How To Become A Collections/Account Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a collections/account manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average collections/account manager salary is $48,753. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an business major. It usually takes 6-8 years of experience to become a collections/account manager. Collections/account managers with a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 17% and produce 123,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCollections/Account ManagerUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $48,753

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.5

Growth rate 17%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.34%

Asian 7.34%

Black or African American 7.74%

Hispanic or Latino 14.89%

Unknown 4.11%

White 65.58%

Gender

female 59.80%

male 40.20%

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

9.5

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.1

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a collections/account manager

Explore collections/account manager education requirements

Most common collections/account manager degrees

Bachelor's

41.4 %

Associate

24.1 %

High School Diploma

21.0 %

Start to develop specific collections/account manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	17.17%
Payment Arrangements	10.71%
Debt Collection	10.68%
Delinquent Accounts	9.78%
Student Loans	6.51%

Complete relevant collections/account manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New collections/account managers 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 collections/account manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real collections/account manager resumes.

Research collections/account manager duties and responsibilities

Achieve historical low of six percent in A/R over 30 days past due and reduction of DSO to 53 days.
Process payroll and employee benefits, mediated/resolve personnel issues and assure EEOC and OSHA compliance.
Handle high volume incoming/outgoing calls, skip-tracing to find location information by following FDCPA regulations and hit monthly budget.
Maintain and ensure a working knowledge of all federal, state and local governmental regulations including FDCPA, TCPA and FISMA.

Prepare your collections/account manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your collections/account manager resume.

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