WHAT DOES AN AR SPECIALIST DO?
The Accounts Receivable Specialist meticulously codes invoices and enters cash receipts, ensuring accurate match-ups with customer accounts. This role involves proactive communication with clients to manage collections and resolve account queries, supplemented by diligent maintenance of customer records and financial reports. Additionally, the AR specialist plays a crucial role in reconciling intercompany accounts and handling various credit processes, contributing to the overall efficiency of financial operations.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for AR Specialist
1. AR Specialist Duties
- Customer Communication: Call customers for payment and close follow-ups.
- Payment Processing: Request payment vouchers for received payments and furnish to Shared Service for invoice knock-off.
- Account Management: Send Statement of Account to customers, Review credit limit for order blocked.
- Dispute Resolution: Work on and find ways to resolve all payment disputes.
- Rebate Management: Prepare trade miscellaneous form for customer rebates; Keep track of customer rebates, Customer database maintenance.
- Note Preparation: Prepare credit and debit notes accordingly for any inventory related issues.
- Financial Reporting: Prepare monthly AR aging report, Forecast cash flow for AR.
- Cash Management: Working in general ledger, and applying cash receipts.
- Database Management: Working in internal database to assist with month-end; Run reports and research within MassHealth database.
- Physician Liaison: Work directly with Physicians and ensure accounts are accurately updated.
- Process Improvement: Maintain and create efficient workflow.
2. AR Specialist Details
- Account Management: Carrying out billing, collection, and reporting activities including telephone calls, emails, and letters to ensure that the company payment terms are adhered to by customers.
- Query Resolution: Ensuring that internal and external account queries are dealt with efficiently to minimize the risk of bad debts.
- Data Maintenance: Maintaining accounts receivable customer files.
- Problem Solving: Investigating and resolving customer queries, preparing bank deposits.
- Order & Invoice Management: Processing orders as well as preparing invoices and credit notes for company products.
- Financial Accuracy: Posting cash to ensure financial records are accurate.
- Account Reconciliation: Reconciling accounts, maintaining an up-to-date billing system.
- Monitoring & Compliance: Monitoring customer account details for non-payments, delayed payments, and other irregularities.
- Interdepartmental Coordination: Liaising with the sales department to ensure accuracy and completeness in the billing system.
- Reporting & Analysis: Prepare production, costing, and inventory reports comparing factors affecting pricing and profitability.
3. AR Specialist Responsibilities
- Data Entry: Code invoices and enter cash receipts in the system.
- Account Reconciliation: Match cash receipts to customer accounts and invoice numbers.
- Customer Communication: Communicate with clients via phone and email, and send emails to collect payments. Answer questions about accounts and communicate with customers to track payments.
- Account Setup: Set up new customers in the system, prepare aging report for management.
- Debt Collection: Collections on delinquent accounts, Issue various credit memos.
- Invoice Management: Upload invoices to customer portals, Process tax exemption certificates.
- Intercompany Support: Assist with Intercompany Reconciliations.
- Payment Processing: Prep high volume checks and split into 2 batches received from the post office, lockbox, check by fax, or live checks.
- Reporting: Run and distribute salesman agings and scan copy to Credit and Collections Manager.
- Deduction Management: Research deductions short pay and issue credit memos.
- Deduction Resolution: Work with a sales rep or reach out to customers to resolve deductions.
4. AR Specialist Job Summary
- Account Accuracy: Ensure accuracy and completeness of customer accounts.
- Cash Application: Ensure that all receipts from customers are applied in a timely and accurate manner to accounts, ensuring reconciliations are accurate and timely.
- Risk Analysis: Ensure the analysis of the Accounts Receivable ledger to provide for amounts, that are potentially at risk, in line with Corporate Bad Debt Accounting policy.
- Debt Management: Prepare bad debt write-off requests, apply incoming cash on time.
- Process Optimization: Drive end-to-end standard AR processes across the CC business
- Process Improvement: Highlight opportunities for process improvement.
- Cash Management: Doing Cash Application for Rentals, General Trades, and Special Projects.
- Payment Processing: Post and/or process checks, credit card payments, and online deposits.
- Customer Service: Interface with customers, vendors, and subcontractors for billing-related questions.
- Communication: Take inbound calls from customers regarding payments or accounting-related questions.
- Inquiry Resolution: Answer customer inquiries pertaining to invoices, discrepancies, statement copies, etc.
5. Accounts Receivable Specialist Accountabilities
- Payment Processing: Process customer payments for all legal entities - checks, wire transfer, credit card, and post payments to proper accounts by invoice numbers.
- Inquiry Research: Conduct research for customer inquiries, invoices relating to credit/debit memos or payment application.
- Credit Management: Initiate credit review process, assess credit terms, limits, and process credit applications for new accounts.
- Collections: Follow up on past due accounts with collection letters and calls to customers.
- A/R Review: Meet with the Sales teams to review aged receivables.
- System Enhancement: Work with A/R team and Supervisor to review system requirements and enhancements.
- Cross-Training: Cross train on all legal entity specialty requirements, process daily customer invoicing.
- A/R Expertise: Provide expertise in the area of Account Receivables follow-up and appeals process.
- A/R Resolution: Review and resolve open A/R by decreasing accounts receivable.
- Performance Goals: Meet goals for days in A/R, collection targets, denial, and customer satisfaction.
6. Accounts Receivable Specialist Functions
- Accounting Expertise: Owns and executes accounting processes within area of expertise.
- Transaction Analysis: Performs analysis of transactional accounting information to support decision making.
- Customer Interaction: Interacts with internal and external customers globally and provides excellent customer service.
- System Implementation Support: Supports the implementation of new corporate-wide accounting processes and systems.
- Business Controls: Implements and assures effective business controls through review, analysis, and verification.
- Procedure Development: Supports the development, implementation, maintenance, and communication of procedures to ensure compliance with accounting policies.
- Credit Processing: Manages the credit application process (receiving, reviewing, analyzing, and processing customer credit applications).
- Sales Order Management: Researches and approves sales orders for credit hold release.
- Invoice Management: Involves in printing/sending invoices, processing returns of credit balances.
- Customer Data Maintenance: Maintains customer master file data, monitoring existing customers and creditworthiness, etc.
- Revenue & Receivables Accounting: Manages all revenue and receivables related accounting, including journal entries related to allowances, reserves, non-trade AR, etc., customer incentives/rebates, reconciliations of all AR related accounts, and other various month-end activities.
- A/R Analysis: Monitors and analyzes aged receivables and report weekly.
7. Accounts Receivable Specialist Job Description
- Appeal Management: Write appeal letters, check claim status online or via phone.
- Claim Correction: Correct claims and resubmit, handle customer and internal requests.
- Balance Management: Move balances from insurance to patient and vice versa.
- Write-Off Processing: Write off uncollectable balances through adjustment approval process.
- Edit Resolution: Resolve claim edits related to insurance or eligibility status.
- Communication: Communicate (written/verbally) with internal and external customers.
- Patient Collections: Collect patient balances by calling patients and writing notice letters for outstanding balances.
- Coding Proficiency: Require previous coding experience/knowledge on CPT, ICD-9, and CCI edits.
- KPI Management: Ensure KPIs for DSO, past due receivables, timely releasing of orders, open credit balances, customer complaints, etc., meet or exceed department standards.
8. Accounts Receivable Specialist Overview
- Credit Application Processing: Processes new customer Credit Applications, including requesting Credit Bureau reports, and trade and bank reference requests for review by Financial Services Manager.
- Payment Review: Reviews daily list of customer payments, which are applied by Cash App and communicates any misapplication to be corrected.
- Credit File Review: Reviews credit files of existing customers and obtains necessary information to initiate credit line review including new credit app, trade and/or bank references, financial statement, and Credit Bureau Report.
- Financing Processing: Processes Rabo and John Deere Financial charge requests, and requests for financing applications from customers and DSM’s, maintains financing spreadsheet and processes returns and additional seed at the end of the season.
- DFF Administration: Processes Dairy Friendly Finance milk assignment paperwork and associated follow-up with dairy processor, and maintains DFF payment spreadsheet.
- Account Posting: Posts Rabo, John Deere Financial, and Dairy Friendly charges and payments to customer accounts.
- Extended Terms Management: Processes In-House Extended Terms Payment Program requests and collects financial statements and follow-up.
- Customer Support: Answers customer calls regarding various balance, payment, or financing questions.
- Refund and Adjustments: Calculates and processes refund requests, processes miscellaneous payment adjustments.
- Confidentiality Maintenance: Maintains confidentiality relative to customer conversations and record-keeping.
9. Accounts Receivable Specialist Details and Accountabilities
- Financial Compliance: Ensure billing, cash applications, collections, and reporting activities according to Group policies and deadlines.
- Documentation: Regularly update all supporting documentation.
- Cash Application Accuracy: Accurate cash applications with follow-up on discrepancies.
- Collections Management: Follow up on overdue accounts and payment discrepancies.
- Issue Resolution: Work with customers and sales/logistic teams to resolve outstanding claims/issues.
- Month-End Support: Assist with month-end closing, provide support on special projects.
- Internal Control: Ensure internal control compliance within all assigned areas.
- Finance Support: Provide support to the finance team during month-end, minimizing bad debts and write-offs.
- Stakeholder Liaison: Liaise with various stakeholders to ensure the smooth and efficient running of the cash collection process.
- Administrative Oversight: Responsible for all administrative tasks including, but not limited to, daily invoicing of clients and daily posting of payments to client accounts.
- Client Communication: Liaise with a large portfolio of clients on a daily basis to ensure timely collection of payments.
- DSO Reduction: Continuously strive to reduce Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) on a monthly basis.
10. Account Receivable Specialist Tasks
- SAP Posting: Ensure all the receipts are posted in SAP on time (normally within 24 hours), to enhance the accuracy of AR.
- AR Management: Clear AR timely and accurately to avoid inflated debts or down payments.
- Cash Flow Forecasting: Forecast I/C receivable every month, which will be helpful for cash flow control.
- Inter-Company Coordination: Handle all the inter-company AR allocations, including ICE netting and non-trade receivables, ensuring all foreign exchange receipts are successful and timely.
- Recharge Accuracy: Make I/C recharges accurately and timely, helping receive the recharge on time.
- Customer Reconciliation: Confirm debts with customers every month to ensure accuracy.
- Record Keeping: File all the AR vouchers for future reference and provide accurate debt reports.
- Tax Invoice Management: Administer the issue of tax invoices and promote their timely issuance.
- Invoice Booking: Assign and do bookkeeping for tax invoices in SAP, ensuring all invoices are converted to finance vouchers in a timely manner.
- Invoice Monitoring: Run unassigned invoice information in SAP and send to CVC at every month-end to ensure timely issue of SAP invoices and tax invoices.