Accounts receivable specialist vs accounts receivable clerk

The differences between accounts receivable specialists and accounts receivable clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become an accounts receivable specialist, becoming an accounts receivable clerk takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, an accounts receivable specialist has an average salary of $39,873, which is higher than the $36,425 average annual salary of an accounts receivable clerk.

The top three skills for an accounts receivable specialist include customer service, patients and data entry. The most important skills for an accounts receivable clerk are customer service, data entry, and collection calls.

Accounts receivable specialist vs accounts receivable clerk overview

	Accounts Receivable Specialist	Accounts Receivable Clerk
Yearly salary	$39,873	$36,425
Hourly rate	$19.17	$17.51
Growth rate	-8%	-5%
Number of jobs	61,988	87,935
Job satisfaction	4.5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
Average age	46	51
Years of experience	12	6

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.

What does an accounts receivable clerk do?

An Accounts Receivable Clerk specializes in processing payment records and bill statements of a company or organization. Among the duties include calculating total revenues and unpaid invoices, maintaining financial records and keeping a detailed and organized database, and verifying financial transactions and payment delinquencies. Furthermore, an Accounts Receivable Clerk must resolve and examine deductions, prepare invoices and necessary documentation, and review customer payment plans and history records and coordinate with the collections department should there be any issues.

Accounts receivable specialist vs accounts receivable clerk salary

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

	Accounts Receivable Specialist	Accounts Receivable Clerk
Average salary	$39,873	$36,425
Salary range	Between $31,000 And $50,000	Between $29,000 And $45,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Connecticut	Massachusetts
Best paying company	InfosysPublicService	IBM
Best paying industry	Technology	Finance

Differences between accounts receivable specialist and accounts receivable clerk education

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

	Accounts Receivable Specialist	Accounts Receivable Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 45%	Bachelor's Degree, 36%
Most common major	Business	Accounting
Most common college	-	University of Pennsylvania

Accounts receivable specialist vs accounts receivable clerk demographics

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

	Accounts Receivable Specialist	Accounts Receivable Clerk
Average age	46	51
Gender ratio	Male, 18.2% Female, 81.8%	Male, 13.7% Female, 86.3%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 6.5% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	8%	7%

Differences between accounts receivable specialist and accounts receivable clerk duties and responsibilities

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 clerk example responsibilities.

Manage and monitor weekly bank deposit runs and record deposits into QuickBooks.
Manage profitable accounts receivable ledgers for existing and new clientele maintaining accuracy of monies enter to appropriate relate account.
Obtain online reports of bank transactions, including deposits, ACH, EFT and wire payments from multiple banking institutions.
Utilize QuickBooks accounting software for billing/invoices, generate statements.
Perform necessary adjustments using knowledge of Medicare and all third party insurance.
Investigate and resolve any out-of-balances including credit card discrepancies / lockbox exceptions.

Accounts receivable specialist vs accounts receivable clerk skills

Common accounts receivable specialist skills

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

Common accounts receivable clerk skills

Customer Service, 12%
Data Entry, 9%
Collection Calls, 8%
Financial Data, 7%
Credit Card Payments, 5%
Process Payments, 5%

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Accounts Receivable Specialist
Accounts Receivable Specialist vs Accounts Receivable Clerk

Updated January 8, 2025

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