Accounts receivable assistant vs accounts receivable specialist

The differences between accounts receivable assistants 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 accounts receivable assistant, becoming an accounts receivable specialist takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an accounts receivable specialist has an average salary of $39,873, which is higher than the $36,730 average annual salary of an accounts receivable assistant.

The top three skills for an accounts receivable assistant include customer service, data entry and cash handling. The most important skills for an accounts receivable specialist are customer service, patients, and data entry.

Accounts receivable assistant vs accounts receivable specialist overview

	Accounts Receivable Assistant	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Yearly salary	$36,730	$39,873
Hourly rate	$17.66	$19.17
Growth rate	-5%	-8%
Number of jobs	31,748	61,988
Job satisfaction	-	4.5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	51	46
Years of experience	6	12

What does an accounts receivable assistant do?

An accounts receivable assistant has a variety of duties and responsibilities, including securing revenue by verifying receipts, maintaining records by microfilming debits, credits, and invoices, and summarizing receivables by maintaining invoices and determining the validity of account discrepancies. Other duties include keeping information confidential to protect the organization's value, accomplishing the organization and accounting mission, and resolving valid and authorized deductions. As an accounts receivable assistant, you are also responsible for posting customer payments by recording credit card, cash, and check transactions.

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.

Accounts receivable assistant vs accounts receivable specialist salary

Accounts receivable assistants and accounts receivable specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Accounts Receivable Assistant	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Average salary	$36,730	$39,873
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $46,000	Between $31,000 And $50,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	New York	Connecticut
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	InfosysPublicService
Best paying industry	Professional	Technology

Differences between accounts receivable assistant and accounts receivable specialist education

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

	Accounts Receivable Assistant	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	-

Accounts receivable assistant vs accounts receivable specialist demographics

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

	Accounts Receivable Assistant	Accounts Receivable Specialist
Average age	51	46
Gender ratio	Male, 20.4% Female, 79.6%	Male, 18.2% Female, 81.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 6.6% White, 67.6% 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 accounts receivable assistant and accounts receivable specialist duties and responsibilities

Accounts receivable assistant example responsibilities.

Reconcile bank deposit information with QuickBooks and manage all deposit files.
Manage profitable accounts receivable ledgers for existing and new clientele maintaining accuracy of monies enter to appropriate relate account.
Post customer payments by recording ACH, checks, and credit card transactions.
Inventory control using IBM AS400 system.
Maintain invoicing in AS400 billing system, reviewing collection activities and reconciling accounts.
Take in and disburse payments from customers in forms of checks, credit cards, ACH, and portal payments.

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.

Accounts receivable assistant vs accounts receivable specialist skills

Common accounts receivable assistant skills

Customer Service, 25%
Data Entry, 10%
Cash Handling, 7%
Financial Reports, 4%
Purchase Orders, 4%
Payroll, 4%

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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Accounts Receivable Assistant
Accounts Receivable Assistant vs Accounts Receivable Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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