What are the responsibilities and job description for the Accounts Receivable & Collections Specialist position at Life Skills Training and Educational Programs?
Job Details
Description
Join our team and make a difference in people’s lives!
Are you an experienced Accounts Receivable & Collections professional looking to make a meaningful impact? Join our team as an Accounts Receivable & Collections Specialist, where you will play a key role in managing client billing, cash collections, and account reconciliations while delivering excellent customer service.
About the Organization:
LifeSTEPS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization. The mission of LifeSTEPS is to provide effective educational and supportive services to maximize the strengths of individuals and build resilient communities. Founded in 1996, LifeSTEPS is currently one of the premier social services providers in affordable housing, and is the leading agency and national model of eviction prevention and sustainable housing. LifeSTEPS provides impact to over 100,000 residents residing at over 400 partnered affordable housing communities across the state of California. Our vision is that every person served by LifeSTEPS will be empowered with the skills, resources, and support to maintain stable housing and break the cycle of poverty. Our founders believe that building affordable housing is only the first step. It is also essential to provide meaningful programs that empower people to move forward in their lives.
Summary
The Accounts Receivable & Collections Specialist is responsible for facilitating client billing and cash collection for the company. Additional duties include completing check deposits via bank scanner, posting payments in the accounting system, providing excellent customer service, contacting customers regarding payment status on outstanding balances, arranging payments, preparing credit memos, updating account contact information as needed, documenting correspondence, and maintaining professional and friendly relationships with customers, co-workers, and staff.
Essential Job Functions include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
• Promote a culture of organizational excellence using LifeSTEPS’ values through the Oz Principles.
• Maintains AR system; updates payment information.
• Inputs receivable payments within an allotted timeframe.
• Extracts billing data into Excel and prepares and imports journal entries to the ERP system.
• Generate and print monthly invoices.
• Provides excellent customer service with requests regarding current and previous account balances, collection issues, processing customer refunds, reviewing and processing account adjustments, and resolving client discrepancies.
• Monitors and maintains assigned accounts to ensure calls, account adjustments, and customer reconciliations are completed on time.
• Accurately records all payments received daily.
• Complete deposits of all checks received daily.
• Own the collections process by following up on delinquent accounts daily and keeping organization’s metric goals within allowable range.
• Answers inbound calls to assist with accounting inquiries and payments.
• Reconciles customer accounts monthly.
• Communicates, interfaces, and troubleshoots with the accounting department and outside vendors as needed.
• Communicates and follows up with internal staff.
• Provides administrative support and excellent customer service to all internal and external customers such as, but not limited to, answering inbound telephone calls, making outbound collection calls, updating related account information, researching accounts, and inputting call notes to establish and maintain effective and cooperative working relationships.
• Meets defined department goals and expectations.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local financial regulations.
• Assist with month end close processes.
• Performs other related duties and projects as business needs require at the direction of the accounting manager, controller, or CFO.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are a representation of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Education and/or Experience: The minimum qualifications and training for this position are:
• Associate’s degree in Accounting or related field
• Four (4) years of accounts receivable, collections, and customer service in an accounting department setting.
• An equivalent combination of education and experience may substitute for the degree
• Experience working in a non-profit setting preferred
Skills
• Communication skills:
o Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language.
o Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates: providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
o Communicating with Persons Outside Organization: communicating with third parties with professionalism; represent and promote the LifeSTEPS values to program participants and partnerships, the public, governmental and other external agencies. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
• Management skills
o Time Management: Developing specific goals and plan to prioritize, organize and accomplish your work.
o Personnel Management: Organize and maintain a team of dedicated professionals to ensure the culture of the organization is secure.
o Maintain strong boundaries.
• Leaderships Skills
o Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships: Develop constructive and cooperative working relationships with others.
o Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others: Handle complaints, settle disputes, and resolve grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
o Initiative: Willingness to take on responsibility and challenge while working within the construct of the agency goals.
o Ability to inspire staff and partners to achieve agency success.
o Team Building: Encourage and build mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members.
• Mathematical Skills:
o Strong aptitude for numbers, spreadsheets, and financial reports. Ability to calculate percentages and salary conversions. Accurate data-entry, and handle high volumes of daily data/information.
o Knowledge of bookkeeping and accounting best practices, laws, standards, and state/national regulations and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
• Reasoning Skills: Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
Other Skills and Abilities
• Attention to Detail: must be detail oriented and thorough in completing work tasks.
• Complex Problem-Solving Skills: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Competent to think strategically and understand big picture.
• Computer Skills: Proficient use of spreadsheet software, word processing and database software.
• Maintain confidentiality in all duties, actions and communications.
• Independence and Autonomy: Display willingness to make timely decisions; exhibit sound and accurate judgement; support and explain reasoning for decisions; include appropriate people in decision-making process.
• Dependability: Ability to be reliable, responsible and dependable in order to fulfill obligations. Position requires regular attendance and timeliness.
• Office Support: Ability to provide office administrative support. Establish filing systems; organize and maintain an efficient work place. Ability to operate office equipment such as fax machines, copiers, and phone systems
• May need to work some evenings and weekends in order to attend events or address situations of crisis.
• Regional travel and occasional overnight travel may be necessary.
Certificates, Licenses, Registrations
• Valid California Driving License and reliable, insured transportation.
Physical Job Description
• Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk; walk on uneven terrain; bend; sit; use hands to handle objects, tools, or controls; lift; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; talk or hear; taste or smell. Must be able to stand for extended periods of time and move about the facilities within the communities served by LifeSTEPS- both indoors and outdoors. Vision and hearing must be sufficient to perform job functions safely including visual acuity to perform activities such as data entry, preparing reports, viewing a computer terminal, extensive reading, and visual inspection of one’s own work product at varying distances. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
• Work Environment: While performing the essential functions of this job, the employee regularly works in an office setting. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. The employee occasionally works in outdoor weather conditions, at resident properties, and special events.
Qualifications
- Associate’s degree in Accounting or related field
- Four (4) years of accounts receivable, collections, and customer service in an accounting department setting.
- An equivalent combination of education and experience may substitute for the degree
- Experience working in a non-profit setting preferred
Are you ready to make a difference, stand behind and support individuals and families so they achieve their goals and become empowered to move forward in their lives? Apply today!!!
Please Note
LifeSTEPS values the diversity of the people it hires and serves. Diversity at LifeSTEPS means fostering a workplace in which individual differences are recognized, appreciated, respected and responded to in ways that fully develop and utilize each person's talents and strengths. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, disability, age or covered veteran status. Please provide us with notice if you will require accommodations during the interview process.
#Leadership
Salary : $25 - $27
