Depending on the size of your corporation, You may not need to have all the different types of corporate officers, the following are some of the most commonly used corporate officer job descriptions:

A chairperson normally presides over board of directors meetings. The chairperson, like any other officer, can perform any other duty allocated to him or her by the board or bylaws.

It is common place for the president of a business to be the chief executive officer, who is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the corporation. If a particular business has no chairpersons, the president presides over the board of directors and shareholders meetings. In some situations this position is described as president and chief executive officer, but usually these are considered separate offices which are occupied by different individuals.

If a business has a vice-president, he or she takes the role of the president when he or she is unavailable. If a president is removed from office, resigns or dies, a corporate vice-president does not automatically become president.

The secretary of a business has the day-to-day responsibilities of maintaining the required corporate records, such as financial records. Many send out notices of any board or shareholder meetings as well as recording any minutes. Corporations sometimes also conduct elections at shareholder meetings.

A corporations treasurers responsibilities includes the upkeep and maintenance of corporate books of accounts, including records of any losses, gains, assets, liability and other financial and tax information. The treasurer is also sometimes also referred to as the chief financial officer and may be responsible for the day-to-day recording of financial entries for the corporation.

If a corporation has grown to such a size that one person cannot perform all of the tasks usually undertaken by a treasurer or secretary, then assistant treasurers or secretaries will be required. If a corporation has offices in a number of locations, it would be time consuming and inefficient to transfer documents around to find a person to sign them, so it is commonplace for each location to employ people in the same job role.