The back office (back end office) is a designation for business processes which are focused on operation and handling all tasks necessary to keep a company functioning. In other words back office is covering support processes of a company. Its goals is to support employees and improve the efficiency of the company.
Traditional arrangement is there are three distinct areas of business processes, and the back office is one of them.
- Front office means all processes where customers could interact with sales staff and others
- Production (or core business) means all processes where the product is made
- Back office covers all processes that help to keep the first two sections in perfect working order
A back office is likely to include the foundation for the performance and effectiveness of the overall company structure, all company departments. Back-office basically consists of these parts:
- Human resources is responsible for all employee-related processes - the relationship between the company and each employee, hiring process, onboarding and offboarding procedures.
- Information technology is responsible for information, data , technologies and telecommunications operating within the company.
- Compliance, Risks and Governance is responsible for the management and compliance of processes with legal requirements, and stakeholder interests.
- Facility, asset and equipment management is responsible for company properties and technologies and its maintenance.
- Financial and accounting is responsible for accurately recording the financial transactions that take place as the ongoing operation of the business.
Who is responsible for back end office
Who is responsible for the back office varies according to the size of the company
- in small companies it is the responsibility on the founder, CEO, or general assistant
- medium companies have an office manager, and the responsibility can be split between HR manager, IT manager and facility manager
- large companies have a back office manager, COO or sometimes the responsibility is under CFO supervision
Examples of back-office jobs
Every company's back office looks different and the job can vary depending on the size of the company and the industry. Here are some examples of back-office jobs, with basic information about their primary responsibilities.
- Office manager
- COO Chief operating officer
- HR professional
- IT manager
- Facility manager
- Compliance manager
- Accountant
- Security manager
- Risk manager
- Assistant