An office is usually divided in different departments that have different functions.

In no particular order, not exhaustive, and skipping management and IT, typical functions could be:

Customer service. Pick up the main phone line and check the official mail box, talk to customers, redirect calls to other departments.

Sales coordinators. Receive orders from customers, through sales representatives or by web etc. They basically ensure that all incoming orders have the proper data to be processed. Keeps track of order confirmations and maybe send data back to the customers.

Logistics. Arrange shipments from suppliers, to customers and between stock locations. Files all documents for toll and tariffs.

Debtor controllers. Keeps track of customer payments, outgoing invoices, payment plans, sending reminders and debt collection.

Creditor controllers. Register incoming invoices. Get approvals from whoever ordered it and pays the bills on time or whenever it makes most sense for discounts and such.

Finance controllers. Keeps track of the entire balance sheet. Bank reconciliations, cash flow, investments, files and pays taxes. General bookkeeping that doesn’t fit in the other departments. Does the financial statements, reporting, monthly, quarterly or annually.

HR/Payroll and PR/marketing are self-explanatory I think.

All of these administrative functions are necessary in most companies, but in smaller companies it all could very well be done by a single person, while in large companies they might have several people in each department.

Many companies have several subsidiaries or other constructions, so tasks or functions can also be spread out like that. For instance, I can be the creditor department in one company while also doing finance in another or payroll in a third. So while the functions are somewhat strictly defined by the tasks, it’s only in very large companies that someone does just one function.

All office functions are constantly being made more efficient. A lot of it is truly boring, so it’s in everyone’s interest to automate as much as possible. I don’t feel sorry for someone losing their office job to an algorithm, no, I’m happy for them not having to do it anymore.