NA Cash Collections Specialist

Responsibilities :JOB PURPOSE/MISSION/SUMMARY:Resolves, collects, and manages current, past due and outstanding invoices for assigned accounts of a given geography. Assignments include the preparation of monthly collections reports and collection activities via email correspondence or calls to customers. Interfaces with sales, sales support, marketing, customer service, service, order management, returns and distribution teams in reconciling accounts.The individual reports directly to the Operations Manager.KEY ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES / KEY JOB FUNCTIONS:CollectionsResponsible for communicating account details to customers;Prepares the monthly statement of accounts to be sent to the customers;To send aging statement / invoice copies and other documents needed by customers to process paymentCommunicates with customers A/P Team via phone or email on the customers' payments /payment status;Communicates to Accounting the payment remittance details in order for Accounting Team to apply payments accordingly;Ensures that Lexmark denials on deductions are communicated and/or uploaded timely to the customer and payments are received accordingly.Ensures that any payment or payback delays are escalated accordingly through the established escalation process within the Sales TeamAccount ManagementPrepares AR Aging reports on a regular basis to understand the status of the account;Responsible to ensure that account being managed meets monthly Corporate target for >7Days Delinquency of 3%Must exercise due diligence and keen judgment in understanding the issues in order to provide the most appropriate solution to close out/address the issue;Coordinates with Order Management Team on invoicing issues in order to have these rectified/resolved;Coordinates with MPS Billing Teams on Invoicing issues and concerns and ensures that these are resolved/rectified timely;Ensures that Non-Compliance charges are written-off at the last day of the month;Coordinates with Distribution Team to validate claims from customers that are logistical in nature and ensure these are resolved within pre-defined SLA;Coordinates with Sales and Marketing Teams relating to customer's claims for rebates, price discounts, special bid pricing that were taken via deduction from customers account;Manually transfer marketing deductions appearing on the account to the appropriate marketing processor;Coordinates with Sales Teams on escalated payment issues and billing inaccuracies attributed to initial information provided by Sales team;Coordinates with the Returns Management Team relating to returns deduction issues taken by customers on their payment;Coordinates with the Supply Chain Practices – Center of Excellence (SCP-COE) Team on any electronic data interface issues/concerns and sees to it that these are immediately addressed;Requests appropriate Tax Exempt Certificates from customers and validates this with Corporate Tax Department when customers declare being tax exempt;To make sure that delinquent items are cleared on a timely manner especially those that are over 180 days where the target is zero (0) lines over 180 days.To manually match debits and credits, however, may need to engage Accounting's help if application is in bulk or consists of numerous line itemsResponsible to run Daily Credit Pend Reports to ensure that payment information or current account status is provided to Credit Management team in order to release order off credit hold;Researches any unapplied cash on the account and applies it accordingly;Initiates conference calls with customer's A/P to discuss account status or any issues on the accountEnsures that defined Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are met in the performance of collection and account management activities to ensure that subsequent appropriate actions are not hindered from progressing;Escalates issues based on the defined escalation process for the departments interacting with;System Maintenance and Compliance/ReportingUpdates actions taken via comments on the company's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for all invoices appearing on the customer's account;Uploads supporting documents and creates billing adjustments to the Real Time Billing Adjustments (RTBA) Tool and ensures that these are approved accordingly in the system;Uploads supporting documents and creates transactions to the AR Transaction Worksheet (ARTW)Tool for validation and approval prior to any Write-Off/Absorption transactions;To prepare templates for monthly Top 40 and WWCH review if account managed meets the criteria for inclusion in the list;To provide updates and explain the resolution of account issues during AR review on 8th working day of each month (WD8)Provide updates, documentation and reports to Corporate Credit as requestedOther ResponsibilitiesProvide back-up support to the identified primary account holder in the absence of the primary account holderPerforms other business-related activities that may be assigned by management from time to timeCOMPETENCIES, SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & ABILITIES:Must be knowledgeable on Order to Cash Lifecycle – Order Management, Accounts Receivable, Returns and Warehousing, TaxationMust have working knowledge in Billing, Accounting and Finance;Must be able to communicate well with internal and external customers using the English language;Must be pro-active, resilient, and flexible to changes;Must have keen attention to details;Critical Thinking - using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problemsSpreadsheet software - Microsoft ExcelEDUCATION, EXPERIENCE & CERTIFICATIONS BASIC REQUIREMENTS:Graduate of a Business Administration, Management Accounting and AccountingAt least 2 years work experience in customer service and accounts receivable/accounting functionExperience in Enterprise Resource Planning i.e. SAP is an advantageORGANIZATIONAL CHART (COPY/PASTE ORG CHART):SME/L2 Specialist1st Line Manager3rd Line Manager2nd Line ManagerCash Collections SpecialistAUTHORITY & DECISION RIGHTS:Authority to do File Maintenance, Write-Off, payment application as prescribed in the Accounts Receivable (AR) ManualINTERFACES:Internal interface:Order to Cash (OTC) Team- Order Management, Returns, Customer Master; Finance and Accounting, Sales and Marketing Teams, Geo Counterparts/Liaisons, Corporate Credit and Treasury, Tax Teams, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) – Billing and Invoicing Teams, Supply Chain Practices – Support Team, Warehouse Teams.External InterfaceAccounts Payable, Relationship Managers, Third Party Logistics ProvidersCAREER PROGRESSION:Operations Manager, Business Applications Analysts, Process AnalystWORKING CONDITIONS:Shift aligns to geography being supported AP/EMEA/LAD/NAHow to Apply ?Are you an innovator? 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