The Role of Accounting in Business Administration

Business administrators wear many hats in their jobs. One of the roles in business administration is to handle accounting duties. Business administrators are not accountants, but their role often overlaps with basic accounting and finance tasks.

Does Business Administration Include Accounting?

You may wonder if business administration jobs include accounting or finance responsibilities. While every business administration role is unique, most include at least some accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll support. It’s important for administrators to have at least a basic understanding of accounting and finance so they can support the accounting needs of a business.

Business Administrative Accounting Tasks

Business administrative assistants often help with bookkeeping duties. In Canada, business administrators are not certified accountants, but many of their responsibilities can include accounting tasks, particularly for small businesses where administrative assistants juggle many responsibilities. Some common accounting, payroll and financial tasks include:

• Basic bookkeeping: Recording transactions, tracking expenses and preparing simple reports.
• Accounts receivable/payable: Issuing invoices, processing payments and following up on overdue accounts.
• Payroll support: Collecting timesheets, entering hours and ensuring information is correct for payroll processing.
• Budget monitoring: Helping managers track spending against budgets and submitting budget reports.
• Finance coordination: Assisting accountants and finance departments by preparing and organizing finance reports and other documentation.

What You’ll Learn in a Business Administration Accounting Course

A business administration assistant curriculum includes a variety of classes on computer and communication programs, various software and other office administrative information. They also include accounting and financing courses that cover introductory topics related to accounting, billing, records management and finance.

An introduction to finance and billing teaches students about financial statements, such as income statements (profit & loss or P&L), balance sheets and cash flow statements. Understanding what goes into each of these statements and how they are created provides the foundation for administrative assistants to support in the creation of these documents. Business admin programs may also include information about the process for reporting and filing financial statements and taxes so they will be able to support a business’s accounting needs.

Billing and invoicing is another way business administrators support accounting duties. Business administration assistant programs train students on accounts receivable and payable processes, billing and accounting software and how to generate revenue reports.

File records management is another part of accounting that business administration courses cover. Courses include several key areas: file management systems, inventory retrieval and the security of paper and electronic documents. They may also include creating company file management processes and records retention policies.

Discover other courses taught in MaKami’s Business Administration Assistant program

Accounting Used in Business Administration

As we can see, business administration jobs include many accounting duties. Accounting duties vary by role, but may include bookkeeping, billing and collections, payroll administration, financial reporting, records management and more. Business administrators are an integral part of executing accounting and finance duties for companies.

Learn Accounting and Get a Business Administration Certificate

If you’re interested in a career where you support businesses in their accounting responsibilities, a career in business administration may be right for you. MaKami’s Business Administration Assistant certificate program is designed to be completed in just ten months so you can start your career in less than a year. Get pre-approved today to get started!