How To Become A Collection Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is a collection analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A collection analyst is tasked with the responsibility of assessing a person's or a company's riskiness in terms of both extending credit and collecting repayments. They systematically analyze and review a customer's financial history, financial statements, and any other information that would pertain to receiving a line of credit. Moreover, they work closely with companies and departments within them to help them effectively utilize lines of credit.

Collection analysts perform regular analyses on all productivity metrics, recommend improvements, and conduct periodic departmental quality audits to improve efficiency. They also assist to gather and prepare collection reports on weekly basis and assignment reports on a monthly basis for all credit card accounts and collection agencies. Essential skills required for the job include analytical, organizational, communication, and leadership. Although a high school diploma or a GED may suffice with at least a few months of training on the job, most employers look to hire candidates with a bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline.

The average hourly salary for the position is $19.51, which amounts to $40,582 annually. They may be expected to work flexible hours depending on the workload.

ScoreCollection AnalystUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $46,819

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.9

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.49%

Asian 3.96%

Black or African American 13.90%

Hispanic or Latino 18.63%

Unknown 4.23%

White 58.77%

Gender

female 62.27%

male 37.73%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.9

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a collection analyst

Explore collection analyst education requirements

Most common collection analyst degrees

Bachelor's

55.2 %

Associate

22.3 %

High School Diploma

9.4 %

Start to develop specific collection analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	15.95%
Portfolio	9.06%
Patients	5.20%
Customer Accounts	4.75%
Delinquent Accounts	4.36%

Complete relevant collection analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New collection analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a collection analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real collection analyst resumes.

Research collection analyst duties and responsibilities

Represent and lead the collections' team during executive management weekly conference calls providing updates on the delinquent A/R reports.
Assist in reducing the DSO down and limit bad debt expense while focusing on building revenue.
Maintain customer relations while improving company DSO.
Work remittance advice from Medicaid and Medicare ensuring accuracy of payments, correcting account billing according with Medicaid or Medicare disposition.

Prepare your collection analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your collection analyst resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a collection analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable collection analyst resume templates

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