6 free templates for the business where one person runs the whole finance desk: general, payables focus, receivables and credit control, office hybrid, senior, and part-time. Download as DOCX.
The first time I hired for a finance desk I posted the words accounts administrator and got two entirely unrelated candidate pools. Half had spent years matching purchase orders to supplier invoices. The other half had managed client accounts at a software company and had never touched a general ledger. The title was doing none of the work I needed it to do.
That confusion is built into the title. In American usage an accounts administrator, plural, is a finance role: payables, receivables, reconciliations, vendor and customer records. An account administrator, singular, usually manages client accounts or system permissions. One letter, two different jobs, and both titles circulate freely in job postings.
The underlying occupation is large and stable enough to hire from. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projections counted 1,613,400 bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks in 2024, with employment projected to decline slightly through 2034 as software absorbs the repetitive parts of the work. At FirstHR we write hiring templates for the employer without an HR department, and the six below cover every shape this role takes at a small company.
TL;DR
An accounts administrator runs the day to day money in and money out of a business: payables, receivables, reconciliations, and the records behind both. No BLS occupation carries that exact title. The closest benchmark is bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks at a $50,670 median (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Six templates below, downloadable as DOCX.
What an Accounts Administrator Actually Does
An accounts administrator processes the transactions that move money in and out of a business, and maintains the records that prove those transactions were right. Invoices in, invoices out, payment runs, cash application, reconciliations, and vendor and customer master data.
What the role does not normally include is judgment about the accounts themselves. Financial statements, tax positions, and accounting policy belong to a bookkeeper, an accountant, or a controller. The accounts administrator works inside procedures someone else set, which is exactly why the job is usually non-exempt.
The whole finance desk
One person, both sides
Under about twenty employees the accounts administrator usually owns payables and receivables together, plus the records behind both. The job is defined by volume and routine, not by specialization, and the biggest risk is that nobody checks the work.
Payables weighted
Money out dominates
Businesses with many suppliers and few customers tilt this way: construction, manufacturing, restaurant groups, agencies with heavy subcontracting. Approval routing and vendor verification matter more than collections skill.
Receivables weighted
Money in dominates
Businesses billing many customers on terms tilt the other way: professional services, wholesale, medical practices, anyone invoicing after delivery. Here the hire lives or dies on the collections routine and days sales outstanding.
Blended with office operations
Half finance, half everything
In a small office the accounts work rarely fills a week, so it gets combined with supplies, facilities, scheduling, and front-of-house. Say that in the posting. Candidates who want a pure finance seat will not stay in a blended one.
Name the Ledger Work in the First Sentence
The single highest-return edit you can make to this posting is the opening line. Do not lead with a company boilerplate paragraph. Lead with the concrete work: processing supplier invoices, preparing payment runs, raising customer invoices, applying receipts, and reconciling accounts. That one sentence sorts the finance candidates from the client-services candidates before either group reaches your requirements list, and it costs you nothing.
Accounts Administrator vs Account Administrator vs Bookkeeper
The plural title is finance, the singular title is usually client accounts or system access, and the bookkeeper title marks the point where someone owns the accounts rather than processing them. Getting these straight before you post saves you a screening round.
The practical test for the bookkeeper line is close. If the role owns month-end close, journal entries, and the accuracy of the trial balance, write a bookkeeper job description and pay for that scope. If it processes and reconciles inside set procedures, an accounts administrator posting is the honest one.
Title
What the job actually is
Where it usually reports
Accounts administrator
Payables, receivables, reconciliations, and the records behind both
Owner, controller, or office manager
Account administrator
Client account setup, renewals, contract changes, or system permissions
Sales, customer success, or IT
Accounts payable clerk
Money out only: invoices, approvals, payment runs, vendor records
Accounting or finance
Accounts receivable clerk
Money in only: invoicing, cash application, aging, collections
Accounting or finance
Bookkeeper
Full cycle through trial balance, including journal entries and close
Owner or outside accountant
Accountant
Statements, tax packages, analysis, and the judgment calls
Owner, board, or finance director
Office administrator
Facilities, supplies, scheduling, and light finance support
An accounts administrator posting has to do four jobs: set expectations about the actual week, filter out the wrong candidate pool, protect you legally, and close the hire. Most versions of this posting do only the third, which is why they read like a compliance document and attract nobody.
The parts that set expectations
Industry, headcount, and rough transaction volume
Which side of the ledger dominates the week
What is blended in: office, payroll support, reception
Who reviews the work and who the outside accountant is
The parts that filter applicants
Accounting software and spreadsheet level, stated by name of task
Years of payables and receivables experience
Whether reconciliation and close are in scope
Background check notice for a role with payment access
The parts that protect you
FLSA classification stated on the posting
Approval limits and what this person cannot authorize alone
Confidentiality expectation for financial and personnel data
Equal opportunity statement and essential functions
The parts that win the hire
Hourly rate or a good-faith range
Schedule, overtime expectations, and remote or on-site
Growth path toward bookkeeper, senior, or controller
A named person and a real timeline to apply
The omission I see most often is transaction volume. Two hundred supplier invoices a month and two thousand are different jobs with different candidates, and leaving the number out means you learn the mismatch in month three rather than in the first screening call. The general structure is covered in our guide to writing a job description, and the full library sits in hiring templates.
6 Accounts Administrator Job Description Templates to Download
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 need to change.
Download All 6 Accounts Administrator Job Description Templates
General, payables focus, receivables and credit control, accounts and office, senior, and part-time. All in one download.
Accounts Administrator (General)
Both sides of the ledger
The default posting for a small business hiring one person to run payables, receivables, reconciliations, and records.
Payables Focus
Invoice to payment
For supplier-heavy businesses: three-way matching, approval routing, payment runs, vendor verification, and 1099 preparation.
Receivables and Credit Control
Invoice to cash
For businesses billing on terms: invoicing, cash application, aging review, and a written collections sequence with real trigger days.
Accounts and Office Administrator
Blended role
For the small office where neither half is a full job, with the split stated up front so candidates self-select correctly.
Senior Accounts Administrator
Owns close and supervises
For a team that has outgrown one desk: close checklist ownership, approval authority, supervision, and an honest exemption test.
Part-Time Accounts Administrator
Fixed hours, fixed list
For low volume: a weekly, monthly, and annual task list, plus the warning about calling a part-time employee a contractor.
Template 1: Accounts Administrator (General)
The default posting for a small business hiring one person to run payables, receivables, reconciliations, and records, with the outside accountant named as a working relationship.
For supplier-heavy businesses: three-way matching, approval routing, payment runs, vendor verification, and year-end 1099 preparation built into the duties.
Template 3: Accounts Administrator, Receivables and Credit Control
For businesses billing on terms, with a written collections sequence that has real trigger days rather than a vague instruction to follow up. Pair it with the billing specialist templates if invoicing alone is a full job.
Accounts Administrator, Receivables and Credit Control
ACCOUNTS ADMINISTRATOR (RECEIVABLES AND CREDIT CONTROL)
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Controller / Finance Manager / Owner]
[Company Name] bills roughly [number] customers a month on [net 30 / net 15 /
milestone] terms. We are hiring an Accounts Administrator to own the receivables
side: accurate invoices out on time, cash applied the day it arrives, and a
collections routine that keeps days sales outstanding under [number] days.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Accounts Administrator (Receivables) raises and issues customer invoices,
applies incoming payments, runs the aging and collections cycle, and keeps
customer account records and credit terms accurate.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Raise and issue customer invoices from [contracts / work orders / timesheets]
•Apply cash receipts daily and investigate short payments and deductions
•Produce and review the aging report [weekly] with [the owner / the controller]
•Run the collections sequence: reminder at [X] days, call at [Y] days, hold at
[Z] days, escalation to [named person] after that
•Set up new customer accounts, run credit checks where required, and record
approved terms and limits
•Issue credit memos and refunds under the approval policy
•Reconcile the receivables control account [monthly]
•Keep written notes of every collections contact on the account record
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years in accounts receivable, billing, or credit control
•A calm, professional phone manner with customers who owe money
•Working command of [your accounting software] and spreadsheets
•Ability to separate a billing error from a stalling tactic
•Must clear a background check appropriate to a role with cash access
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
This is a non-exempt hourly role. If any part of the job involves collecting
debts owed to another business rather than to your own company, federal and
state debt collection rules may apply to the contact methods, hours, and
disclosures, so confirm the scope before you write the collections script.
Consumer-facing collections carry more restrictions than business-to-business
collections in most states. Keep contact logs on the account record. 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]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 4: Accounts and Office Administrator
For the small office where neither half is a full job, with the split stated as a percentage so candidates self-select. If the finance share is minor, the office administrator templates are the better starting point.
[Company Name] is a [number] person business where one person keeps both the
books and the building running. We are hiring an Accounts and Office
Administrator to split the week roughly [60/40] between finance work and office
operations. This is the right posting when neither half is a full job on its
own.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Accounts and Office Administrator processes payables and receivables, keeps
records and reconciliations current, and runs day to day office operations
including supplies, vendors, scheduling, and front-of-house support.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Finance:
•Process supplier invoices, prepare payment runs, and file remittances
•Raise customer invoices, apply receipts, and chase overdue accounts
•Reconcile bank and credit card accounts [monthly]
•Maintain vendor and customer records, including W-9s and terms
•Prepare documentation for the outside accountant at close and year end
Office and administration:
•Order supplies, manage service vendors, and handle facilities requests
•Greet visitors, handle mail and deliveries, and manage [phones / inbox]
•Coordinate meetings, travel, and company events
•Maintain personnel files and support new hire paperwork alongside [named role]
•Keep the office calendar, contact lists, and equipment inventory current
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years in a combined finance and administration role
•Working command of [your accounting software], spreadsheets, and [email and
calendar tools]
•Comfort switching between focused number work and constant interruption
•Discretion with payroll, personnel, and financial information
•Must clear a background check appropriate to a role with payment access
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
This is a non-exempt hourly role, and the blended duties make that clearer
rather than murkier: office support work is squarely non-exempt, so the mix
cannot lift the position into an exemption. Track all hours, including work
performed on a phone after hours, and pay overtime past forty hours in a week.
If this person will handle personnel files, write confidentiality into the job
description and keep medical and I-9 records in separate files from the general
personnel file. 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]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 5: Senior Accounts Administrator
For a function that has outgrown one desk: close checklist ownership, delegated approval authority, supervision of processing staff, and an honest exemption test rather than an assumption.
Senior Accounts Administrator Job Description
SENIOR ACCOUNTS ADMINISTRATOR JOB DESCRIPTION
Company: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Controller / Finance Director / Owner]
Direct reports: [number] accounts administrators or clerks
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: Assess honestly against the duties test and the salary threshold
(see classification note)
Compensation: $_ per year
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] has outgrown a single accounts desk. We are hiring a Senior
Accounts Administrator to own the full payables and receivables cycle, run the
[monthly] close checklist, and supervise [number] people doing the processing.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Senior Accounts Administrator owns the accuracy and timing of the accounts
and the supervision and training of the accounts team.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Own the [monthly] close checklist for payables, receivables, and cash
•Review and approve payment runs and credit memos within delegated limits
•Reconcile all control accounts and resolve variances before close
•Set and enforce credit terms and limits within our written policy
•Supervise, schedule, train, and review [number] accounts staff
•Maintain the written procedures for every routine in the function
•Prepare the reporting pack for [the owner / the controller / the board]
•Own the year-end package for the outside accountant, including 1099 reporting
•Recommend improvements to controls, systems, and processing volume handling
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years in accounts administration, with at least [number] supervising
•Full-cycle payables and receivables plus reconciliation and close experience
•Advanced spreadsheet skills and command of [your accounting software]
•Judgment: knows which variance to escalate and which to resolve
•Must clear a background check appropriate to a role with payment authority
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Do not assume this role is exempt because it is senior and salaried. Exemption
requires both a salary at or above the federal threshold of $684 per week
($35,568 per year) and a primary duty that satisfies a duties test. An executive
exemption needs management of the enterprise or a recognized department, direction
of at least two full-time employees, and genuine authority over hiring and firing
or recommendations that carry weight. An administrative exemption needs the
exercise of discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance. A
senior processor who also checks other people's work usually meets neither.
State thresholds are higher than the federal figure in several states. Verify
both before you classify. 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], [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 6: Part-Time Accounts Administrator
For low transaction volume, with a weekly, monthly, and annual task list so the hours are spent on the right things, plus a plain warning about calling a part-time employee a contractor.
[Company Name] does not have enough transaction volume for a full-time accounts
person, but it has more than the owner should be doing at the kitchen table on a
Sunday. We are hiring a part-time Accounts Administrator for [number] hours a
week on a fixed schedule, with a defined list of what has to be finished before
each week closes.
POSITION SUMMARY
The part-time Accounts Administrator handles the recurring finance routine:
invoices in, invoices out, payments, receipts, reconciliation, and a short
written report on cash and aging.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Weekly:
•Process and code supplier invoices and prepare the payment run
•Raise customer invoices and apply payments received
•Send overdue reminders per the collections schedule
•File all supporting documents in [your system]
Monthly:
•Reconcile bank and credit card accounts
•Produce the aging and payables summary for [the owner]
•Flag anything unusual in writing rather than waiting to be asked
Quarterly and annual:
•Prepare documentation for the outside accountant
•Assemble the 1099 vendor list for review
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Number] years handling payables and receivables for a small business
•Ability to work independently on a fixed schedule with minimal supervision
•Working command of [your accounting software] and spreadsheets
•Clear written communication, because most updates will be written
•Must clear a background check appropriate to a role with payment access
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Part-time does not mean contractor. If you set the schedule, the tools, the
method, and the priorities, this is an employee, and calling the person a
contractor to skip payroll taxes is one of the most expensive small business
mistakes there is. A genuine independent bookkeeper who serves several clients,
sets their own hours, and uses their own systems may properly be a contractor.
Decide by the working relationship, not by the hours. Part-time employees are
still non-exempt, still tracked, and still owed overtime past forty hours in a
week if the schedule expands. 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, [paid time off], [schedule]
To apply, email __ with your resume and availability.
Controls on a One-Person Finance Desk
The moment you hire an accounts administrator, one person can create a vendor, approve a payment, and release the money. That combination is the single largest fraud exposure a small business carries, and the fix is procedural rather than technical.
None of what follows requires software or a second hire. It requires deciding which steps stay in different hands, writing that into the job description itself, and keeping one weekly review that the owner personally does. A clean payroll ledger and a clean accounts ledger come from the same discipline: everything is recorded, and somebody who did not enter it looks at it.
Split the three steps you can afford to split
Textbook segregation of duties assumes a finance department you do not have. The practical small business version is to keep three steps in different hands wherever possible: setting up a vendor or customer, approving a transaction, and releasing the money. If one person does all three, a fictitious vendor is trivial to create and almost invisible to spot. When the accounts administrator has to do two of the three, the owner takes the third, and the cheapest version of that is the owner personally reviewing the bank feed and the new-vendor list once a week. It takes fifteen minutes and it is the single highest-value control a small business has.
Verify bank detail changes by callback, always
The most common attack on a small business finance desk is not a hacked system, it is an email that looks like a supplier asking to update their bank details before the next payment. The control is procedural and free: any change to vendor or customer banking information gets verified by a phone call to a number already on file, never to a number in the email requesting the change, and the person making the call is not the person who processes the payment run. Write that rule into the job description itself rather than leaving it in a handbook nobody opens. It gives a new accounts administrator explicit permission to slow a payment down, which is exactly the instinct you want to hire for.
Collect the W-9 before the first payment
Information reporting is where a tidy accounts function pays for itself. Collecting a Form W-9 from every vendor before the first payment, rather than chasing them in January, is the difference between a routine year end and a week of unanswered emails. The reporting threshold for Form 1099-NEC rose to $2,000 for payments made on or after January 1, 2026 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed July 4, 2025, and the threshold is indexed for inflation after that. Confirm the current figure and the filing deadlines with the IRS before you file, and build the W-9 step into vendor setup so the data is already there.
Write the procedures down while you still have them
A small business accounts function usually lives in one person's head, which is fine until that person takes a vacation, resigns, or is out sick during a payment run. Require written procedures as part of the job, not as a project for later: how invoices arrive and get coded, what the approval limits are, when payment runs go out, how the collections sequence escalates, what gets reconciled and when, and where everything is filed. Two paragraphs per routine is enough. The document is also your onboarding material for the next hire and your evidence of process for an audit or a lender, and it turns a resignation from a crisis into a handover.
Year-end information reporting is the part that catches small businesses out most often, because the work happens in January but the data has to be collected all year. The IRS guidance on filing Form 1099 and other information returns sets out who must file and when. Build the Form W-9 step into vendor setup and the January work becomes a review rather than an investigation.
Is an Accounts Administrator Exempt or Non-Exempt?
Almost always non-exempt: hourly and entitled to overtime past forty hours in a week. Processing transactions accurately against procedures somebody else wrote is production work, and no job title converts it into exempt work.
The administrative exemption is narrower than most small employers assume. The federal regulation on administrative employees requires a primary duty of office work directly related to management or general business operations, plus the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance. The Department of Labor spells out how those phrases are read in Fact Sheet 17C, and following a detailed procedure carefully does not meet the standard.
A Salary Does Not Create an Exemption
Paying an accounts administrator a salary instead of an hourly rate changes nothing about classification. Exemption requires the duties test and a salary at or above the federal threshold of $684 per week, which is $35,568 a year, and several states set a higher floor than that. A misclassified salaried accounts administrator working fifty-hour weeks during close accrues unpaid overtime every single week, and the back-pay exposure runs two years, or three where the violation is found to be willful. Classify by the duties, track the hours, and pay the overtime.
The senior variant is the only one where the question is genuinely open. Real authority over credit terms and approval limits, plus supervision of a department, can support an exemption. Our breakdown of exempt versus non-exempt classification works through the tests, and the practical rules for paying overtime apply to everyone who fails them.
What to Pay an Accounts Administrator
No Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation carries the title accounts administrator, so there is no single figure to quote. Benchmark against the nearest classifications instead, and pick the one that matches the real weight of the job rather than the one with the highest number.
The Closest National Benchmark
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks had a national median wage of $50,670 per year, or $24.36 per hour. The percentile ladder runs from $36,000 at the tenth percentile and $43,520 at the twenty-fifth, to $61,470 at the seventy-fifth and $74,550 at the ninetieth (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS national estimates).
Nearest BLS occupation
National median (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
When to benchmark against it
Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks
$50,670 per year ($24.36 per hour)
The default match for a full accounts administrator role
Billing and posting clerks
$48,500 per year ($23.32 per hour)
Invoicing and receivables weighted, no collections ownership
Bill and account collectors
$47,030 per year ($22.61 per hour)
Credit control and collections are the bulk of the week
Secretaries and administrative assistants
$47,540 per year ($22.86 per hour)
Blended accounts and office role where finance is part of the day
Office clerks, general
$45,010 per year ($21.64 per hour)
Entry level, supervised, no reconciliation ownership
Accountants and auditors
$83,680 per year
Only if the role owns close, statements, or tax positions
Two adjustments matter more than the national figure. Metro variation is wide enough that a coastal small business paying the national median will get no applications, and scope creep is real: an accounts administrator who has quietly absorbed close and reporting is doing bookkeeper work and should be paid for it. Publish a good-faith hourly range where pay transparency laws apply, and check the same figure against a comparable accountant posting before you decide the level.
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Small business hiring for this role fails in three predictable places: the title pulls the wrong pool, the screening tests software instead of judgment, and the onboarding paperwork is heavier than for any other hire you make. Each one has a fix that costs nothing.
The title attracts two unrelated candidate pools at once
Post the words accounts administrator on their own and you will get finance people and client-services people in roughly equal numbers, because the title means both depending on where someone worked. The fix is in the first two lines, not in the title: name the ledger work explicitly in the opening sentence of the posting, say which side of it dominates the week, and put the accounting software in the requirements rather than at the bottom. Candidates screen a posting in about the time it takes to read three lines, so the disambiguation has to happen inside those three lines. Everything after that is detail for people who already know they are in the right place.
You are hiring for a seat that has no colleague and no reviewer
At a company of fifteen people the accounts administrator has no peer to check the work and no manager who knows the system better than they do. That changes what you screen for. Technical accuracy matters, but the trait that actually protects you is the willingness to raise a discrepancy instead of resolving it quietly, and you can test for it directly: give a short exercise with a deliberate mismatch between an invoice and a purchase order and see whether the candidate flags it, fixes it silently, or misses it. Reference checks should ask the same question of a previous employer rather than asking about speed or software.
The paperwork for a finance hire is heavier than for anyone else you hire
Onboarding an accounts administrator means more than a handbook and an I-9. There is a confidentiality agreement, a background check appropriate to payment access, banking and system credentials issued at the right permission level, written approval limits the person has actually read and signed, procedure documents, and a training pass on the controls before the first payment run. That is a sequence, and doing it from memory each time is how a step gets skipped. FirstHR runs it as one repeatable flow: the onboarding wizard sequences the steps, built-in e-signature handles the confidentiality agreement and the signed approval limits, document management stores clearances and certificates against the employee profile, and training modules cover the controls before day one. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR. Note that FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider.
Once the offer is signed, the work becomes a sequence rather than a pile. Run it against a written onboarding checklist with the finance-specific steps added: confidentiality agreement, signed approval limits, system permissions at the right level, and a controls walkthrough before the first payment run.
Key Takeaways
An accounts administrator processes payables and receivables and maintains the records behind them, working inside procedures somebody else set rather than owning the accounts.
The plural title is a finance role and the singular account administrator is usually client accounts or system access, so name the ledger work in the first sentence of the posting rather than relying on the title.
No BLS occupation carries this exact title; the closest benchmark is bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks at a $50,670 median, $24.36 per hour (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Almost all accounts administrator roles are non-exempt hourly, because following a detailed procedure accurately is not the discretion and independent judgment the administrative exemption requires.
Split vendor setup, approval, and payment release across different hands wherever possible, and verify every bank detail change by callback to a number already on file.
Screen with a short practical exercise containing a deliberate discrepancy, because the trait that protects a one-person finance desk is the willingness to flag rather than smooth over.
A finance hire carries more onboarding steps than any other role in a small company. FirstHR runs them as one repeatable flow, with e-signature for the confidentiality agreement and the signed approval limits, document storage for clearances and certificates, and training modules covering the controls before the first payment run. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an accounts administrator do?
An accounts administrator runs the day to day money in and money out of a business: processing supplier invoices, preparing payment runs, raising customer invoices, applying receipts, chasing overdue accounts, reconciling bank and control accounts, and maintaining vendor and customer records. At a small company the same person usually handles both sides of the ledger and prepares the documentation the outside accountant needs at close and at year end. The role is defined by routine and volume rather than by judgment: the procedures are set by someone else, and the value is in following them accurately and flagging anything that does not reconcile. What the job does not normally include is preparing financial statements, making tax decisions, or setting accounting policy. Those sit with a bookkeeper, an accountant, or a controller depending on how your business is structured.
What is the difference between an accounts administrator and an account administrator?
One letter separates two unrelated jobs. An accounts administrator, plural, is a finance role: payables, receivables, reconciliations, and the records behind them, reporting to an owner, controller, or office manager. An account administrator, singular, is usually a client-facing or systems role: setting up customer accounts, handling renewals and contract changes, or managing user permissions and access, reporting into sales, customer success, or IT. Because both titles circulate in American job postings, a posting that leads with the title alone attracts both pools in roughly equal numbers. Fix it in the first two lines of the posting rather than in the title: name the ledger work explicitly in the opening sentence, say which side of it dominates the week, and list your accounting software in the requirements. Candidates screen in three lines, so the disambiguation has to happen there.
Is an accounts administrator the same as a bookkeeper?
No. The difference is scope and ownership. An accounts administrator processes transactions and maintains records inside procedures someone else set: invoices in, invoices out, payments, receipts, reconciliations. A bookkeeper owns the full cycle through trial balance, including journal entries, month-end close, and the accuracy of the accounts as a whole, and is typically the person the outside accountant deals with directly. In practice the line moves with company size. At a fifteen person business the accounts administrator often creeps into bookkeeping work simply because nobody else is there to do it, which is fine as long as you pay for the scope you actually get and someone independent reviews the result. If the role owns close, write a bookkeeper posting instead and set the pay accordingly.
How much does an accounts administrator make?
There is no Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation with that exact title, so benchmark against the nearest classifications. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks had a national median wage of $50,670 per year, or $24.36 per hour, with the tenth percentile at $36,000 and the ninetieth at $74,550. Billing and posting clerks had a median of $48,500, bill and account collectors $47,030, secretaries and administrative assistants $47,540, and general office clerks $45,010. Pick the classification that matches the real weight of the job: full payables and receivables ownership benchmarks to the bookkeeping clerk figure, while a blended office role sits closer to the administrative assistant figure. Adjust for your metro area, because the spread between states is wider than the spread between these occupations.
Is an accounts administrator exempt or non-exempt?
Almost always non-exempt, meaning hourly and entitled to overtime past forty hours in a week. The administrative exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act requires a primary duty of office work directly related to management or general business operations plus the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance. Processing invoices, applying cash, and reconciling accounts against a written procedure is production work, and following someone else's rules accurately is not independent judgment in the regulatory sense. Paying a salary does not create an exemption on its own: the role must also clear the federal salary threshold of $684 per week, or $35,568 per year, and several states set a higher floor. A senior accounts administrator with genuine authority over credit terms, approval limits, or a supervised department may qualify, but test the duties honestly rather than assuming the title carries the exemption.
What qualifications should I require for an accounts administrator?
Set the bar to match the pay and the volume rather than copying a generic posting. For most small business roles the realistic requirements are a high school diploma or an associate degree, one to three years handling payables and receivables at a comparable business, working command of your accounting software, and solid spreadsheet skills. A bachelor's degree in accounting is worth requiring only if the role genuinely includes close, analysis, or supervision, and requiring it otherwise shrinks your candidate pool and raises the salary you need to offer for no return. Certifications are optional at this level. What matters more is accuracy under deadline and the instinct to raise a discrepancy rather than smooth it over, which you can test with a short exercise containing a deliberate mismatch between an invoice and a purchase order.
How do I hire an accounts administrator for a small business?
Start by deciding which side of the ledger dominates, then post the matching template with the software, the volume, and the hourly range stated up front. Screen with a short practical exercise rather than a long interview: a set of invoices to code, a small reconciliation, and one deliberate discrepancy to see whether the candidate flags it. Check references with the person who reviewed their work, and ask specifically about what happened when something did not balance. Because this role touches payments, run a background check appropriate to payment access before the start date, and set system permissions at the level the job actually needs rather than at administrator level by default. Then run onboarding as a sequence: confidentiality agreement, signed approval limits, credentials, written procedures, and a controls walkthrough before the first payment run. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
