Executive Summary
Hiring the right accounts receivable specialist starts with understanding the key accounts receivable duties these professionals perform every day. Most job descriptions focus on generic responsibilities like “processing invoices” without capturing the analytical thinking, customer diplomacy, and technical skills that separate top performers from average ones.
This comprehensive guide examines the core and advanced accounts receivable duties that matter most to your organization’s cash flow. Beyond basic transaction processing, successful AR specialists handle credit risk assessment, dispute resolution, and process automation. Furthermore, these duties vary significantly across industries, from manufacturing’s complex billing scenarios to healthcare’s insurance claim management.
Common hiring mistakes include overemphasizing data entry, ignoring technology requirements, and undervaluing communication skills. By contrast, organizations that clearly define each accounts receivable position and set success metrics consistently make better hiring decisions. Whether you’re building your first AR team or replacing key personnel, understanding these duties helps you identify candidates who will actually deliver results.
In This Guide:
- Core Accounts Receivable Duties Every Specialist Must Handle
- Advanced Accounts Receivable Tasks That Separate Good From Great
- How Accounts Receivable Duties Vary by Industry
- Red Flags: When Job Descriptions Miss Critical Duties
- Finding Candidates Who Excel at All These Duties
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Your cash flow depends on one critical function: collecting what customers owe you. Despite this importance, many hiring leaders struggle to find accounts receivable specialists who can actually deliver results. Understanding what does accounts receivable do in your organization is the first step to making better hires. The problem often starts with misunderstanding what these professionals do every day.
Most job descriptions list generic accounts receivable job duties without capturing the real responsibilities that separate average performers from exceptional ones. As a result, companies end up hiring candidates who look good on paper but can’t handle the complexity of modern AR operations.
This guide breaks down what accounts receivable specialists do, which tasks matter most, and how to identify top candidates. Understanding these duties helps you make smarter hiring decisions, whether you’re filling your first accounts receivable position or building an entire AR team.
Core Accounts Receivable Duties Every Specialist Must Handle
Essential Accounts Receivable Duties: Invoice Generation and Management
Creating accurate invoices forms the foundation of all accounts receivable work. Specifically, AR specialists generate invoices based on sales orders, contracts, or service agreements. Furthermore, they must verify that pricing, terms, and customer information are correct before sending any invoice.
Beyond accuracy, this task requires attention to detail and understanding of your company’s billing cycles. Mistakes at this stage create collection problems later. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, bookkeeping and accounting clerks, including AR specialists, held about 1.6 million jobs in 2023, reflecting the critical nature of this function across industries.
In practice, top performers also track invoice delivery to ensure customers actually receive them. Proactively, they follow up on any questions about charges before issues escalate into payment delays.
Key Accounts Receivable Tasks: Payment Application and Cash Posting
Once payments arrive, accounts receivable coordinators must apply them correctly to customer accounts. This involves matching payments to specific invoices and posting cash receipts in your accounting system. Accuracy here directly impacts your financial reporting.
Payment application becomes complex when customers make partial payments, take unauthorized deductions, or fail to include remittance details. Skilled AR staff investigate these discrepancies and resolve them quickly. Beyond individual transactions, these professionals identify patterns that might indicate systemic issues with specific customers.
Additionally, they reconcile daily cash receipts to ensure every dollar gets recorded properly. This accounts receivable task prevents revenue leakage and maintains clean books.
Accounts Receivable Specialist Responsibilities: Account Reconciliation and Research
Accounts receivable specialists spend significant time reconciling customer accounts. In this process, they compare your records against customer statements to identify differences. When discrepancies appear, they research the root cause and make necessary corrections.
More importantly, this duty requires analytical thinking and problem-solving skills. Specialists must track down missing payments, identify duplicate charges, and correct posting errors. Moreover, they document their findings to create an audit trail.
Particularly, strong reconciliation skills become especially important for accounts receivable accountants who handle high-volume or complex customer relationships. These professionals often manage accounts with multiple subsidiaries, currency conversions, or intricate contract terms.
What Accounts Receivable Coordinators Do: Collections and Customer Communication
Getting customers to pay on time requires both persistence and diplomacy. Typically, AR representatives contact customers about overdue accounts through phone calls, emails, and formal letters. However, they must balance firmness with maintaining positive customer relationships.
Notably, effective collections specialists understand payment psychology. For instance, they know when to offer payment plans, when to escalate to management, and when to involve legal resources. Furthermore, they track promises to pay and follow up consistently.
In addition, this accounts receivable duty also involves negotiating settlements for disputed invoices. Top performers find solutions that satisfy both parties while protecting your company’s interests. Research from SHRM shows the average cost per hire is over $4,100, making it crucial to find candidates with strong interpersonal skills from the start.
Critical AR Duties: Reporting and Aging Analysis
Management needs visibility into receivables to make informed decisions. Accounts receivable specialists prepare regular reports showing outstanding balances, aging summaries, and collection metrics. These reports highlight problem accounts and track team performance.
Aging analysis breaks down receivables by how long they’ve been outstanding (30, 60, 90+ days). This helps prioritize collection efforts and identify customers with deteriorating payment patterns. Additionally, AR staff analyze trends to forecast cash flow and potential bad debts.
Advanced reporting might include Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) calculations, collection effectiveness metrics, and customer risk assessments. Candidates who understand financial ratios bring added value to your organization.
Advanced Accounts Receivable Tasks That Separate Good From Great
What Accounts Receivable Positions Require: Credit Management and Risk Assessment
Experienced accounts receivable coordinators don’t just collect money after sales happen. In addition, they evaluate credit risk before extending terms to new customers. This involves reviewing credit applications, checking references, and analyzing financial statements.
Credit decisions directly impact your cash flow and bad debt exposure. Specialists who excel at this duty understand industry-specific risks and can spot red flags in credit reports. Based on their assessment, they recommend appropriate credit limits and payment terms.
Moreover, they monitor existing customers for signs of financial distress. Early warning systems help you adjust credit terms or require prepayment before problems escalate. This proactive approach protects your bottom line.
Accounts Receivable Representative Skills: Dispute Resolution and Documentation
Customer disputes can paralyze your collections if not handled properly. Top AR specialists investigate disputed charges thoroughly and gather supporting documentation. Working cross-functionally, they coordinate with sales, shipping, and customer service teams to resolve issues quickly.
Effective dispute management requires strong communication skills. Specialists must explain complex billing details in terms customers understand. Similarly, comprehensive documentation becomes essential for potential legal proceedings or audits.
The best accounts receivable representatives prevent disputes from recurring. They identify root causes and work with internal teams to fix systemic problems. This might involve improving billing procedures, clarifying contract terms, or enhancing communication with customers.
Process Improvement and Automation
Modern accounts receivable positions increasingly require technical skills. Forward-thinking specialists identify opportunities to automate manual tasks and streamline workflows. They might implement electronic invoicing, automated payment reminders, or online payment portals.
Process improvement initiatives reduce errors and accelerate collection cycles. However, they require analytical thinking and basic project management skills. Candidates who have implemented improvements at previous employers bring immediate value.
Additionally, AR professionals should understand how to leverage reporting tools and analytics. They need to extract insights from data rather than just processing transactions. This strategic thinking separates transactional workers from true business partners.
How Accounts Receivable Duties Vary by Industry
Accounts Receivable Specialist Roles in Manufacturing and Distribution
Manufacturing companies often deal with complex billing scenarios. For example, accounts receivable specialists in this sector handle progress billing, consignment arrangements, and rebate tracking. In addition, they manage lien waivers and retainage releases on construction-related projects.
On the other hand, distribution businesses face high transaction volumes with relatively small individual invoices. Their AR staff must process efficiently while maintaining accuracy. Additionally, they deal with returns, allowances, and pricing adjustments more frequently than other industries.
Accounts Receivable Accountants in Professional Services
Service-based businesses like consulting firms or law offices bill based on time and expenses. Their accounts receivable accountants must review timesheets, expense reports, and project budgets. They ensure billing matches contract terms and work authorization limits.
These specialists also handle questions about billable hours and rate calculations. Strong attention to detail prevents disputes and maintains client relationships. Furthermore, they often manage retainer arrangements and progress payments against larger engagements.
AR Positions in Healthcare and Medical Billing
Healthcare AR positions involve unique challenges like insurance verification, claim submissions, and denial management. Specialists must understand CPT codes, ICD-10 classifications, and payer-specific requirements. They also deal with patient responsibility balances and payment plans.
This specialization requires ongoing education about changing regulations and reimbursement rules. However, the fundamental accounts receivable duties remain the same: get accurate invoices out and collect payment efficiently.
Technology and SaaS Companies
Subscription-based businesses need AR specialists who understand recurring revenue models. These professionals handle subscription billing, upgrades, downgrades, and prorated charges. They also manage automatic payment processing and failed transaction follow-up.
Technology companies increasingly use automated systems for routine tasks. Therefore, their accounts receivable representatives focus more on exceptions, complex scenarios, and strategic analysis. Technical aptitude becomes essential for success in these roles.
Red Flags: When Job Descriptions Miss Critical Duties
Accounts Receivable Positions: Overemphasizing Data Entry
Many organizations treat accounts receivable positions as purely clerical roles focused on data entry. While transaction processing matters, this narrow view misses the analytical and strategic aspects of AR work. Ultimately, job descriptions that only mention posting payments and filing paperwork won’t attract high-caliber candidates.
Instead, emphasize problem-solving, customer interaction, and process improvement opportunities. Describe how the role impacts business outcomes like cash flow and customer satisfaction. Consequently, this approach appeals to candidates who want to contribute meaningfully rather than just process transactions.
Ignoring Technology Requirements
Modern AR work requires proficiency with accounting software, spreadsheets, and often customer relationship management systems. Job descriptions that don’t specify technical requirements attract candidates who lack necessary skills. Conversely, being too prescriptive about specific software can eliminate qualified candidates who learn new systems quickly.
Focus on technological capabilities rather than experience with particular platforms. Look for candidates who understand accounts receivable accounting principles and adapt to different tools. Technical aptitude matters more than knowing your exact software stack.
Accounts Receivable Job Descriptions: Undervaluing Communication Skills
Collections success depends heavily on interpersonal abilities. Yet many accounts receivable job descriptions bury communication requirements or omit them entirely. This oversight leads to hiring candidates who excel at processing but struggle with customer interactions.
Highlight the customer-facing nature of AR work prominently. Describe scenarios where specialists negotiate payment arrangements or resolve billing disputes. Including clear accounts receivable job responsibilities helps candidates self-select based on their comfort with these interactions. As a result, you’ll receive applications from people who actually enjoy the relationship aspect of collections.
Failing to Define Success Metrics
What does excellent performance look like in your accounts receivable vacancy? Job descriptions rarely specify how you measure success, and they often use vague accounts receivable job titles without defining the actual role. Candidates then have no way to assess if they can meet expectations. Meanwhile, hiring managers struggle to evaluate applicants without clear criteria.
Include specific metrics like DSO targets, collection percentages, or account reconciliation accuracy goals. This transparency attracts results-oriented candidates and sets clear performance expectations. Furthermore, it demonstrates that your organization takes AR seriously as a strategic function.
Finding Candidates Who Excel at All These Duties
Understanding Accounts Receivable Duties: Identifying the Right Skills and Experience
Understanding accounts receivable duties represents just the first step in building a high-performing AR team. Next, the challenge involves identifying candidates who can handle these responsibilities effectively. Traditional hiring methods often fall short because they focus on credentials rather than actual capabilities.
Look for candidates with demonstrated problem-solving abilities and customer service experience. Ask about specific situations where they resolved billing disputes or improved collection processes. Behavioral interview questions reveal more about capability than simply reviewing resumes.
Consider candidates from adjacent roles who understand financial concepts even if they lack direct AR experience. Someone from customer service with strong analytical skills might excel in an accounts receivable specialist role. Similarly, bookkeepers often transition successfully into AR positions when they want to focus on collections.
Filling Accounts Receivable Positions: Leveraging Specialized Recruitment Services
When you need to fill accounts receivable positions quickly without compromising quality, specialized recruitment services can identify candidates who match your specific requirements. These services understand the nuances of AR work and can assess both technical skills and cultural fit efficiently.
The right hiring approach depends on your timeline, the complexity of your AR function, and your organization’s specific needs. Whether you’re building a team from scratch or replacing a key person, investing time upfront to create a comprehensive account receivables job description pays dividends. Companies that clearly define what accounts receivable specialists do, and what success looks like, consistently make better hiring decisions.
Building Your AR Hiring Strategy
For organizations seeking comprehensive support across multiple finance and accounting roles, working with recruitment partners who understand these functions deeply can accelerate your hiring while maintaining quality standards. The investment in finding the right AR talent protects your cash flow and strengthens customer relationships for years to come.
Your accounts receivable function deserves the same strategic attention you give to sales, operations, or any other critical business area. Start by ensuring everyone involved in hiring understands what these specialists actually do every day. Then build your recruitment and evaluation processes around those realities rather than generic job descriptions. This foundation leads to hiring decisions that truly strengthen your organization.
Struggling to find qualified accounting professionals in today’s competitive market? VALiNTRY specializes in placing finance talent at organizations like yours, from staff accountants to CFOs. Connect with our team to streamline your next hire.