Accounts Receivable Specialist resume keywords and skills

Accounts receivable postings name the cycle: invoicing, cash application, collections and reconciliation. They also name the ERP, and many ask about aging reports and DSO. A controller reading your resume wants to know how much you billed or posted, how many accounts you carried and what happened to past-due balances. Use the posting's terms for the steps you have owned, and attach a dollar amount or account count to each.

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  • Invoicing
  • Cash application
  • ACH and wire payments
  • Lockbox processing
  • Remittance advice
  • Credit memos
  • Customer portals (Ariba, Coupa)
  • Collections
  • Accounts receivable aging (AR aging)
  • Days sales outstanding (DSO)
  • Dispute resolution
  • Credit holds
  • Customer statements
  • Bad debt write-offs
  • Account reconciliation
  • Month-end close
  • Unapplied cash
  • ERP systems (SAP, Oracle NetSuite)
  • QuickBooks
  • Microsoft Excel

Accounts Receivable Specialist resume keywords

The bullets are writing models, not anyone's real results. Use a keyword only when you can back it with your own work.

Billing and cash application

Invoicing
Postings may say billing or invoicing. Use their word, and give monthly invoice volume or the dollar amount billed.
Prepared and sent about 600 invoices a month from shipping documents and contract terms, within two days of delivery.
Cash application
Matching payments to open invoices is the core AR task. State daily volume and the payment types you posted.
Performed daily cash application of about 150 payments, totaling roughly $3 million a month.
ACH and wire payments
Electronic payments arrive without a check stub. Postings want someone who can trace them to the right customer.
Identified incoming ACH and wire payments on the daily bank report and applied them to customer accounts before noon.
Lockbox processing
Larger companies receive checks through a bank lockbox. Naming it shows you have worked with bank files and remittance images.
Handled lockbox processing each morning, importing the bank file and researching unidentified payments the same day.
Remittance advice
Customers send it to say which invoices a payment covers. Postings list it when payments arrive in bulk or short-paid.
Matched remittance advice to open invoices for 40 key accounts and requested missing detail from customer payables teams.
Credit memos
Corrections to invoices need support and approval. Mention the reasons you issued credits and the approval limit you worked under.
Issued credit memos for pricing errors and returns, with manager approval on amounts over $500.
Customer portals (Ariba, Coupa)
Large customers require invoices to be uploaded to their portal. Postings name it because rejected uploads delay payment.
Submitted invoices through customer portals such as Ariba and Coupa and fixed rejected submissions within two days.

Collections and credit

Collections
Say whether you collected from businesses or consumers, and how many accounts you carried. The two are different jobs.
Managed collections on a portfolio of 300 commercial accounts, making about 40 calls and emails a day on past-due balances.
Accounts receivable aging (AR aging)
The report that sorts open invoices by days past due. Postings want someone who reads it and acts on the oldest buckets.
Worked the AR aging report weekly, bringing balances over 90 days down from $410,000 to $260,000 in a year.
Days sales outstanding (DSO)
The average number of days it takes to collect. Cite it only if you know your team's figure and your part in it.
Tracked DSO monthly and helped bring it from 52 to 45 days by sending statements earlier and calling at 15 days past due.
Dispute resolution
Many late invoices are disputed over price, quantity or damage. Describe the kinds you researched and who you worked with.
Handled dispute resolution on short-paid invoices with sales and customer service, closing most within 10 business days.
Credit holds
Shows you enforce terms. Mention the policy trigger, such as days past due or a credit limit.
Placed and released credit holds on past-due accounts under the credit policy and notified sales before orders were blocked.
Customer statements
A routine collections tool. Give the number of accounts and whether you sent them by email or through the ERP.
Sent monthly customer statements to 800 accounts and answered balance questions from customer payables contacts.
Bad debt write-offs
Uncollectible balances need documentation before they are written off. It signals you understand the approval process.
Documented quarterly bad debt write-offs with collection history attached for controller approval.

Reconciliation and close

Account reconciliation
Postings mean customer accounts and the AR subledger. Say which you reconciled and how often.
Completed account reconciliation for 25 high-volume customers each month, clearing duplicate credits and misapplied payments.
Month-end close
AR has fixed tasks at close, such as cutoffs, accruals and subledger tie-outs. Name the ones that were yours.
Supported month-end close by reconciling the AR subledger to the general ledger and delivering the aging summary by day three.
Unapplied cash
Payments that cannot be matched pile up fast. Postings list it to find people who chase them down.
Researched and cleared unapplied cash each week, keeping the balance under $20,000.

Accounting systems

ERP systems (SAP, Oracle NetSuite)
Postings name the ERP they run. List yours by product, since SAP, Oracle NetSuite and Sage Intacct are each searched for.
Posted receipts and ran aging reports in the SAP ERP system for a business unit with $40 million in annual sales.
QuickBooks
Standard at small companies. Specify Online or Desktop, because the two work differently.
Created invoices and recorded customer payments in QuickBooks Online for a 60-customer service business.
Microsoft Excel
AR work lives in exports. Name the functions you use on aging and payment data.
Built Microsoft Excel aging summaries with pivot tables and XLOOKUP for the weekly collections meeting.

Accounts Receivable Specialist job description for a resume

Common duties written as resume bullets. Keep the ones you did and add your own numbers.

  • Prepare and send customer invoices from sales orders, contracts and shipping documents.
  • Apply checks, ACH, wire and card payments to open invoices each day.
  • Contact customers by phone and email about past-due balances and document each contact.
  • Research short payments, deductions and disputes with sales and customer service.
  • Review the aging report and escalate accounts that pass credit terms.
  • Issue credit memos and adjustments with required approval and support.
  • Reconcile customer accounts and the AR subledger to the general ledger at month-end.
  • Send statements and respond to customer requests for invoice copies and account detail.
  • Build aging and collections reports for the controller and credit manager.

Accounts Receivable Specialist resume summary examples

Entry level

Billing clerk with an associate degree in accounting and one year at a regional distributor. Prepared about 250 invoices a month in QuickBooks, posted customer payments and sent monthly statements. Works confidently with Excel lookups and pivot tables, and is looking for an accounts receivable role with collections duties.

Experienced

Accounts receivable specialist with 6 years in wholesale distribution. Applies about $3 million in monthly receipts in SAP, carries a collections portfolio of 300 commercial accounts and reconciles the AR subledger at month-end. Helped bring DSO from 52 to 45 days and clears unapplied cash weekly.

Phrases to replace on an accounts receivable specialist resume

  • Responsible for collections

    Give the portfolio and the result. Collected on 300 commercial accounts and cut balances over 90 days by $150,000.

  • Processed payments

    State volume, type and system. Applied about 150 check, ACH and wire payments a day in SAP.

  • Strong attention to detail

    Show a check you ran. Reconciled the AR subledger to the general ledger monthly and explained every variance.

Accounts Receivable Specialist resume examples

See these keywords in a full resume, by experience level.

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Accounts Receivable Specialist resume keywords FAQ

What keywords should an accounts receivable resume include?

Invoicing, cash application, collections, AR aging, account reconciliation and month-end close cover most postings. Add DSO if you know your team's number, plus dispute resolution and credit memos if you handled them. Name your ERP by product. Each term should sit in a bullet with a volume or dollar figure you can explain.

What skills do employers want in an AR specialist?

Accurate posting, steady follow-up on past-due accounts and comfort in an ERP and Excel. Postings also ask for clear phone and email contact with customers' payables staff. Show each through a task, such as the number of payments applied daily or accounts you called weekly, instead of listing them as traits.

Should I put DSO on my resume?

Yes, if you know the figure and can explain your part in it. DSO is a team result that also depends on sales terms and customer mix, so describe your contribution, such as earlier statements or weekly aging reviews. If you never saw the number, use aging balances or collection amounts you tracked yourself.

How do I describe cash application on a resume?

Give the daily or monthly volume, the payment types and the system. For example: Applied about 150 check, ACH and wire payments a day in SAP. Mention lockbox files, remittance matching and unapplied cash if they were part of your work, since postings often list those separately.

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