About the Accounting Assistant role
An Accounting Assistant supports the finance team with the daily transactional work that keeps the books current: entering invoices, processing expense reports, chasing missing receipts, preparing payments, and keeping records organized. It is usually an entry-level role, and for many people it is the first step in an accounting career.
In a small company, an Accounting Assistant often reports directly to an Accountant or the business owner and touches a bit of everything, from billing customers to reconciling the petty cash. In a larger finance team, the role tends to sit inside accounts payable or accounts receivable and focuses on volume: processing invoices accurately, matching purchase orders, and responding to vendor or customer queries.
Because this is an entry-level posting, your job description does the heavy lifting of filtering. Be explicit about the software the person will use, the transaction volumes they will handle, and how much guidance they will get. Candidates without much experience decide whether to apply based on whether the posting sounds learnable, so describe the training and the growth path, not just the tasks.
Accounting Assistant job description template
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Job brief
We are hiring an Accounting Assistant to keep the daily finance work moving accurately and on time. You will enter supplier invoices, prepare payment runs, issue customer invoices and chase overdue ones, check expense claims against policy, and keep the records tidy enough that month-end is uneventful.
This is a good first finance role if you are careful with numbers, comfortable asking when something looks wrong, and reliable about deadlines that come around every week. You will learn our systems properly and have plenty of support while you do.
Responsibilities
- Enter supplier invoices into the accounting system and match them to purchase orders
- Prepare weekly payment runs and get them approved on schedule
- Issue customer invoices and send payment reminders for overdue balances
- Process employee expense reports and check them against policy
- Reconcile supplier statements and resolve discrepancies with vendors
- Support bank reconciliations by collecting and organizing supporting documents
- Maintain digital and physical filing so every transaction has a traceable record
- Respond to routine queries from vendors, customers, and colleagues about invoices and payments
- Assist the accountant with month-end tasks such as accrual schedules and data checks
- Flag anything that looks wrong rather than processing it and hoping
Requirements and skills
- Some time in an administrative, bookkeeping, or finance support role, or a relevant internship
- Comfortable with numbers and genuinely careful with detail
- Works confidently in Excel or Google Sheets, formulas and sorting included
- Has used accounting software such as QuickBooks or Xero, or will pick it up quickly
- Writes a clear email to a vendor or a customer
- Discreet with salaries, banking details, and anything else confidential
- Organized enough to keep up with deadlines that repeat every week
- A high school diploma, with accounting or business coursework as a bonus
Nice to have
- A bookkeeping certificate or progress toward an accounting qualification such as AAT
- Experience with high-volume invoice processing or a shared inbox workflow
- Exposure to expense management or AP automation tools
- Experience in the same industry, especially retail, hospitality, or logistics
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