Accounts Payable Manager - Harrogate

Accounts Payable Manager

While a startup company will usually get by with a single accountant dealing with all the incoming and outgoing payments, as it grows, this becomes more complex, especially when the business relies heavily on suppliers. Whether it’s vendors, freelancers or other services, they normally work on credit, so won’t expect immediate payment, but will expect regular, timely and predictable payments after invoicing if the relationships are to survive.

In supplier-heavy businesses, the accounts department will often be split into accounts payable and accounts receivable, and overseeing the payable team will be the accounts payable manager. It is the team’s responsibility to ensure all invoices coming in are correct, matching purchase orders and other forms of confirmation that products and services have been delivered. Then, they’ll ensure payments are made within the agreed timeframes. The Accounts payable manager will put procedures in place to ensure the department runs smoothly, and will troubleshoot and chase up queries when the staff are unable to.

The skills required for senior accounts payable jobs

Accounts payable manager jobs are best performed by those who have worked their way up the accountancy departments of businesses, whether that’s in general accounts or specifically in accounts payable. Since payable and receivable do have different goals and responsibilities, experience in the payable side is often preferred, but there’s enough crossover to make the skills quite interchangeable at the managerial level.

The accounts payable manager will be an excellent communicator, and should know their way around the various accounting software suites. They’ll also need to be able to investigate queries and chase up disputes, as the supplier is often right when there’s an invoice disagreement.

Accounts Payable Manager Jobs in Harrogate

The North Yorkshire town of Harrogate came to national prominence in the 17th century as a spa town, and over the following centuries visitors would go to the place to take the waters, which they thought had healing properties. Of course, the common people would not have had the wherewithal or the ability to get to the town, especially since they would have been sick, so Harrogate became a resort for the wealthy. Hotels sprung up and the town took on a genteel atmosphere which, some would say, survives to this day. The streets of the town centre are lined with restaurants and cafes, and several large parks give the town a green feel.

Harrogate is 13 miles (21 km) north of Leeds and 18 miles (30 km) west of York. Although the Yorkshire Dales are just to the west and the North York Moors to the north east, the town is not in a national park. It is, however, separated from any major settlement by at least 10 miles of countryside in any direction. The A1(M) passes reasonably close by over to the west; Leeds and York are connected a via rail route that stops at the town.

Despite its largely affluent populace, the town does have some industry, and boasts the Harrogate International Centre, the UK’s third-largest conference and exhibition centre. Thanks to Bucks Fizz’s 1981 triumph, the Centre hosted the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest. It was won by the German singer Nicole, with her song A Little Peace, something non-Eurovision fans have wished for ever since.

With an economically active populace of about 70,000 and a constant stream of professional visitors and day-trippers, Harrogate has a healthy need for logistics and supply chain professionals, meaning that Accounts Payable Manager positions here and in the region are not uncommon.

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Accounts payable manager jobs at Cast UK

Is your business looking for an accounts payable manager? At Cast UK, we put companies in touch with capable, enthusiastic candidates who could be a perfect fit in your accounts department. Drop us a line on 0333 121 3345 so we can start searching.

If you’re an accounts payable manager or have the talent and experience to step up to the role, please register with us by clicking the link below. A top business could be looking for your skills right now.

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