What Does Back Office Mean?
What is the definition of back office? In general, the backoffice provides the required documentation and technical support to the front office to facilitate the course of work and the business transactions. People in the backoffice perform processing and data management tasks on projects handled by the front office such as keeping accounts, maintaining records, and checking regulatory compliance.
In some companies, the backoffice is also specialized to the offering of accounting and finance services as well as settlements, clearances and IT services. Although the backoffice is not facing the customers, it is the backbone of the company as it handles several functions that are important for the best representation of the organization to the customers by the front office.
Let’s look at an example.
Example
Georgia works as a backoffice manager at a brokerage firm in Chicago. Currently, the company occupies 35 brokers, but it is expected to grow soon. Georgia’s key role is to oversee the firm’s trading activity to ensure it complies with the regulations. She supervises the tasks of the back-office to ensure a good workflow with the front office, including reconciling trades between the front office and the back-office as well as with the brokers.
Furthermore, Georgia holds a BA in accounting. She is an Excel expert; therefore, she generates P&L reports to track the company’s performance. Also, she keeps a calendar of expiration days, and she manages the expiration process. Other tasks include improving the backoffice control processes, developing a back-office procedures manual, ensuring that the procedures are followed by all back-office employees, and implementing new processes when and where required. Georgia loves her job, and she is a team player with the skills to efficiently bring together the backoffice tasks with the front office responsibilities.
Summary Definition
Define Back Office: Backoffice means the admin employees who run the administrative side of the company.
