Accounts Receivable Jobs: A Complete Guide to Invoicing, Collections and Cash Application

The short version

Accounts receivable (AR) is about making sure the money customers owe actually arrives. Note that this is different from the AR calling jobs in healthcare billing, which follow up on insurance claims. Here, AR means the finance function that tracks customer invoices.

Daily tasks

1. Create and send invoices based on orders, deliveries or contracts.
2. Check that invoice details, taxes and terms are correct.
3. Monitor due dates and send reminders before and after the due date.
4. Receive payments and match them to the right invoices (cash application).
5. Investigate short payments, deductions and disputes.
6. Record credit notes and write-off requests with approvals.
7. Update collection notes and expected payment dates.

Collections communication tips

• Be polite and specific: give invoice number, amount and due date
• Ask when payment will be made and note the date
• Keep written records of every promise
• Escalate calmly according to policy, not emotion
• Understand the customer's reason before pressing for payment

Month-end duties

• Ensure all invoices for the period are raised
• Reconcile the AR sub-ledger with the general ledger
• Review the ageing report and provisions for doubtful debts as per company policy
• Clear unapplied cash
• Prepare collection and ageing reports

Measures managers watch

• Days sales outstanding (DSO)
• Percentage of invoices overdue
• Collection effectiveness
• Unapplied cash balance
• Dispute resolution time

Skills

• Accounting basics and accuracy
• Excel, especially lookups and pivot tables
• Negotiation and relationship skills
• ERP and bank portal familiarity
• Patience and persistence

Career path

AR executive, senior executive, collections or cash application lead, AR manager, then credit and collections manager or O2C head. Others move into credit analysis, treasury or financial analysis.

Next step

Register on JobKarle and apply to accounts receivable, billing and collections roles.