If you’re looking to learn about the skills, qualifications, duties, and responsibilities of an accounts receivable specialist, then this is for you.
Did we mention that we also have templates that you can use for free?
With our accounts receivable job description, you’re a step closer to hiring the perfect accounts receivable specialist for your practice.
What is an Accounts Receivable Clerk?
An accounts receivable or AR clerk is the one in charge of managing and tracking the payments that your firm is yet to collect from clients and other parties for your rendered services.
Since your accounts receivable specialist takes care of payments that are owed to your firm, these customer payments can be considered a form of debt.
As these customer payments are typically due within a certain period, interest could begin to accrue if your clients fail to pay before the agreed-upon deadline. This is something that your AR clerk should handle and manage as well.
Accounts Receivable vs Accounts Payable: What's the Difference?
We hear about these two roles a lot — the main difference is that an accounts receivable specialist manages the payments owed to your firm while an accounts payable or AP specialist takes care of the money you owe other parties.
Just like the AP position, an AR specialist is integral to the timeliness and accuracy of your client’s payments. Accounts receivable and payable are complementary financial processes that give you insights into your firm’s overall financial health, including its profitability, liquidity, and appeal to investors, regardless of whether your firm is private or publicly listed.
| Accounts Receivable | Accounts Payable |
|---|---|
| Cash that you collect from other parties | Your firm's payments to other parties |
| Consists of customer invoices | Consists of vendor invoices |
| Your firm's services or products | For items that your company purchased |
| Decreases your firm's cash flow | Increases your firm's cash flow |
| Increases your firm's net profit | Decreases your firm's net profit |
| Assets | Liabilities |
Skills and Qualifications of an Accounts Receivable Specialist
Handling accounts receivable transactions requires a particular set of skills and qualifications. While those requirements may vary from firm to firm, here are the general qualifications firms must look for in an AR clerk.
Accounts Receivable Clerk Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in accounting or any equivalent degree
- Experience in AP/AR tasks/operations
- Proficiency in MS Office, especially Excel
- Proficiency in accounting software related to AP/AR operations
Accounts Receivable Clerk Skills
- Mathematical and analytical thinking skills
- Problem-solving skills
- Time management skills
- Communication skills
Accounts Receivable Duties and Responsibilities
As we’ve tackled the skills and qualifications of an AR clerk, let’s dive into some accounts receivable duties and responsibilities, like the ones below.
- Collecting customer payments and posting receipts in a timely manner
- Managing accounts (customer accounts)
- Generating, sending, and raising invoices
- Tracking overdue invoices and sending bill reminders
- Processing refunds and credit memos
- Securing revenue
- Maintaining fair credit practices
Accounts Receivable Job Description Template
Our company is looking for an accounts receivable clerk to manage our payment processes, especially when it comes to receiving payments from our clients. We need a rockstar accounts receivable clerk with hard accounting skills to execute our mission and the right set of soft skills to fulfill our vision.
Should you be our accounts receivable clerk, your contributions will not only have an impact on our accounts receivable transactions — our workflow, day-to-day processes, and other departments in our company will also benefit from your expertise.
Role Objectives
- Ensuring accuracy and timeliness of payments from clients and other parties
- Streamlining the company's payment collection system and boosting its overall financial health
Role Responsibilities
- Collecting payments and receipts in a timely manner
- Managing the accounts receivable ledger
- Handling customer accounts
- Reconciling account discrepancies
- Bachelor's degree in accounting or equivalent
- Analytical and mathematical skills
- Experience in AP/AR tasks/operations
- Experience with accounting software for AR-related processes
Are you who we’re looking for? Send your CV to companyname@HRemail.com
[HIRING] [ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE CLERK] [FULL-TIME] [FLEXIBLE]
The Accounts Receivable Clerk is responsible for collecting customer payments and posting receipts, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and efficiency in payments. Our firm is looking for an Accounts Receivable Clerk to streamline, reconcile, and verify payments from other parties.
We need an Accounts Receivable Clerk to ensure compliance with established accounting principles and handle financial transactions to help the company maintain its authority in the field of accounting, establish an outstanding reputation among its potential clients, and build/maintain good relationships with our partners.
- Manage incoming payments with timeliness and accuracy
- Verify, record, and categorize all data relating to accounts receivable
- Comply with accounting principles and policies like GAAP
- Make precise and data-driven financial reports on accounts receivable data
- Degree in Accounting or related fields (Finance, Business Administration, etc.)
- Experience as an Accounts Receivable Clerk
- Understanding of basic bookkeeping and AP/AR principles
- Proficiency in MS Office, especially Excel
- Proficiency in accounting software related to AP/AR operations
Where Should You Look for an Accounts Receivable Clerk?
If you want to enhance your accounts receivable transactions, you should know where to source your specialists.
Unfortunately, the accounting field is facing an industry-wide talent shortage. If you’re looking to hire onshore or in-house AR clerks, you’ll be faced with an extremely small talent pool, higher labor costs, and a steadily increasing turnover rate, which means additional rehiring costs.
Especially with the public interest in accounting roles declining, retention rates within accounting firms decreasing, and operational costs increasing, the corresponding solutions to these concerns are quite the challenge.
Fortunately, staffing models like offshoring connect firms who are struggling to hire locally with the global talent market.
Sourcing your accounts receivable clerk from an international talent pool gives your firm the boost it needs — from better processed work to enhanced accounting standards.
With offshoring, you’re hitting three birds with just one stone: an elite talent pool that’s passionate about what they do, significantly lower labor costs, and more office space for your internal operations.
Enhance Your Accounts Receivable Processes with Offshoring
These accounts receivable job description templates can attract the best candidates, especially if you get your overall recruitment strategy right.
This strategy should take into account increasing training costs, skyrocketing salary expectations, and a declining local talent pool. Because of these, more and more firms are turning to the global talent market to fill their staffing gaps.
Trained in US accounting and auditing standards, TOA Global’s elite accounting teams bridge staffing gaps among accounting firms worldwide.
From auditors and tax specialists to general accounting and bookkeeping staff like AP and AR clerks, TOA Global offers long-term, accounting-focused business solutions to keep your firm in the black.
If you want to learn how 1,190 of our international clients built their global teams, schedule a call with one of our experts today for a free consultation.
