An Accounts Receivable Specialist plays a crucial role in managing a company's financial health. This position focuses on ensuring timely collection of payments, maintaining accurate records, and fostering strong client relationships.
As a vital link between the organization and its clients, an Accounts Receivable Specialist is responsible for monitoring customer invoices, reconciling accounts, and resolving billing discrepancies. If you are detail-oriented, have strong analytical skills, and excel in communication, this role may be a perfect fit.
In this guide, we provide a comprehensive job description template that outlines the key responsibilities, qualifications, and necessary skills to be successful in this position.
1. Manage and oversee the daily accounts receivable operations, ensuring timely and accurate invoicing.
2. Monitor customer accounts for overdue payments and initiate collection efforts as needed.
3. Reconcile customer accounts and resolve billing discrepancies, ensuring accurate account balances.
4. Prepare and analyze accounts receivable reports, providing insights to management regarding outstanding debts.
5. Maintain relationships with clients to facilitate communication regarding payments and address any concerns.
1. Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
2. Proven experience in accounts receivable or a similar financial role.
3. Strong knowledge of accounting principles and practices.
4. Proficient in accounting software and MS Excel.
5. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
1. Attention to detail: Ability to spot discrepancies and ensure accuracy in financial records.
2. Analytical skills: Strong proficiency in analyzing financial data and generating reports.
3. Time management: Ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
4. Problem-solving skills: Capability to address and resolve account-related issues efficiently.
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Key Responsibilities
1.
- •Apply incoming payments (checks, ACH, credit card, lockbox) to customer accounts — typically 50–200 payments/day depending on company size.
- •Why it matters: Accurate posting prevents unapplied cash, reduces write-offs, and keeps the ledger clean for month-end close.
- •How it contributes: Keeps AR balance accurate and reduces unapplied cash to target (e.g., <1% of total AR).
2.
- •Create and send 200–1,000 invoices/month using ERP or billing platforms (NetSuite, SAP, QuickBooks).
- •Why it matters: Timely, accurate invoices shorten billing cycles and improve cash flow.
- •How it contributes: Ensures customers are billed correctly and supports reliable revenue recognition.
3.
- •Contact past-due accounts (30/60/90-day buckets), negotiate payment plans, and escalate delinquent accounts per credit policy.
- •Why it matters: Reduces Days Sales Outstanding (DSO); aim to lower DSO by 5–10 days year-over-year.
- •How it contributes: Improves working capital and reduces bad-debt expense.
4.
- •Reconcile AR subledger to general ledger, clear unapplied cash, and prepare aging schedules within 3–5 business days of month-end.
- •Why it matters: Ensures accurate financial statements and timely close.
- •How it contributes: Minimizes audit adjustments and speeds reporting.
5.
- •Investigate invoice disputes, coordinate with sales/ops to resolve root causes, and document claim outcomes within 7 business days.
- •Why it matters: Faster resolution preserves customer relationships and prevents invoice write-offs.
- •How it contributes: Reduces recurring billing errors by identifying process gaps.
6.
- •Produce weekly aging, cash forecasts, collection forecasts, and management KPIs (DSO, bad-debt %, days delinquent).
- •Why it matters: Provides leadership with actionable visibility on cash and risk.
- •How it contributes: Informs credit policy and treasury planning.
7.
- •Recommend and implement automation (auto-apply rules, EFT adoption) and standard operating procedures to cut manual work by target (e.g., 20–40%).
- •Why it matters: Frees time for higher-value work and reduces errors.
- •How it contributes: Lowers cost-to-collect and improves scalability.
Actionable takeaway: Track DSO and unapplied cash weekly, resolve top 10 delinquent accounts within 30 days, and document recurring disputes to drive one process fix per quarter.
Required Qualifications
Technical skills
- •ERP proficiency (NetSuite, SAP, Dynamics, QuickBooks): Use daily for invoicing, payment application, and reconciliations. Employers expect 1–3 years of hands-on experience.
- •Advanced Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, SUMIFS): Build aging reports, reconcile large data sets, and analyze trends. Ability to process 10k+ rows is common.
- •Payment platforms & banking: Familiarity with ACH, lockbox, card processors, and bank portals. Needed to post payments and troubleshoot settlements.
Soft skills
- •Communication: Clear written and phone communication to collect payments, explain invoices, and negotiate terms; essential for lowering disputes by 20–30%.
- •Attention to detail: Prevents posting errors and audit issues; accuracy targets often set at >99% for invoice posting.
- •Problem-solving: Diagnose recurring billing issues and implement fixes that reduce disputes over time.
Education and certifications
- •Education: Associate degree in accounting or business minimum; a bachelor’s in accounting/finance preferred for larger companies.
- •Certifications (nice-to-have): Certified Credit and Collection Professional (CCCP), Certified Accounts Receivable (CAR), or bookkeeping certificates improve credibility.
Experience requirements
- •Must-have: 2–4 years in AR, billing, or collections handling at least 500 invoices/month or managing AR control totals of $500K–$5M.
- •Nice-to-have: Experience with B2B credit policies, international collections, or exposure to revenue recognition (ASC 606).
Why these matter: The combination of ERP skill, Excel fluency, and strong communication enables timely collections, accurate reporting, and fewer write-offs.
Actionable takeaway: Demonstrate ERP screenshots, sample aging reports, and a quantifiable outcome (e. g.
, reduced DSO by X days) on your resume.
Career Progression
Typical timeline
- •Entry-level AR Specialist (0–3 years): Focus on daily posting, collections, and reconciliations.
- •Senior AR Analyst / Team Lead (2–5 years): Lead small teams, own month-end AR close, and manage escalated disputes.
- •AR Supervisor / Manager (4–7 years): Set collection strategy, own KPIs, and manage credit policy.
- •Senior finance roles (7+ years): Transition to Controller, Credit Director, Treasury, or FP&A with broader responsibilities.
Trajectory examples
1.
- •AR Specialist → Senior AR Analyst (2–3 years) → AR Manager (4–6 years) → Credit Director (7–10 years).
- •Skills to gain: people management, credit risk analysis, policy development. Deliverable: consistently reduce team DSO by 10–15% per year.
2.
- •AR Specialist → Billing Systems Analyst → ERP Administrator/Revenue Operations (3–6 years).
- •Skills to gain: SQL/basic scripting, systems configuration, automation projects. Deliverable: implement auto-apply rules that cut manual work by 30%.
3.
- •AR Specialist → Staff Accountant → Assistant Controller → Controller.
- •Skills to gain: month-end close ownership, accruals, financial reporting, and cross-functional projects.
- •Deliverable: own AR for quarterly close and reduce audit adjustments to <0.5%.
4.
- •AR Specialist → Collections Manager → Credit Risk Analyst or Head of Collections.
- •Skills to gain: negotiation, credit analysis, legal collections experience.
How to advance
- •Track measurable wins: DSO reduction, cash collected, dispute closure time.
- •Take courses in advanced Excel, ERP admin, and credit certifications.
- •Volunteer to lead one cross-functional project per year (billing fix, automation).
Actionable takeaway: Set a 2-year plan with measurable KPIs (e. g.
, reduce DSO by 5 days, automate 25% of manual tasks) and pursue one certification to accelerate promotion.