Accounts Officer
Accounts officers process the invoices, payments and receipts that keep money moving in and out of an organisation.
- Median salary
- $75,000
4.0%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 93,000
0.5%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +5.9%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- High
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 40/wk
matches all-jobs average
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
Accounts officers work in the finance team of almost any organisation large enough to have one, handling accounts payable, accounts receivable and the reconciliations that sit behind them. The role is narrower than bookkeeping or accounting: accounts officers deal with the transactions themselves, while bookkeepers keep the ledger and accountants build the statements and advice on top of it. Construction, health care and manufacturing employers are the largest sources of these jobs.
How much do accounts officers earn?
The median full-time salary for an accounts officer is $75,000 per annum, before tax, up $15,700 since 2018.
Pay depends heavily on the sector and the size of the finance team you join, with enterprise agreements in government, health and large manufacturers generally sitting above the award. Accounts officers who take on payroll, credit control or BAS work usually earn more than those who stay on payables alone, and a formal bookkeeping or accounting qualification opens the higher bands. Part-time and school-hours roles are common in this occupation, so advertised figures can reflect a shorter week.
What does an accounts officer do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Matching invoices, purchase orders and delivery dockets to track down discrepancies before a payment is held up
- Chasing overdue accounts by phone and email, which means pressing for payment while keeping the customer relationship workable
- Entering and checking supplier and customer records so the details the rest of the business relies on stay accurate
- Reconciling bank statements and ledger accounts in Xero, MYOB or SAP at month end
- Compiling the figures the finance team needs to close the month on time
What skills do accounts officers need?
Employers look for bookkeeping and ledgers, regulatory compliance, backed by Xero fluency and strong attention to detail.
Specialist skills
- Bookkeeping and ledgers
- Regulatory compliance
Software and tools
- Xero
- MYOB
- SAP
- Excel
General skills
- Attention to detail
- Time and deadline management
- Written communication
Is the job growing?
About 93,000 people work as accounts officers in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 5.9% over the decade to 2035. That's modest growth: demand is steady rather than booming.
How do you become an accounts officer?
Here's the path most accounts officers take, step by step.
- 1Finish Year 12 with maths or accounting subjects
Around 34% of people working as accounts officers hold Year 12 or below as their highest qualification, so there is no single entry requirement. Accounting and maths subjects help, and employers look for comfort with spreadsheets as much as for grades.
- 2Consider a Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping
A Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping from a registered training organisation takes around six to twelve months and covers ledgers, reconciliations and payroll basics. It is the qualification employers ask for most often when they want more than a school leaver, and it counts towards BAS agent registration later.
- 3Build experience in an entry-level finance or administration role
Accounts payable clerk, accounts receivable clerk and finance assistant positions are common first jobs, and plenty of people move across from general administration. Learning Xero or MYOB through a short course, or by keeping the books for a community group, gives you something concrete to show at interview.
- 4Add a diploma or degree if you want to keep moving up
A Diploma of Accounting (FNS50222) takes about a year and covers management accounting, tax and financial reporting, while a degree opens the path to CPA or CA membership and more senior finance work. Neither is needed to work as an accounts officer, but the higher pay bands tend to sit behind them.
Ready to apply as an accounts officer?
Whether you're working toward becoming an accounts officer or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can an accounts officer move to?
Moving into Financial Accountant typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $29,200 a year more on average.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Accountant Accounts officers with ledger and reconciliation experience can progress to financial accountant after completing an accounting degree.Known move | +$29,200 | 37% | requalify |
| Credit Controller Accounts officers bring invoice, payment and account reconciliation skills to credit control, with a short course in credit management.Known move | +$18,900 | 57% | short course |
| Payroll Officer Accounts officers bring reconciliation, invoicing and award interpretation skills to payroll officer roles, needing minimal extra training to manage pay runs.Known move | +$8,500 | 75% | minimal |
| Bookkeeper Accounts officers bring journal, reconciliation and invoicing experience to bookkeeping, with a short course covering BAS and ledger requirements.Known move | −$2,200 | 62% | short course |
| BAS Agent Accounts officers with bookkeeping experience can register as BAS agents after formal study and supervised work, applying tax and payment knowledge.Known move | −$2,200 | 50% | requalify |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as an accounts officer?
The typical accounts officer is 45 years old; 85% are women, 63% work full-time, and full-timers average 40 hours a week.
- 45
- Median age
- 85%
- Female share
- 63%
- Full-time
- +0h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being an accounts officer?
The job runs on a monthly cycle: a heavy first week of processing and reconciling, a quieter stretch, then month end again, with payment runs and collection calls marking the weeks in between. The pressure is volume plus the awkwardness of chasing money you have no authority to release, and mistakes surface quickly because somebody downstream is relying on your numbers. People who settle into the work tend to like that each task has a clear right answer and a finish line.
What people like
- A clear right answer. A reconciliation either balances or it doesn't, so you know when a piece of work is finished and finished properly.
- Hours that stay at work. Month end can run long, but the work rarely follows you home, and part-time or school-hours arrangements are common across the occupation.
- Work available in every industry. Finance teams exist almost everywhere, so you can move between construction, health care and manufacturing without starting your skills again.
- A role you learn quickly. Much of the skill sits in the systems and the organisation's own processes, so new starters tend to be productive within months rather than years.
What people find hard
- Chasing people who owe money. Following up an overdue invoice with a long-standing customer you also have to keep on side takes tact and persistence, and it comes around every week.
- Volume and repetition. Large organisations can run thousands of invoices a month, and the same checks apply to each one.
- Everything landing at once. Payables and receivables deadlines, month-end reconciliation and any audit requests tend to fall in the same stretch of the calendar.
- Small mistakes that stand out. A transposed digit or a missed credit note is visible in the ledger, and fixing it usually creates work for somebody else.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ accounts officers?
Construction employs the largest share of accounts officers, followed by Health Care and Social Assistance.
Top employing industries
- 1Construction
- 2Health Care and Social Assistance
- 3Manufacturing
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Year 12 or below | 34.3% | |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelor degree | 20.7% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 16.1% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 15% | |
| Postgraduate | 8.7% |
Will AI replace accounts officers?
Accounts officer work rates high for AI exposure because so much of it is rules-based: reading a supplier invoice, matching it to a purchase order, coding it and scheduling the payment. Optical character recognition and automated matching already handle this for clean, high-volume transactions in the major accounting systems. What keeps a person in the job is the exceptions, the conversations with debtors and the working knowledge of how a particular organisation's accounts actually behave.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Processing and coding supplier invoicesCapture tools read most invoices and post them to the right account, so your time goes on the ones the system flags or can't read.40%high
- Reconciling bank and ledger accountsBank feeds match most transactions automatically, leaving timing differences and unusual entries for you to chase down.25%moderate
- Chasing overdue accountsJudging how hard to push, when to hold supply and when to escalate depends on a customer relationship and a cash position that software can't read.20%low
- Reporting to the finance team at month endThe system produces the standard reports, but explaining why a balance moved and what is still outstanding is still done by hand.15%moderate
Common questions about becoming an accounts officer
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much do accounts officers earn?
$75,000 per annum, before tax, is the median for full-time accounts officers. Sector and duties move that figure most: payroll or credit control work, and finance teams in government or large employers, generally pay more than payables-only roles. Part-time workers earn proportionally less.
How do you become an accounts officer?
There is no single qualification, and many accounts officers start from school or move across from administration. A Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping (FNS40222) is the credential employers ask for most often, while hands-on experience with Xero, MYOB or SAP counts heavily because the daily work happens in those systems.
Are accounts officers in demand?
Accounts officers are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 5.9% over the decade to 2035. About 93,000 people work in the occupation, and because almost every organisation needs its transactions processed, openings come from turnover and business growth across a wide spread of industries.
Will AI replace accounts officers?
A large share of the routine processing is already automated, with invoice capture, matching and coding handled by software for straightforward transactions. What stays with the accounts officer is the exceptions, the collection calls and the judgement about whether a discrepancy is a timing issue or a real problem. Employers increasingly expect you to work with the automation and watch what it produces.
What can accounts officers move into?
Payroll officer uses the same reconciliation and award interpretation skills with minimal retraining, and it pays $8,500 more. Credit controller applies the invoice and payment side of the job to managing debtors after a short course in credit management, paying $18,900 more. Movement the other way into bookkeeping needs little extra training and pays $2,200 less; from there, registering as a BAS agent and running your own practice is often where earnings grow.
What is the difference between an accounts officer and a bookkeeper?
Accounts officers handle the transactions: raising invoices, processing payments, chasing debtors and reconciling accounts. Bookkeepers keep the broader ledger and often lodge BAS, while accountants prepare the financial statements and tax returns. The three sit at increasing levels of scope, which is why the moves between them are common.
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