Senior Collections and Deductions Analyst

Packaging Corporation of America; Lake Forest (IL); Hybrid; USD 55,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Senior Collections and Deductions Analyst to enhance their collections process. This pivotal role involves resolving discrepancies across large-scale accounts and collaborating with various teams to ensure timely invoicing and collections. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in finance or accounting, with excellent communication and organizational skills. Join a company that values customer service and operational excellence, and be part of a team that strives to exceed expectations while maintaining strong relationships with clients.

Qualifications

• 4-6 years of experience in corporate or plant collections environment.
• Strong communication and organizational skills are essential.

Responsibilities

• Resolve discrepancies on specific accounts and streamline communications.
• Analyze aging of accounts to drive accountability and resolve issues.

Skills

MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Written and oral communication skills

Organizational skills

Time-management skills

Ability to build relationships

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance or Accounting

Job description

Senior Collections and Deductions Analyst

Senior Collections and Deductions Analyst

Lake Forest, IL 60045, USA * Virtual
Req #21944

As a Fortune 500 company, Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) is an ideas and solutions company. Our corrugated packaging business seeks to be the leader in helping our customers - large and small - package, transport and display products of all kinds. Our white paper business delivers Paper With Purpose by providing the highest level of customer service and operational excellence. We have approximately 15,000 team members in more than 100 locations in the United States that strive to meet the local needs of our customers. Our mission is to serve the needs of our customers, today and tomorrow, with products and services that exceed expectations for performance and environmental responsibility.

People * Customers * Trust

Position Summary:

The Senior Collections and Deductions Analyst is responsible in resolving and addressing discrepancies on specific / rotating accounts. This position will interact heavily with our plant accounting teams, National Sales team and larger, more complex customers.

Dimensions:

PCA is the third largest producer of containerboard and corrugated packaging products in the United Sates with sales more than $8B in 2024. The company operates seven paper mills and ninety plus corrugated product plants throughout the continental United States.

PCA operates a decentralized credit and collections function. Customer Collections are performed at the plant level and this role will be required to collaborate and analyze specific large-scale accounts who have past dues that span across many PCA and customer site locations. The role will be instrumental in streamlining communications to/from PCA and the customer and within PCA plant and the National Sales team.

There can be multiple individuals that may be involved in reconciling these larger scale accounts depending on the plant and customer, so it is important to work efficiently and collaboratively towards a common purpose of resolving these past dues / payment issues. PCA's monthly accounts receivable portfolio totals $900 million to $1 billion+, with an average Days Sales Outstanding of approximately 45 days. The Senior Collections and Deductions Analyst is expected to help drive down DSO and delinquency to ensure compliance while maintaining and creating great working and synergistic relationships.

As a key member of the Corporate Finance Group and the PCA team, the Senior Collections and Deductions Analyst is expected to continually strive to strengthen our business philosophy of meeting needs and exceeding the expectations for our internal and external customers. The includes supporting our Commitment to Service which involves doing what is right for our customers, focusing on strategies that add value and support growth, and keeping the promises that we make.

Principle Accountabilities:

• Continually strive to strengthen PCA's business philosophy of meeting needs and exceeding expectation for customers. This includes supporting PCA's Commitment to Service which involves doing what is right for our customers, focusing on strategies that add value and support growth, and keeping the promises that we make.
• Knowing and following policies and procedures of the company; for sharing information that benefits other members of the team; and for finding ways to improve the delivery of service to our customers.
• Modernizing our reporting and reconciliation processes as needed to deliver best in class reporting to senior management.
• Review the aging of assigned National Accounts to determine progress in resolving aging and drive accountability within PCA and our customer to resolve root calls issues
• Support plants and National Sales in understanding potential impacts from customer's payment cycles, deductions, and past dues.
• Review on account / open payments for assigned customers to ensure the account reflects accurate balances.
• Escalate internally and at the customer if resolution is slow to achieve desired results.
• Identify and understand root cause issues of account discrepancies and take the appropriate steps in resolving those root cause issues.
• Determine impacts to DSO by analyzing the delinquency days of larger scale accounts while also understanding the impact past dues have on the business. This analysis will allow the sales and plants to fully understand the importance of timely invoicing and collections to large-scale customers.
• Work with National Sales Directors, Area Controllers, Plant Controllers and Corporate Credit and A/R on identifying and resolving root cause issues or to escalate account concerns as needed.
• Works with Accounts Receivable to identify potential payment posting issues.
• Works with Credit leadership if there is a justifiable concern to place a customer on order/credit hold.

Decision Making:

The Senior Collections and Deductions Analyst provides support on specific customer concerns and is a source of reference for our sales and plant teams re: collection strategies, root cause issues as well as determining the potential for credit holds.

Interactions with Customers and Contacts

• This position reports to the A/R Manager out of Lake Forest.
• This position is a non-supervisory role.
• Internally, this position will regularly interact with... National sales, plant controllers / management, corporate personnel, Senior leaders within the sales organization.
• Externally, this position will regularly interact with... large scale customers.

Position Requirements

• Bachelor's degree with a concentration in Finance or Accounting required.
• Required 4-6 years of experience in a corporate or plant collections environment with a preference in the manufacturing sector, containerboard, and corrugated packaging industry preferred.
• Proficient knowledge of MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).
• Strong written and oral communication skills both with internal PCA employees and customers.
• Strong listening, evaluating, and organizational skills.
• Ability to work in a fast paced, deadline-oriented environment, prioritize assignments, and handle multiple projects and/or requests concurrently.
• Ability to network and build relationships with individuals of various experience and corporate positions.
• Ability to interact well with others, collaborate and build strong working relationships with both the PCA team, customers and corporate A/R and Credit.
• Previous experience working in a team environment preferred, or a strong understanding of the importance of open communication and information sharing among co-workers.
• Strong time-management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Travel requirements up to 20% based on business needs.

#LI-VP1

All qualified applicants must apply at Careers.packagingcorp.com to be considered.

PCA is an Equal Opportunity Employer - Veterans/Disabled and other protected categories.

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