A career as an accounts receivable clerk is often fitting for a person with strong mathematical skills, good organizational habits and an eye for detail. In most cases, these individuals work within the financial department of a large company and oversee all transactions. While it's sometimes possible to obtain this position with only a high school diploma, it's ideal to have a degree in accounting or a related field. Some common duties of an accounts receivable clerk include keeping track of financial transactions, collecting money from customers, maintaining vendor and customer records, producing financial reports and performing various office duties.
Keeping track of a company's financial transactions is perhaps the clerk's most integral task. It's his job to maintain accurate records of all expenses and money owed. For most businesses, this is done by implementing a computer software program, and all transactions are stored in a database. Performing this task effectively requires a person with computer skills, a high level of accuracy and the ability spot any monetary discrepancies.
Another important duty is collecting money from customers. While most customers usually pay on time, sometimes an accounts receivable clerk will have to contact customers and collect any unpaid charges. This is typically done over the phone or through online correspondence. Consequently, it's helpful for an individual to have an assertive personality to deal with customers who have delinquent charges.
Maintaining vendor and customer records is also the job of an accounts receivable clerk. In order to maintain an accurate database, he will usually store information like a vendor's business name, contact information, items purchased, date of purchase and total amount of each purchase. For customers, he might store the name, address, contact information, items sold, date sold and payment information. Entering this information helps a company maintain essential records that can be reviewed later on if necessary.
Along with this, it's often necessary to produce in-depth financial reports. This responsibility typically involves taking the financial transaction information and using it to create graphs for easy viewing. The accounts receivable clerk will usually share the information from completed reports with a supervisor or give a presentation to a group of department heads.
Performing various office duties is also part of this position. Since this career is typically based in an office, the accounts receivable manager will need to do things like answer telephones, reply to emails, distribute mail and send faxes. When an office is extra busy, the stress levels will often rise, so it's helpful to have effective stress management skills as well.
