Collections Specialist

AAA Fire Protection; Union City (CA); On-site; USD 48,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

AAA Fire Protection in Union City, CA is seeking an Accounts Receivable and Collection Specialist. This full-time role focuses on managing a high-volume portfolio, securing payment on past-due invoices, cash application, and reducing aged receivables.

Strong communication, follow-up, and attention to detail are essential to meet collection and cash-receipt goals. Responsibilities include contacting customers, resolving disputes, reconciling accounts, and collaborating with Billing, Operations,

Qualifications

• Experience in commercial collections and high-volume AR environments.
• Experience managing aging reports and large customer portfolios.
• Strong written and verbal communication and organizational skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage a high-volume portfolio of customer accounts and actively pursue outstanding balances.
• Contact customers by phone, email, and other methods to secure payment of past-due invoices.
• Review aging reports and prioritize collection strategies for high-risk accounts.
• Research and resolve account discrepancies in partnership with customers and internal departments.
• Reconcile customer accounts and ensure payments and credits are correctly applied.
• Collaborate with Billing, Customer Service, Operations, Sales, and Accounting to resolve issues impacting collections.
• Provide regular updates on collection activity and aging trends.
• Meet established collection and cash-receipt goals.

Skills

High-volume collections

Communication

Attention to detail

Time management

Prioritization

Dispute resolution

Education

Associate degree in Business Administration or Accounting

Tools

SAGE Intacct

Excel

Job description

If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability, contact this employer to ask for an accommodation or an alternative application process.

Collections Specialist

Finance & Accounting Full Time Professional Union City, CA, US 1 Attachments

3 days ago Requisition ID: 1013

Salary Range: $35.00 To $39.00 Hourly

Accounts Receivable and Collection Specialist

Position Summary

The Accounts Receivable and Collection Specialist is responsible for managing a high-volume portfolio of customer accounts, with a primary focus on timely collections, account resolution, cash application, and reducing aged accounts receivable. This position requires a proactive and results-driven individual who can effectively communicate with customers, identify and resolve payment issues, post customer payments accurately, and maintain accurate account records.

The ideal candidate will have commercial collections experience, strong follow-up skills, attention to detail, and the ability to prioritize a large volume of accounts while consistently meeting established collection, cash-receipt, productivity, and aging-reduction goals.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage a high-volume portfolio of customer accounts and actively pursue outstanding balances.
• Contact customers by phone, email, and other appropriate methods to secure payment of past-due invoices.
• Maintain consistent follow-up on outstanding invoices and customer payment commitments to prevent accounts from aging into higher delinquency brackets.
• Review customer accounts to identify overdue invoices, payment issues, disputes, unapplied cash, credits, and other items preventing payment.
• Research and resolve account discrepancies in partnership with customers and internal departments.
• Reconcile customer accounts and ensure payments, credits, adjustments, and other transactions are accurately recorded and applied.
• Work directly with customers to resolve disputes and obtain the documentation or information necessary to facilitate payment.
• Identify accounts requiring escalation and communicate issues to appropriate internal departments or management.
• Maintain detailed and accurate collection notes documenting customer contacts, payment commitments, disputes, payment arrangements, and resolution efforts.
• Follow established collection procedures, including escalation and credit-hold requirements when applicable.
• Review aging reports regularly and prioritize collection strategies for high-risk and severely aged accounts.
• Assist with the cleanup and resolution of aged accounts receivable, including researching historical balances and determining appropriate next steps.
• Collaborate with Billing, Customer Service, Operations, Sales, Cash Applications, Accounting, and other departments to resolve issues impacting collections.
• Provide regular updates regarding collection activity, aging trends, customer issues, and expected cash receipts.
• Meet established collection, cash-receipt, productivity, and aging-reduction goals.
• Maintain confidentiality of customer and company financial information.

Cash Applications Responsibilities

• Research and identify unapplied, unidentified, and misapplied customer payments.
• Review customer remittance information and account activity to determine the appropriate application of funds and identify incorrectly applied payments.
• Enter and post customer payments directly into SAGE Intacct or the applicable accounting system, ensuring payments are accurately applied to the appropriate customer accounts and invoices.
• Verify payment amounts, remittance details, and account information before posting transactions.
• Work with customers to obtain missing remittance information when necessary.
• Research and resolve payment discrepancies, including short pays, deductions, credits, fees, credit balances, and other payment-related issues.
• Correct payment application errors in accordance with established procedures and authorization requirements.
• Follow established cash application controls and approval procedures when posting or correcting payment transactions.
• Communicate payment application issues to customers and internal departments as needed.
• Ensure collection efforts are based on accurate account balances and that customers are not contacted for invoices that have already been paid but remain unapplied.
• Support timely reconciliation and resolution of customer accounts when payment information is incomplete or discrepancies exist.
• Maintain accurate documentation of payment applications, adjustments, and account resolutions.
• Perform other duties and special projects as assigned.

High-Volume Collection Responsibilities

This position will be responsible for working a substantial volume of customer accounts and invoices simultaneously. The Collection Specialist must be able to:

• Efficiently manage a large daily collection workload.
• Prioritize accounts based on age, balance, risk, and likelihood of payment.
• Maintain consistent collection activity without allowing accounts to become unnecessarily aged.
• Balance routine collection efforts with focused attention on severely aged accounts.
• Make a high volume of collection calls and send collection correspondence while maintaining professional customer relationships.
• Track multiple customer commitments, disputes, and account issues through resolution.
• Escalate unresolved issues promptly to prevent further aging and delays in payment.

Aged Accounts Receivable Cleanup

A key responsibility of this position will be the reduction and resolution of aged accounts receivable. This includes:

• Reviewing older outstanding balances and determining the reasons for non-payment.
• Researching historical account activity, invoices, payments, credits, and adjustments.
• Identifying invalid, duplicate, disputed, or potentially uncollectible balances for appropriate review and resolution.
• Working with internal departments to resolve billing and account issues.
• Obtaining payment commitments on valid outstanding balances.
• Identifying accounts requiring credit holds, escalation, additional research, or potential write-off consideration.
• Developing and executing action plans for severely aged accounts.
• Maintaining accurate documentation of collection efforts and account resolution.
• Contribute to reducing the overall aged AR balance and improving the company's cash flow and Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) performance.

Education & Experience

• Associate degree in Business Administration, Accounting, or a related field (preferred)
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in accounts receivable and commercial collections, preferably in a high-volume business-to-business (B2B) environment.
• Experience managing aging reports, large customer portfolios, and outstanding invoice balances.
• Working knowledge of accounts receivable processes, commercial collection practices, and account reconciliation.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills, with the ability to prioritize competing demands and meet deadlines.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to accurate account documentation.
• Ability to research discrepancies, resolve payment issues, and handle difficult customer conversations professionally.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with internal teams.
• Experience in service, maintenance, facilities, or construction-related industries.
• Experience with SAGE Intacct or a comparable ERP or accounting system.

Performance Expectations

Success in this position will be measured by the ability to:

• Increase timely customer payments and cash receipts.
• Reduce past-due and aged accounts receivable.
• Meet established collection, cash-receipt, and productivity goals.
• Effectively manage collection activity across a large customer portfolio.
• Resolve account disputes and issues that prevent payment.
• Maintain accurate customer account balances, payment applications, and collection documentation.
• Minimize the movement of invoices into older aging categories.
• Demonstrate consistent follow-through on customer commitments and account issues.
• Contribute to improved AR aging, cash flow, and overall DSO performance.