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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Invoicing Assistant

💰 $ - $

🎯 Role Definition

The Invoicing Assistant is responsible for accurate and timely invoice creation, processing, and reconciliation across accounts payable and accounts receivable workflows. This role ensures invoices comply with company policy and tax regulations, supports month-end close activities, collaborates with vendors and internal stakeholders to resolve billing disputes, and maintains clear documentation and audit trails in ERP and billing systems. The ideal candidate combines strong accounting fundamentals, hands-on experience with invoicing and ERP tools (e.g., QuickBooks, SAP, Oracle NetSuite), and excellent communication and problem-solving skills.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Accounts Payable / Accounts Receivable Clerk
  • Billing Clerk or Billing Coordinator
  • Finance or Accounting Intern

Advancement To:

  • Senior Invoicing Specialist / Billing Analyst
  • Accounts Payable Supervisor or Billing Manager
  • Credit & Collections Specialist or Revenue Accountant
  • Financial Analyst (Accounts Receivable Focus)

Lateral Moves:

  • Collections Specialist
  • Payroll Coordinator
  • Vendor Management / Procurement Assistant

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Manage end-to-end invoice processing for accounts payable and accounts receivable, including data entry, coding to the correct general ledger accounts, matching invoices to purchase orders (PO match), and ensuring accuracy before posting to the ERP system.
  • Prepare, review and distribute customer invoices and billing statements on a scheduled basis, ensuring correct pricing, taxes (VAT/GST) and contract terms are applied and that billing adheres to company and regulatory guidelines.
  • Reconcile daily and weekly invoicing batches and AP/AR sub-ledgers to the general ledger, investigate variances, and prepare adjusting entries to support accurate month-end close.
  • Execute vendor invoice verification and three-way matching (invoice, PO, receiving report), escalate and resolve discrepancies with procurement and receiving teams, and document resolution steps in the ERP system.
  • Process payment runs and prepare payment files for approval (ACH, wire, cheque), ensuring timely supplier payments while optimizing cash flow and following internal controls and segregation of duties.
  • Apply incoming customer payments (cash application), match remittances to open invoices, clear unapplied cash, and work with customers to resolve short pays, overpayments, and payment application issues.
  • Own invoice exception workflows: identify root causes of rejects, route exceptions to appropriate owners, track status, and reduce exception backlog by implementing corrective actions and preventive measures.
  • Maintain and update vendor and customer master data in the ERP, validate tax IDs and billing addresses, and coordinate onboarding or changes with Procurement and Accounts teams.
  • Communicate proactively with vendors and customers regarding invoice status, payment dates, collections, credits, and billing disputes, maintaining professional vendor and client relationships.
  • Produce and analyze aging reports, collections dashboards, and KPI metrics (days sales outstanding, days payable outstanding) to support credit control, cash forecasting and management reporting.
  • Support internal and external audits by preparing invoice samples, account reconciliations, and evidence of approvals and payment authorizations; ensure compliance with SOX and company control requirements.
  • Execute invoice accruals and prepayments, prepare supporting schedules and journal entries, and collaborate with Finance to ensure accurate period allocations for revenue and expense recognition.
  • Implement and support electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) and OCR/automated capture workflows: validate captured data, correct recognition errors, and contribute to continuous improvement of invoice automation.
  • Assist with tax and regulatory requirements for invoicing, including VAT/GST calculations, tax reporting, invoice retention policies, and responding to tax authority inquiries as required.
  • Process credit memos and debit adjustments, ensuring appropriate authorization, supporting documentation, and accurate posting to customer and vendor accounts.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams (Sales, Procurement, Warehouse, Legal) to resolve billing disputes, contract billing interpretation, pricing discrepancies and to ensure invoices reflect agreed terms.
  • Maintain detailed documentation for invoicing processes, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and update training materials for new hires and cross-training initiatives to ensure team continuity.
  • Monitor and maintain internal controls for invoicing and payments, perform periodic control checks, and recommend changes to strengthen controls and reduce billing and payment risks.
  • Prepare ad-hoc and routine billing reports for Finance leadership, summarizing invoice volume, dispute trends, aging profiles, and opportunities for process optimization.
  • Support continuous process improvements by identifying inefficiencies in billing cycles, proposing automation or policy changes, and participating in projects (ERP upgrades, billing system implementations, EDI integration).

Secondary Functions

  • Provide backup support for related finance functions such as petty cash processing, bank reconciliations, and expense reimbursements during peak periods or staff absence.
  • Participate in cross-functional projects related to billing system migrations, ERP upgrades, or integrations with CRM and procurement systems and carry out end-user testing for invoice flows.
  • Train and mentor junior invoicing staff, help desk support for common billing queries, and escalate complex or recurring issues to the Billing Manager.
  • Support month-end and year-end closing activities by preparing schedules, responding to control owner requests, and assisting with financial statement preparation as needed.
  • Maintain and improve invoice filing systems (electronic and physical), ensure retention schedules are met, and support records requests from auditors or internal stakeholders.
  • Monitor vendor onboarding and compliance requirements related to invoicing (W-9/Tax forms, vendor contracts), and coordinate with Legal/Procurement for approvals.
  • Help evaluate vendor portals and third-party payment platforms to streamline invoice submission and remittance processes.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Invoice processing & billing systems: proven experience generating and processing high volumes of customer and vendor invoices in ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle NetSuite, QuickBooks, Microsoft Dynamics).
  • Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable expertise, including PO matching, three-way matching, cash application, and credit memo processing.
  • Strong Microsoft Excel skills: VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, pivot tables, conditional formatting, data validation and basic macro familiarity for batching and reconciliations.
  • General ledger knowledge and journal entry preparation for accruals, prepayments, reversals, and month-end adjustments.
  • Payment processing experience (ACH, wire, check runs) and familiarity with bank file formats and payment authorization workflows.
  • Electronic invoicing/OCR/automation tools experience (e.g., AvidXchange, Basware, Coupa, Tungsten, Kofax) and ability to validate and correct automated capture errors.
  • Tax and compliance knowledge related to invoicing (VAT, GST, withholding tax, sales tax) and supporting documentation for audits.
  • Experience with collections processes, aging report analysis, DSO reduction strategies, and customer dispute resolution.
  • Data reconciliation and reporting skills, with experience producing aging schedules, KPIs, cash application reports and ad-hoc billing analytics.
  • Familiarity with internal control frameworks and SOX compliance requirements for invoicing, approvals, and segregation of duties.
  • Basic SQL or data-querying capability is a plus for extracting invoice and payment data from business intelligence or ERP systems.
  • Document management and records retention best practices for finance and billing documentation.

Soft Skills

  • High attention to detail and precision when entering, coding and reviewing invoices to minimize posting errors and reduce rework.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills for professional vendor and customer interactions and clear escalation of invoice discrepancies.
  • Strong organizational and time-management skills with the ability to manage competing priorities and meet strict billing and payment deadlines.
  • Problem-solving mindset: able to investigate root-cause of invoice exceptions and lead resolution with cross-functional stakeholders.
  • Customer-service orientation with a collaborative approach to resolving disputes while protecting company revenue.
  • Adaptability and willingness to learn new tools, systems and procedures in a fast-changing finance environment.
  • Confidentiality and integrity when handling financial data and sensitive vendor/customer information.
  • Team player attitude with experience working in shared-services or centralized finance teams and supporting continuous improvement.
  • Initiative and process improvement orientation to identify and implement efficiencies in invoicing and billing operations.
  • Stress tolerance and resilience during peak billing cycles, month-end close and audit periods.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • High school diploma or equivalent with relevant bookkeeping/finance experience.

Preferred Education:

  • Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration or related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Business Administration
  • Commerce
  • Information Systems (for ERP/billing integrations)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 1–4 years of progressive experience in invoicing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, or billing operations in a corporate, shared services, or public accounting environment.

Preferred:

  • 2+ years working with an ERP (e.g., SAP, NetSuite, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics) and demonstrated experience with invoice reconciliation, payment processing, and month-end close support; experience in a high-volume billing environment or B2B billing preferred.
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