A Business Office Associate is responsible for a varied number of tasks, both clerical and more complex, and they must aid their colleagues in their work. They often greet and help business patrons as necessary, answer phones and emails, and assist in financial transactions.

They may have other duties, too, such as handling paperwork, creating and maintaining records and databases, taking minutes, conducting research, helping with setting up and rolling out payrolls. They are also responsible for assisting new employees, including providing guidance and training to them as needed, answering customer inquiries and walking them through contracts and other processes, and generally completing any tasks that come up.

Generally, a person seeking work in this position needs to have a high school diploma or a GED and previous experience working in an office setting or in a similar position. A university degree might be advantageous. Good interpersonal and organizational skills are also necessary, as well as computer literacy and communication skills. On average, a Business Office Associate earns $21.51 an hour.

What Does a Business Office Associate Do

There are certain skills that many business office associates have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, detail oriented and organizational skills.

How To Become a Business Office Associate

If you're interested in becoming a business office associate, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 46.6% of business office associates have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 4.6% of business office associates have master's degrees. Even though most business office associates have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Business Office Associate

Business Office Associate Job Description

Business Office Associates are administrative professionals who carry out a variety of clerical activities to ensure that the office needs are met at all times and other concerns are given proper attention. They are in charge of manning phone lines, managing room reservations, receiving guests, and other activities.

Learn more about Business Office Associate Job Description

Business Office Associate Career Paths

Average Salary for a Business Office Associate

Business Office Associates in America make an average salary of $29,629 per year or $14 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $42,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $20,000 per year.
Average Business Office Associate Salary
$29,629 Yearly
$14.24 hourly

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Roles and Types of Business Office Associate

The role of a business office associate includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general business office associate responsibilities:

  • Front-end responsibilities assist internal and external customers with all telephone
  • Assists with daily operations of the county veterans service office by answering phones, greeting clients, scheduling/confirming appointments, providing basic information to the public,
  • Support risk management activities cross-functionally, focusing on business continuity management, resiliency

There are several types of business office associate, including:

Secretary

Role:

Secretaries do more than just pick up a phone. In fact, they perform most of the clerical and administrative duties for the office. Since this kind of work is in high demand, secretaries can find work in nearly every industry.

Think of all the opportunities you'll have as a secretary. In addition, you'll have the freedom to choose what industry you want to work in. Hello, summer school breaks.

Many secretaries only work full-time hours, so around 40, but this also depends on what industry you work in. Some secretaries only keep school hours, which obviously includes any school breaks and off days. Sounds like a sweet deal to me.

  • Average Salary: $36,442
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Office Administrator

Role:

As office administrator, you've got to lay down the law for your team. Sure, no one likes a tough boss, but they need to know what goals they're aiming for, and that's where you come in. You'll need to divide and conquer on some tasks, so the team doesn't feel overwhelmed.

The biggest, and probably toughest, part of your job is making sure your team is consistantly performing. You have to find a nice balance for employees so they don't get burned out on work, while also making sure they're not playing Solitaire on their computer.

Office administrators typically work somewhere between 35-40 hours a week. Generally, they won't work more than that. This means you might get to go home a little early some days. Our fingers are crossed that you get off a little early on Friday, so you can kickstart your weekend on a high note.

  • Average Salary: $37,423
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Office Clerk

Role:

An Office Clerk works in an office and carries out administrative tasks. Working under the supervision of secretaries or executive assistants, office clerks prepare documents and sort mail, file and update company records, schedule meetings, answer phones, greet clients and make sure office supplies are in stock at all times.

You might be asked to make travel arrangements or book venues, take minutes at meetings, and maybe even do some basic bookkeeping tasks. Using photocopy machines and printers and being familiar with basic computer software, such as word processors or spreadsheets, will also be required.

If you want to be an efficient office clerk, you need to be diligent, reliable, and hard-working. You must be perceptive and easy to talk to, and experience with office equipment and procedures is always helpful.

  • Average Salary: $30,927
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Business Office Associate Jobs

Number Of Business Office Associate Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California3,006$39,937
2Pennsylvania2,916$35,404
3Ohio2,452$33,705
4Florida2,205$25,436
5New York2,059$44,585
6Texas1,908$27,871
7Michigan1,672$36,685
8Minnesota1,502$35,338
9Indiana1,235$28,386
10Wisconsin1,209$32,373
11Tennessee1,180$26,725
12Illinois1,153$33,120
13Missouri1,148$28,019
14Massachusetts1,134$45,103
15Virginia972$28,918
16North Carolina885$28,274
17Georgia823$26,901
18South Carolina816$25,019
19Washington789$37,249
20Kentucky729$26,937
21New Jersey711$38,640
22Iowa676$30,182
23Alabama671$23,429
24Arizona614$32,731
25Maryland609$35,258
26Colorado604$34,565
27Kansas574$23,205
28Louisiana537$22,609
29Arkansas523$28,055
30Oklahoma516$24,436
31Nebraska500$28,380
32Nevada496$37,367
33Oregon452$36,766
34New Mexico365$22,484
35Connecticut355$38,053
36Utah344$28,705
37Montana321$32,314
38Mississippi299$25,340
39Alaska264$38,074
40West Virginia243$27,350
41Idaho205$30,410
42South Dakota201$25,904
43New Hampshire158$39,665
44Maine120$37,688
45Rhode Island103$43,143
46North Dakota86$35,975
47Hawaii86$35,838
48Delaware84$34,947
49Wyoming77$30,837
50Vermont68$40,467

Business Office Associate Education

Business Office Associate Majors

31.8 %

Business Office Associate Degrees

Bachelors

46.6 %

Associate

22.9 %

High School Diploma

17.6 %

Top Colleges for Business Office Associates

1. Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$3,926

Enrollment

9,835

2. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

3. Ball State University

Muncie, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,896

Enrollment

15,529

4. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

5. Bowling Green State University

Bowling Green, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,105

Enrollment

13,729

6. Cedar Crest College

Allentown, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$39,216

Enrollment

1,303

7. Morgan State University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,900

Enrollment

6,404

8. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

9. Siena Heights University

Adrian, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$27,124

Enrollment

2,035

10. University of Akron

Akron, OH • Private

In-State Tuition

$11,463

Enrollment

13,676

Top Skills For a Business Office Associate

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 34.5% of business office associates listed multi-line phone system on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and detail oriented are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Business Office Associate Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Business Office Associate templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Business Office Associate resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Business Office Associate diversity

Business Office Associate Gender Distribution

Female
Female
79%
Male
Male
21%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among business office associates, 79.3% of them are women, while 20.7% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among business office associates is White, which makes up 54.0% of all business office associates.

  • The most common foreign language among business office associates is Spanish at 65.7%.

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Top Business Office Associate Employers

Most Common Employers For Business Office Associate

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Edward Jones$37,873$18.2110
2Blue Ridge Hospice$37,829$18.193
3The Webb School$37,513$18.045
4AT&T$36,959$17.773
5Staples$36,487$17.546
6CarMax$36,228$17.421,290
7Pinehurst Surgical Clinic$33,787$16.244
8Lexington Medical Center$33,357$16.0481
9Columbia Medical Practice$32,893$15.813
10Self Regional Healthcare$31,506$15.153

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