BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart plans to eliminate about 7,000 back office jobs at its U.S. stores over the coming months.

The move is part of an effort to boost efficiency, cut costs and free store employees to spend their time on the sales floor interacting with customers.

Walmart officials say the eliminated positions will not necessarily lead to job losses, because affected employees will have the option of taking another job in the store. The posts being cut, in accounting and invoicing, have been described in published reports as highly coveted jobs with comparatively high hourly pay, in the range of $13 to $15 an hour. Last year Walmart boosted its starting wage for full-time store associates to $9 an hour, and this year it raised starting pay again to $10 an hour, for employees that complete a six-month training program.

A Walmart spokeswoman said the company expects some of the affected employees to move up to higher-paid positions in store management, while others may end up with lower-paying positions in the stores.

The jobs being eliminated involve such tasks as managing a store’s cash flow or processing claims from manufacturers that deliver products directly to stores. Some of those duties will be handled by central offices or automated.

The Wall Street Journal, which broke the story, reported that Walmart intends to use new money counting machines in its stores to help manage cash flow. The retailer tested the machines in 500 stores earlier this year and was pleased with the results.

Walmart, which reported a 1.6% increase in comparable-store sales and a 1.2% increase in store traffic in its second fiscal quarter, has seen an increase in operating expenses due to its higher employee wages.

The company’s elimination of back office positions is part of an effort to offset those expense gains while improving customer service in its stores. In a conference call Walmart executive vice president and chief financial officer Brett Biggs pointed to the company’s inventory management programs — inventory levels fell about 2.9% in the second quarter versus the prior year — that have similar goals.

“By cleaning up our store back rooms, leveraging technology and changing certain processes, we’re improving product availability and enabling associates to be on the sales floor serving customers in a more effective way,” Biggs said.