Accounts Receivable Specialist

The Accounts Receivable Specialist is responsible for managing customer accounts to ensure timely payment of outstanding invoices, evaluating customer credit, and researching and resolving deductions and disputes. This role supports cash flow, minimizes bad debt exposure, and helps maintain strong customer relationships through proactive communication and accurate account management.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform business-to-business collections activities on past-due accounts through phone, email, and written correspondence.
• Monitor aging reports and follow up on delinquent balances to reduce overdue receivables.
• Review, analyze, and reconcile customer accounts to identify payment issues, short pays, unapplied cash, and discrepancies.
• Evaluate new and existing customer accounts for creditworthiness and assist with credit limit recommendations.
• Process credit reviews by analyzing financial information, payment history, trade references, and risk factors.
• Investigate customer deductions, chargebacks, returns, discounts, and other invoice disputes to determine validity and ensure timely resolution.
• Partner with sales, customer service, billing, and internal finance teams to resolve account issues and prevent recurring deductions.
• Maintain detailed records of collection efforts, dispute resolution, credit decisions, and account status updates.
• Prepare account reconciliations and support month-end reporting related to receivables, deductions, reserves, and write-offs.
• Identify high-risk accounts and escalate concerns related to collection trends, potential bad debt, or credit exposure.
• Apply customer payments, assist with cash applications as needed, and ensure accurate account posting.
• Support continuous improvement efforts for receivables processes, dispute management, and credit controls.

Qualifications

• Associate or bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or a related field preferred.
• 2+ years of accounts receivable, collections, credit, or deductions experience preferred.
• Strong understanding of AR aging, credit analysis, dispute resolution, and deduction management.
• Experience working with ERP systems and Microsoft Excel.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to work effectively across departments and with external customers.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and work independently in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with high-volume commercial collections.
• Knowledge of credit risk assessment and account reconciliation.
• Familiarity with deductions in retail, manufacturing, distribution, or consumer products environments.
• Experience using ERP platforms such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft D365, or Sage.

The salary range for this position is $23 to $30/hour, plus unlimited bonus. Benefits are available including medical, vision, and dental, and life and disability insurance. Employees hired for our FTEP Program are also eligible to enroll in our company's 401(k) or deferred compensation plan (if eligible). FTEP employees also earn paid time off for vacation, personal needs, and sick time and paid holidays. Learn more at roberthalfbenefits.com/resources. Our specialized recruiting professionals apply their expertise and utilize our proprietary AI to find you great job matches faster.