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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Billing Specialist

💰 $45,000 - $70,000

BillingFinanceAccounts ReceivableRevenue Cycle

🎯 Role Definition

A Billing Specialist is responsible for accurate and timely invoicing, accounts receivable management, reconciliation of billing activity, and resolution of billing discrepancies to maintain a healthy cash flow and strong customer relationships. The role requires working closely with sales, customer service, treasury, and finance teams to ensure revenue is captured, billed correctly, and collected in line with company policy and compliance requirements. Strong attention to detail, experience with billing platforms (NetSuite, SAP, QuickBooks, or proprietary ERP), and proven problem-solving and communication skills are essential.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Billing Clerk / Accounts Receivable Clerk
  • Customer Service Representative with billing exposure
  • Finance intern or accounting assistant

Advancement To:

  • Senior Billing Specialist / Billing Team Lead
  • Accounts Receivable Supervisor / AR Manager
  • Revenue Cycle Manager / Billing Operations Manager
  • Finance Manager or Controller (with broader accounting experience)

Lateral Moves:

  • Revenue Analyst
  • Credit & Collections Specialist
  • Payroll Specialist
  • Contract Administrator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Prepare, generate, and distribute accurate customer invoices and credit memos on a daily/weekly/monthly cadence using enterprise billing systems (NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, QuickBooks, or proprietary ERP), ensuring billing aligns with contract terms, purchase orders, and delivery confirmations.
  • Review sales orders, shipping documentation, and service records to verify billable items, pricing, discounts, and tax calculations prior to invoice issuance to minimize billing disputes and adjustments.
  • Reconcile daily cash receipts and post customer payments promptly to accounts receivable accounts, matching remittances to open invoices and resolving unapplied cash through research and communication with Treasury or AR teams.
  • Maintain and monitor the accounts receivable aging report, proactively contacting customers on overdue balances, negotiating payment plans, and escalating delinquent accounts to collections or management as required.
  • Investigate and resolve billing discrepancies, short payments, and customer disputes by researching invoice history, contract terms, credit memos, and order fulfillment records, documenting outcomes and corrective actions.
  • Process adjustments, refunds, credits, and billing corrections in accordance with company policies, ensuring appropriate approvals and audit trails are recorded in the ERP system.
  • Coordinate with Sales, Customer Success, Procurement, and Operations to clarify contract terms, pricing changes, billing exceptions, and order modifications that affect invoicing or revenue recognition.
  • Reconcile monthly billing activity to the general ledger, preparing variance explanations and working with staff accountants to ensure revenue and receivable balances are accurate for month-end close.
  • Execute month-end and quarter-end billing close tasks, including final billing runs, deferred revenue calculations, and submission of billing schedules to Finance for financial reporting.
  • Maintain billing master data including customer billing addresses, tax identifiers, billing cycles, payment terms, and electronic payment instructions, performing periodic data audits to ensure accuracy.
  • Implement and maintain electronic billing and remittance processes (EDI, ACH, lockbox), troubleshooting transmission errors, and coordinating with IT and banking partners to optimize payment processing.
  • Generate and distribute standard and ad hoc billing reports, KPI dashboards, and analytics for leadership, highlighting days sales outstanding (DSO), aging trends, dispute volumes, and collections performance.
  • Support internal and external audits by preparing billing documentation, account reconciliations, revenue supporting schedules, and responding to auditor queries regarding billing processes and controls.
  • Administer contract billing setups for new customers and one-time projects, configuring billing templates, milestones, usage-based charges, and recurring invoice schedules in the billing system.
  • Apply tax rules, VAT/GST calculations, and exemptions correctly on invoices, working with tax specialists to address complex multi-jurisdictional tax scenarios and customer tax certificate management.
  • Process intercompany billing and revenue allocations between corporate entities, ensuring compliance with transfer pricing policies and accurate intercompany reconciliation.
  • Identify process improvement opportunities within billing workflows, propose automation or system enhancements, and participate in cross-functional projects to reduce manual tasks and improve billing accuracy.
  • Provide excellent customer service to internal and external stakeholders, responding to billing inquiries via phone, email, and ticketing systems within established SLAs and maintaining a professional escalation path.
  • Maintain compliance with regulatory and contractual billing requirements (healthcare billing rules, government contract billing clauses, or industry-specific regulations) and apply appropriate controls for audit readiness.
  • Train and mentor junior billing staff, creating documentation, process guides, and checklists to standardize billing procedures and ensure continuity of operations.
  • Monitor and manage chargebacks, refunds, and disputed items from customers and payment processors, coordinating timely resolution and applying necessary accounting adjustments.
  • Validate pricing updates, promotions, and contract amendments are accurately reflected in ongoing billing processes, conducting periodic spot checks and system audits to prevent revenue leakage.
  • Support revenue recognition teams by providing billed revenue detail, customer contract terms, and billing schedules used to determine period-specific revenue recognition and deferred revenue calculations.
  • Maintain confidentiality and security of sensitive customer and financial data, adhering to data protection policies and company IT security standards.

Secondary Functions

  • Assist in cross-functional projects to implement new billing modules, system upgrades, or integrations with CRM and payment platforms, providing subject-matter expertise and testing support.
  • Participate in continuous improvement initiatives such as Lean or Six Sigma events to streamline invoice cycles, reduce days sales outstanding (DSO), and enhance customer satisfaction with billing accuracy.
  • Support collections campaigns during high-risk cash periods, coordinating outreach, payment plan setup, and documentation of collection agreements.
  • Provide inputs to pricing and contract teams on recurring billing issues, ambiguous terms, and common causes of disputes to help reduce future billing errors.
  • Maintain billing process documentation, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and training materials to support cross-training and operational resilience.
  • Escalate systemic billing problems to IT or ERP support teams and validate fixes in test and production environments, ensuring zero disruption to invoicing flows.
  • Assist accounts payable for disputed vendor billing or invoice reconciliation that impacts customer billing, intercompany settlements, or project closeouts.
  • Prepare and deliver billing training sessions for newly onboarded customer-facing teams and account managers to clarify billing policies and dispute resolution guidelines.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Invoice processing and accounts receivable management
  • Billing systems: NetSuite, SAP Billing, Oracle Billing, QuickBooks, or experience with enterprise ERPs
  • Electronic billing and payment protocols: EDI, ACH, lockbox, credit card processing
  • Advanced Microsoft Excel (VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, pivot tables, conditional formatting, data validation)
  • Basic SQL or data query skills for extracting billing data (preferred)
  • Revenue reconciliation and month-end close support
  • Knowledge of tax rules related to invoicing (sales tax, VAT/GST) and tax exemption handling
  • Familiarity with revenue recognition concepts and deferred revenue schedules
  • Collections techniques, dispute resolution, and credit management
  • Experience with billing automation tools, OCR, or invoice workflow platforms
  • Strong documentation practices and SOP creation
  • Experience with CRM integration (Salesforce or similar) to align billing with sales orders
  • Knowledge of audit requirements and internal controls for billing and receivables

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy with numerical data
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills for customer interaction and cross-functional collaboration
  • Analytical problem-solving skills to identify root causes of billing discrepancies
  • Time management and ability to prioritize high-volume billing tasks under deadlines
  • Customer-service orientation with tact and negotiation ability for collections and dispute resolution
  • Adaptability to changing billing rules, system upgrades, and ad hoc reporting needs
  • Team player with ability to train, mentor, and share knowledge effectively
  • Professionalism and confidentiality when handling sensitive financial information
  • Initiative to identify process improvements and drive change
  • Resilience and persistence in following up on aging receivables and complex disputes

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Associate degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or equivalent experience

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field
  • Certifications such as Certified Billing Specialist, Certified Accounts Receivable Professional (CARP), or Microsoft Excel certification (preferred)

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Business Administration
  • Information Systems (for ERP/billing systems focus)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–5 years of billing, accounts receivable, or revenue operations experience

Preferred:

  • 3–5+ years of progressive billing or AR experience in a corporate, SaaS, healthcare, or manufacturing environment
  • Demonstrated experience with enterprise billing systems (NetSuite, SAP, Oracle) and electronic payment/reconciliation processes
  • Proven track record of reducing DSO, resolving complex billing disputes, and supporting month-end close activities
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