Accounts Payable Manager Job Description & Career Guide
Are you ready to take the lead in accounts payable and step into a role where your organisational skills and financial insight can shine?
As an Accounts Payable Manager, you'll play a key role in managing payment processes, supporting business operations, and driving team performance.
Whether you're looking to move into your first leadership role or you're an experienced AP professional ready for a bigger challenge, this guide will help you understand what the job involves, the skills you’ll need, and where it can take your career.
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An Accounts Payable Manager oversees all outgoing payments for a business.
This includes managing supplier invoices, maintaining accurate records, ensuring deadlines are met, and supervising staff in the accounts payable department.
In larger organisations, you may report to a Shared Services or Finance Manager. In smaller teams, you’ll likely be hands-on with both approvals and processing.
No two companies are identical, but here’s what your core duties could look like:
Monitor and manage the flow of invoices from receipt through to payment.
Guide and support AP Officers or Assistants, helping them meet performance targets.
Maintain relationships with vendors and resolve queries or disputes.
Ensure ERP or accounting systems are up to date and coded correctly.
Review and authorise employee expense claims and payment runs.
Balance supplier accounts and corporate card statements regularly.
Contribute to monthly reporting cycles by preparing summaries of outstanding payments, aged creditors, and payment trends.
Employers typically look for candidates with:
Solid understanding of accounts payable principles and the full purchase-to-pay cycle.
Experience managing people or readiness to step into a supervisory role.
Confidence using platforms like SAP, Oracle, Pronto, or NetSuite.
Ability to communicate clearly with internal stakeholders and external vendors.
Analytical mindset to identify discrepancies and process inefficiencies.
Detail-oriented, especially in high-volume invoice environments.
There’s no single path, but most Accounts Payable Managers come from one of the following routes:
Progressed from an Accounts Payable Officer or Administrator role
Held a team leader or senior processing role in finance
Completed certificates or diplomas in accounting or bookkeeping
Gained on-the-job leadership experience managing staff or delegating tasks
A formal accounting qualification (like CA or CPA) is not usually required for this role, but it may support career progression.
Accounts Payable Manager roles offer strong progression potential. Depending on your interests and strengths, you could move into:
Shared Services Manager – managing AP, AR and payroll functions across multiple teams
Finance Manager – expanding into broader budgeting, reporting, and compliance
Systems Accountant – specialising in finance software and automation projects
Financial Accountant – with further technical training or qualifications
Richard Lloyd recruits for a wide range of AP Manager roles across Sydney. We work with mid-tier firms, multinationals, and rapidly growing Australian businesses.
Let us help you find your next move.
📞 Call our team on 02 8324 5640
📧 Email us at enquiries@richardlloyd.com.au
Not always. If you’ve been in a senior AP position and demonstrated leadership potential, many employers are open to promoting from within.
You’ll find AP Managers across every industry - from construction and logistics to media, retail, government, and not-for-profits.
Yes. There’s strong demand for experienced AP professionals, and the skills are transferable across industries. It’s also a strong stepping stone to more senior finance roles.
An AP Manager is responsible for managing all the company's payments to suppliers. If the company receives a huge volume of supplier invoices, you would manage a team of Accounts Payable Officers to ensure payments are managed and recorded correctly.
Skills that are required include a background in full-function accounts payable processing, strong attention to detail, staff management and leadership experience. You also need strong technology skills to work with complex accounting systems.
An Accounts Payable Manager can pursue several career paths. If you excel at managing people, you can pursue a Shared Services Manager role. If you have strong System skills, more systems-accounting roles are a possibility. If accounting is your speciality, you could study for an Accounting qualification and then find a role in financial accounting.
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