The back office can be thought of as the part of a company responsible for providing all business functions related to its operations. Despite their seemingly invisible presence, back-office personnel provide essential functions to the business. The back office is an essential part of any firm and associated job titles are often classified under Operations. Their roles enable and equip front-office personnel to perform their
client facing
duties. The back office is sometimes used to describe all jobs that do not directly generate revenue.
Although back-office staff members do not interact with customers, they tend to actively interact with front-office staff. For example, a manufacturing equipment salesperson may enlist the help of back-office staff to provide accurate information on inventory and pricing structures. Real estate marketing professionals frequently interact with sales agents to create attractive and relevant marketing materials, and IT professionals regularly interact with all divisions within the company to ensure proper functioning systems.