A back office in most

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

s is where work that supports ''

front office The front office is the part of a company that comes in contact with clients, such as the marketing, sales, and service departments. The term has more specific meaning in different industries. Types General offices The function of front office ...

'' work is done. The

is the "face" of the company and is all the resources of the company that are used to make sales and interact with customers and clients. The back office is all the resources of the company that are devoted to actually producing a product or service such as data entry, payroll, accounting and all the other labor that is not seen by customers, such as administration or logistics. Broadly speaking, back office work includes roles that affect the costs side of a business's trading statement and front office work includes roles that affect the income side of a business's trading statement. Although the operations of a back office are seldom prominent, they are a major contributor to a business's success. They can include functions such as

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

, planning, inventory management,

supply-chain management In commerce, supply chain management (SCM) is the management of the flow of goods and services including all processes that transform raw materials into final products between businesses and locations. This can include the movement and stor ...

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms includ ...

and

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

. Back offices are often located somewhere other than company

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

. Many are in areas and countries with cheaper rent and lower labor costs. Some

office park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typically ...

s provide back offices for tenants whose front offices are in more expensive neighborhoods. Back office functions can be outsourced to consultants and contractors, including ones in other countries.

References

{{Office types Business terms

See also

References