Reconciling what customers owe against what's landed in the bank, you chase aging invoices, code payments, and untangle disputes that keep cash from arriving cleanly. A bridge between sales-driven AR and the GL that needs it to tie.
A typical week tends to mix aging-report deep-dives, payment-application work, and customer dispute calls — pulling open invoices over 60 days, sorting why a remittance came in short, working with sales on a stuck purchase order. You'll often live in the ERP (NetSuite, SAP, Oracle) and Excel side-by-side. DSO, write-off rates, and clean monthly aging are how progress shows up.
The friction usually lives between sales and finance — the customer says one thing to the rep and another to collections, and you're reconciling both stories against the contract. Variance across companies can be wide: SaaS shops run on automated billing platforms; manufacturers or distributors deal with EDI, short pays, and dozens of customer-specific quirks. Month-end close compresses the calendar around the 5th or 10th.
This work tends to suit folks who enjoy untangling the spreadsheet more than presenting in front of a room. Patience with repetition pays off; so does diplomatic phone presence. The trade-off is being measured by exception — you're invisible when cash applies cleanly and visible when it doesn't. Many use AR as a credible path into broader accounting roles.
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Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Admin & Office roles →Reconciling what customers owe against what's landed in the bank, you chase aging invoices, code payments, and untangle disputes that keep cash from arriving cleanly. A bridge between sales-driven AR and the GL that needs it to tie.
Median pay for an Accounts Receivable Analyst is about $47K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $36K to $65K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Reading Comprehension, Mathematics, Active Listening, Speaking, and Time Management.
Most people in this role hold an associate's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to decline about 0.4% through 2034, with roughly 417,500 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Senior Accounts Receivable Analyst, Deposit Refund Clerk, and Posting Machine Operator.
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