Account technician vs accounts receivable specialist

The differences between account technicians and accounts receivable specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an account technician, becoming an accounts receivable specialist takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an account technician has an average salary of $51,115, which is higher than the $39,873 average annual salary of an accounts receivable specialist.

The top three skills for an account technician include veterans, financial statements and patients. The most important skills for an accounts receivable specialist are customer service, patients, and data entry.

Account technician vs accounts receivable specialist overview

	Account Technician	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Yearly salary	$51,115	$39,873
Hourly rate	$24.57	$19.17
Growth rate	-5%	-8%
Number of jobs	94,413	61,988
Job satisfaction	-	4.5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	51	46
Years of experience	6	12

What does an account technician do?

Account technicians are skilled professionals who are responsible for gathering data and preparing financial statements and reports from the account records they have maintained. These technicians are required to settle accounts with insurance companies and maximize benefits payments received from those companies. They must maintain a client management system for multiple accounts and coordinate marketing outreach for potential and existing clients. Account technicians must also monitor and compile all documents of the department, such as invoices, checks, and financial records.

What does an accounts receivable specialist do?

Accounts receivable specialists are members of the organization's finance or accounting department. They are responsible for managing the collection of payments for the company. They prepare official receipts and coordinate with account payable specialists from other companies with pending payables. They ensure that clients pay on time, and they also follow up on payments when necessary. They are responsible for checking whether the clients have already paid in full. Accounts receivable specialists are in charge of updating accounting records as well to ensure that client records are up to date.

Account technician vs accounts receivable specialist salary

Account technicians and accounts receivable specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Account Technician	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Average salary	$51,115	$39,873
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $97,000	Between $31,000 And $50,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	California	Connecticut
Best paying company	Microsoft	InfosysPublicService
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between account technician and accounts receivable specialist education

There are a few differences between an account technician and an accounts receivable specialist in terms of educational background:

	Account Technician	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	-

Account technician vs accounts receivable specialist demographics

Here are the differences between account technicians' and accounts receivable specialists' demographics:

	Account Technician	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Average age	51	46
Gender ratio	Male, 31.3% Female, 68.7%	Male, 18.2% Female, 81.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 6.5% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 12.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 3.9% White, 59.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	8%

Differences between account technician and accounts receivable specialist duties and responsibilities

Account technician example responsibilities.

Develop expertise in use of PeopleSoft system to manage balance accounts for quarterly investment portfolio.
Process medical claims and workman compensation claims and Medicare & Medicaid claims.
Review accounts, record payments from first and third party billing to include Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance.
Close patient contact, appropriate decision-making concerning patient financial affairs and coordination between patients and third-party sponsorship for further financial assistance.
Issue manual checks from QuickBooks as needed.
Construct payment scheduling through utilization of QuickBooks.

Accounts receivable specialist example responsibilities.

Manage profitable accounts receivable ledgers for existing and new clientele maintaining accuracy of monies enter to appropriate relate account.
Perform accounts reconciliations, complex invoice research, statement reconciliations, complex invoice research, statement reconciliation and journal entries.
Follow company's standard operating procedures in cooperation with Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance providers to resolve billing issues.
Cash and credit allocation of customer payments in ROSS ERP system.
Prepare PowerPoint presentations, word documents, letters and spreadsheets while meeting deadlines.
Reconcile direct billing accounts and adjust product pricing utilizing JD Edwards EnterpriseONE ERP system.

Account technician vs accounts receivable specialist skills

Common account technician skills

Veterans, 13%
Financial Statements, 10%
Patients, 8%
Data Entry, 6%
HR, 5%
Reconciliations, 5%

Common accounts receivable specialist skills

Customer Service, 15%
Patients, 9%
Data Entry, 5%
Credit Card Payments, 4%
Reconciliations, 4%
Accounts Receivables, 3%

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Account Technician
Account Technician vs Accounts Receivable Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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