Senior Accounts Payable Specialist

About The Role

The Senior Accounts Payable Specialist is responsible for overseeing day-to-day Accounts Payable functions and serving as the primary operational lead for the AP Team. This role provides direct guidance, training, workload management, and compliance with company policies. The Senior AP Specialist serves as the primary liaison between the AP Staff and the AP Manager, escalating significant issues and providing regular reporting on team performance, aging, and operational metrics. 

The Senior Accounts Payable Specialist, reporting to the Accounts Payable Manager, supports the Accounting team through the execution of accounts payable activities, vendor account management, and cross-functional support within the AP function. You should be analytical and precise, but able to operate in ambiguity and adapt quickly in a fast-paced, evolving environment. 

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct daily AP team huddles. 

• Maintain a regular assigned invoice-processing workload. 

• Personally process invoices from receipt through coding, approval routing, publication, and synchronization. 

• Monitor accounts payable activity throughout the day, including inbox volume, draft bills, approval queues, due dates, exceptions, duplicate invoice risk, and items requiring follow-up.  

• Oversee high-volume invoice processing, vendor setup and changes, statement reconciliations, credit memos, refunds, and vendor inquiries. 

• Prepare and complete weekly check and payment runs, including reviewing approved invoices and due dates, selecting payment methods, confirming cash requirements, printing checks, preparing positive pay files when applicable, and confirming payments are properly recorded and released. 

• Review and approve new vendor accounts. 

• Present payment package for approval. 

• Monitor all AP inboxes and ensure timely response. 

• Serve as first escalation point for AP team members, vendor inquiries and issue resolution. 

• Assist with timely and accurate month-end close activities related to accounts payable, including accruals and account reconciliations. 

• Escalate critical suppliers as appropriate. 

• Maintain strong internal controls and ensure compliance with company policies and accounting standards. 

• Support audits by preparing documentation and responding to audit requests. 

• Identify opportunities to improve AP processes, efficiency and automation. 

• Provide training, guidance and support to AP team members. 

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to resolve discrepancies and improve workflows. 

• Review work for accuracy and completeness, identify recurring errors or bottlenecks, and implement process improvements and additional controls as needed. 

• Support month-end close by confirming AP cutoff, identifying uninvoiced liabilities, preparing or reviewing accrual support, reviewing the AP aging, and reconciling relevant accounts and reports. 

• Assist with vendor reporting, 1099 readiness, audit requests, and other AP-related financial reporting and reconciliations. 

What You Bring to the Table

Qualifications

• 5 -7 years of accounts payable experience with at least 3 years’ experience as a lead 

• Strong understanding of AP processes, three-way matching and internal controls, including high-volume and multi-entity processing 

• Prior experience in CPG, food & beverage, or manufacturing environments strongly preferred 

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or related field 

• CPA preferred

Mindset 

• Builder mentality with a passion for improving processes and creating structure in growth environments  

• High ownership and accountability with strong attention to detail  

• Curious, data-driven thinker who challenges assumptions and seeks better ways of working  

• Collaborative partner who can translate financial concepts into business insights  

• Proficiency in Excel (pivot tables, lookups, basic analysis). 

• Exposure to month-end close and audit support. 

• Ability to multitask, prioritize and organize effectively. 

• AuditFriendly salary estimate

  The employer did not post a salary for this role. Based on AuditFriendly's salary intelligence model (comparable live postings, role, seniority, and location), we estimate base pay of $60,000–$75,000 per year (median ~$69,000). This is an AuditFriendly estimate, not an employer-provided figure.

More live accounts_payable_specialist roles

• Accounts Payable at Hilton Accounting and Financial Services — Dammam, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia
• Accounts Payable Specialist at Gibson Dunn — London
• Sr. Accounts Payable Coordinator at Winebow — Virginia - Glen Allen
• Senior Accounts Payable Accountant, Global Finance Operations (Thailand Speaker) at Western Digital — Biñan City, LAGUNA, PH
• Accounts Payable Coordinator at Ursa Major — Berthoud, Colorado
• Accounts Payable Specialist I- Utilities at Ozark Services — Headquarters
• Accounts Payable Coordinator at Smithfield Foods — Smithfield, VA
• Accounts Payable Specialist at IHG — Türkiye
• Sr. Accounts Payable Specialist, Technology at AIR Communities — Denver, CO, US
• Temporary Senior Accounts Payable Specialist at Forbes — Jersey City, NJ
• Senior Accounts Payable Accountant, Global Finance Operations (Mandarin Speaker) at Western Digital — Biñan City, LAGUNA, PH
• Senior Accounts Payable Accountant at Corient — US-FL-Miami-830 Brickell-4800
• Accounts Payable Accountant (Maternity-Cover) at Roche — Budapest
• Accounts Payable Analyst at AAM — Porto, Portugal
• Accounts Payable Representative Ii at Thermo Fisher Scientific — Quezon City, Philippines
• Accounts Payable Specialist at Uline — 5 Locations
• Accounts Payable Specialist I at Department of Administrative and Financial Services — Augusta, Maine
• Accounts Payable Administrator at BDO — Toronto - Wellington St
• Accounts Payable Specialist at IDEX — Crawfordsville, Indiana
• Accounts Payable Analyst I at Rheem — Montgomery, AL, United States
• Accounts Payable Specialist at RELX — Tokyo
• Accounts Payable Specialist at AEG Worldwide — New York, NY
• Accounts Payable Specialist 2 at The Farmer's Dog — New York, New York, United States
• Accounts Payable Specialist I at Ozark Services — Headquarters
• Accounts Payable Associate at Cohen & Co — 3 Locations
• Sr Accounts Payable Representative at Thermo Fisher Scientific — Budapest, Hungary
• Accounts Payable Analyst at Moog — Buffalo, NY
• Accounts Payable at C&S Wholesale Grocers — Sheboygan, WI
• Accounts Payable Specialist I - Utilities at Ozark Services — Headquarters
• Accounts Payable Lead at Easton Pool & Spa — West Bridgewater, MA
• Accounts Payable Specialist at Dutch Bros — 1930 W Rio Salado Pkwy Tempe AZ 85281
• Accounts Payable Specialist Ii -1 at PPG — MEX - Queretaro Business Services
• Accounts Payable Coordinator at KEEN Footwear — Portland, OR
• Accounts Payable Specialist at Commonwealth Fusion Systems — Devens, MA
• Accounts Payable Specialist at Brookdale Senior Living — Milwaukee, WI, United States
• Accounts Payable Specialist I at First Interstate Bancsystem — Billings, MT
• Accounts Payable Administrator at Armstrong Fluid Technology — North Tonawanda, New York
• Accounts Payable Specialist at Abbott — 2 Locations
• Accounts Payable Analyst I at Kimberly-Clark — Pune Kharadi Hub
• Accounts Payable Specialist at Invenergy — Chicago, IL
• Accounts Payable Specialist at SpaceX — Hawthorne, CA
• Accounts Payable Specialist at Astrana Health — 14662 Newport Ave, Tustin, CA 92780 ("HOSPITAL")
• Accounts Payable Specialist at Sunrise Farms — Surrey, BC
• Accounts Payable Coordinator at Gip — Toronto, ON
• Accounts Payable Specialist - Netherlands at Globus Medical — Netherlands - Brunssum
• Accounts Payable Specialist at Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds — Suva, Central Division, FJ
• Accounts Payable Analyst at ATLAS SP Partners — Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
• Accounts Payable Specialist at Redwood Materials — Carson City, NV
• Accounts Payable Associate at YORK1 — Toronto, Ontario
• Accounts Payable at Walsh Group — OH_Cincinnati_226055
• Accounts Payable Specialist at Norwich University — Northfield, Vermont, United States
• Accounts Payable Associate at Hyman Brickle And Son — Woonsocket, RI, United States
• Accounts Payable Coordinator at Charger Logistics — Brampton, Ontario, Canada
• Accounts Payable Specialist - Hybrid Role | Full-Time at The Staff Pad — Earth City, Missouri, United States
• Part-Time Accounts Payable Associate at Vida Shoes International — New York, New York, United States
• Accounts Payable Administrator at UE Systems — Elmsford, New York, United States
• Accounts Payable at Tatonduk Outfitters Limited — Fairbanks, Alaska, United States
• Sr. Accounts Payable Specialist at Charles R. Drew University — Los Angeles, California, United States

Browse all live jobs · Accounting & finance salary data

What the data says about this job

• Advertised pay for Accounts Payable Specialist in San Francisco Bay Area: a median of $74,880 across 125 priced postings. Explore the market
• None of Kinder's's 8 tracked postings is more than six months old. Posting hygiene

Measured from employers' own postings and public filings. How we measure