside it. System access at the right permission level, a signed confidentiality agreement, documented payment authority, and an acknowledgment of your approval limits all come first.
Treat it as a checklist with owners and dates rather than a pile on someone's desk. Our onboarding checklist covers the general sequence, and the finance-specific additions are the ones above. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR, so today the hiring stage stays wherever you run it, and the handoff into onboarding is the part we automate.
Key Takeaways
Account officer is not one job in US hiring: it covers finance and accounts, receivables and collections, bank portfolio work, and client-side account management, each with a different pay band and classification.
Most versions are non-exempt, because transaction processing under established procedures is production work rather than the discretion and independent judgment the administrative exemption requires.
The banking version is genuinely fact-specific: financial services employees who analyze customer finances and advise on products generally meet the duties test, while those whose primary duty is selling products do not.
No federal occupation is named account officer, so benchmark to the nearest classification: $50,670 for bookkeeping and accounting clerks up to $76,690 for loan officers (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Collection bonuses and portfolio incentives are usually non-discretionary and go back into the regular rate when you calculate overtime for non-exempt staff.
State the background check in the posting, get written authorization before any consumer report, and confirm your state rules before relying on employment credit history.
A finance hire carries more paperwork than any other role on a small team. FirstHR runs the same onboarding sequence every time, with e-signature for the confidentiality agreement and policy acknowledgments, document management for signed payment authorities, and training modules that cover your controls before system access is granted. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an account officer do?
It depends on which of four jobs your business means by the title, because account officer is used for all of them in the United States. Most often it means finance and accounts work: coding and entering vendor bills and customer invoices, running the payment cycle, applying receipts, reconciling bank and card accounts, and preparing month-end schedules for whoever closes the books. A second version owns receivables and collections, measured on days sales outstanding. A third sits at a bank or credit union and manages a portfolio of client relationships, analyzing financials and recommending deposit and credit products. A fourth is client-side account management at an agency or brokerage. They carry different pay, different classification, and different candidate pools, so the first job of writing the posting is deciding which one you mean and deleting the duties belonging to the other three.
Is an account officer the same as an accountant?
No. An accountant closes the books, produces financial statements, handles tax and audit work, and interprets the numbers. An account officer in the finance sense feeds that process: recording transactions, processing payables and receivables, reconciling accounts, and preparing the schedules the accountant works from. The distinction shows up in credentials and in pay. Accountants and auditors are a separate occupation in the federal wage survey, with a national median annual wage of $83,680 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, against $50,670 for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, the classification that most account officer roles fall into. Many small businesses run exactly this split: an account officer or bookkeeper in-house on the daily transactions, and an outside accountant on the close, the statements, and the tax return.
Is an account officer exempt or non-exempt?
Usually non-exempt, meaning hourly and entitled to overtime past 40 hours in a workweek. An account officer who codes invoices, runs payment cycles, applies receipts, and reconciles accounts under established procedures is doing production work rather than exercising discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance, which is what the administrative exemption requires. Paying a salary does not change that. Two situations are genuinely fact-specific. At a bank or credit union, the federal regulation on the administrative exemption says financial services employees generally meet the duties test when they collect and analyze customer financial information, determine which products fit, and advise on the tradeoffs, though not when their primary duty is selling financial products. And a senior account officer who sets controls and directs other staff may qualify. In every exempt case the salary tests apply as well, currently $684 per week federally, with several states setting a higher floor.
How much does an account officer make?
The federal wage survey has no occupation called account officer, so benchmark against the nearest classifications rather than a single number. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, national median annual wages were $50,670 for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, which covers most finance-side account officer roles, $48,500 for billing and posting clerks, and $47,030 for bill and account collectors. The client and banking versions sit higher: $69,990 for sales representatives of services and $76,690 for loan officers. For a finance account officer the useful range is the clerk percentile ladder, which runs from $36,000 at the tenth percentile to $74,550 at the ninetieth. Adjust for your metro, for system complexity, and for whether the role also owns collections or vendor management.
What qualifications does an account officer need?
For the finance version, most small businesses set the bar at an associate degree in accounting or equivalent experience, plus two or three years in a bookkeeping, payables, or receivables role. What actually predicts success is narrower than a degree: fluency in your accounting system, spreadsheet skill at the lookup and pivot level, accuracy under a recurring deadline, and the judgment to escalate an oddity rather than guess at it. The banking version usually asks for a bachelor’s degree in business or finance, credit analysis skill sufficient to read a financial statement and a tax return, and possibly registration depending on your product mix. A certification such as CPA or a bookkeeping credential is worth marking preferred rather than required at a small business, because requiring it removes strong self-taught candidates from a pool that is already thin.
Should I call the role account officer or something else?
In the United States, usually something else. Account officer is far more common in job markets outside the US, and American candidates searching for the same work typically use accounting clerk, accounts payable specialist, accounts receivable specialist, bookkeeper, collections specialist, or account manager depending on the duties. Titling your posting account officer without a clear duty list means the people you want may never see it, and the people who do see it will not all be applying for the same job. Two practical options. Use the specific American title in the posting headline and mention account officer in the body as an alternate title, which captures both searches. Or keep account officer as the internal title if it fits your organization chart, and lead the posting with a plain description of the day so candidates can self-select correctly.
Can I hire a part-time account officer instead of a contractor?
Yes, and for most small businesses that is the safer arrangement. If you set the schedule, the location, the tools, and the method, you are directing an employee, and classifying that person as a 1099 contractor is misclassification with exposure to back taxes, back overtime, and penalties. A part-time employee at fifteen or twenty hours a week is a normal, defensible structure for a business that does not have full-time transaction volume. Two things to keep straight: part-time employees are still non-exempt, so overtime applies past 40 hours in a workweek even when the schedule usually says twenty, and state rules on paid sick leave accrual, scheduling notice, and final pay generally apply to part-time staff too. A genuine outside bookkeeping firm that serves multiple clients, sets its own methods, and invoices you is a different arrangement and can legitimately be a contractor.
