Billing Clerk Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a billing clerk. Feel free to use our job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a billing clerk.
Who is a Billing Clerk?
A distinct group of individuals that generate credit memos exist; they are called billing clerks. These are professionally trained workers that specialize and focus on generating payment invoices and memos for onward distribution to clients and customers. Also, known as invoicing clerk, posting clerk, or financial clerk, the role of a billing clerk has become enticing, fulfilling, and competitive these days. In addition, the position of a billing clerk provides a platform and stepping stone to a career in accounting. There are numerous opportunities for career growth and advancement as well. Since a billing clerk can be employed by several industries or sectors, the specific duties and responsibilities will differ depending on the industry of the employer. Examples of sectors or industries that employ a billing clerk are casinos, transport systems, retailers, restaurants, maintenance, healthcare, and manufacturing.
Several billing clerks work directly under the head of accounts payable, finance manager, or finance director and report their day-to-day transactions to them. The billing clerk manages the customers’ accounts and handles the general incoming cash flow of the organization. To become a successful billing clerk, the individual must have some qualities including reliability, honesty, transparency, conscientiousness, humility, and trustworthiness. Similarly, a billing clerk processes bills from customers and clients, oversee the review of monthly balances across the departments and keep or maintain financial records of invoices and other documents. They keep an eye on overhead costs.
The billing clerk is responsible for identifying outstanding customers’ debt whilst creating invoices. They also review receipts and other data to create a collection of figures to contribute to a client’s final invoice document. Relatively, a billing clerk can compare invoices with shipment logs to ensure that the organization receives the correct amount or quantity of products for the amount they paid for. They work hard to ensure that checks are sent out to pay for services on time. Aside from sending payment reminders and creating invoices, the billing clerk answers any queries the customer or clerk might have. Also, they update records regularly and monitor the company’s revenue by keeping track of money owed to the company by customers.
The billing clerks are normally detailed-oriented; anyone with reasonable experience in accounts paying or receiving can advance into the position. The typical day in the work-life of a billing clerk starts with the review of new financial statements, checks, invoices, and other documents. Next, the clerk scans paper documents to convert them to electronic forms. Subsequently, the electronic documents are organized into electronic filing folders and stored. Working closely with other workers in the financial and accounting department, the billing clerk identifies calculation errors and asks questions. Then, they review accounts receivable documents to identify the payment needs of the clients or customers. When necessary, this group of professionals sends the remainder of email and paper documents to clients to outline the amount and due date. They peruse their work to ensure accuracy and calculate bills for the clients as the case may be.
Types of Billing Clerks
Several types of billing clerks exist based on the industry and nature of their responsibilities. Below are some of the kinds of billing clerks;
- Gaming billing clerks: These are individuals that work in casinos and other institutions to coordinate some of their financial transactions. They review the customers’ earnings, distribute cash or cheques to customers, and coordinate the sale of tokens to the participants of organized gambling and gaming events.
- Brokerage billing clerks: Some billing clerks work for brokerage or investment firms; they process checks for bonds, other types of loans, and stocks, and organize investor documents.
- Insurance billing clerks: Insurance firms also hire billing clerks to calculate the amounts owed to them, account for what they lost, and accept a policy holder’s insurance claims.
- Purchasing billing clerks: A purchasing billing clerk works for manufacturing and production companies. They make sure that they review invoices and monitor the status of every order and transaction such as paid, delivered, unpaid, or undelivered orders.
- Payroll billing clerks: These are individuals and professionals that work for businesses and firms to calculate the worker’s salary and remuneration based on their work schedule and other related factors. They write checks for an upcoming payment period once they’ve calculated the employee earnings.
Billing Clerk Job Description
Below are the billing clerk job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a billing clerk job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of a billing clerk include:
- Discover any outstanding debts or other inconsistencies in an account.
- Process and close job tickets.
- Approve and enter pro forma invoices.
- Report an activity or action to a manager or supervisor.
- Update account records.
- Prepare and print a job cost report for each job that was processed.
- Collect the data needed to calculate bills and payments.
- Print final invoices and distribute them for mailing.
- Check the data in the accounting system to ensure that the bills are accurate.
- Update the client files with relevant contact information.
- Issue monthly customer statements.
- Use electronic data interchange to submit invoices.
- Monitor exceptions and discrepancies between the invoice register and shipment log.
- Process credit memos.
- Enter invoices into customer invoicing websites.
- Update the client’s file with issued invoices.
- Establish and initiate new steps for billing tasks.
- Handle billing inquiries and queries from customers.
- Assist the accounting department with the preparation of financial reports.
- Send reminders for payments and contact clients when assigned.
- Receive payments via different methods such as cash or online payment and check for credibility.
- Process medical bills by sending them to patients and insurance providers as necessary.
- Collect co-payments or other fees upon admittance.
Qualifications
Certain criteria and requirements must be met to obtain a position as a billing clerk. Depending on the specific responsibilities of the position, the following are some of the needed qualifications;
Education: The role of a billing clerk requires some level of education. To get an entry-level position in a manufacturing company, for instance, you need a minimum of a high school diploma. Employers and organizations prefer candidates with proficiency in mathematics. For a mid-level or higher position, a bachelor’s or related degree in business administration, marketing, or accounting can suffice.
Training: Training in the form of an internship and voluntary work is another important requirement. An understanding and familiarity with accounting principles, practices, and standards can be helpful. Remember, you will be required to work on a computer with complex sets of data every day. Relatively, training on financial regulations like the generally accepted accounting principles is valid since they form an integral part of the position.
Certifications: Getting some certifications can put you at an advantage over your competitors. The specific certifications associated with the billing clerk career path include the certified accounts payable professional (CAPP) for accounts payable professionals in a supervisory role. Similar certifications are the certified accounts payable associate (CAPA) for billing clerks and accounts payable specialists.
Experience: Relevant and proven experience as a billing clerk or general accounting experience is preferable. Also, some related experience in office management, collections, working in a payroll system is acceptable so is experienced as a warranty and claims clerk. However, the experience might not be mandatory for entry-level positions.
Essential Skills
An applicant needs some skills to succeed as a billing clerk. These skills are both behavioral and technical and include;
Positive attitude: The importance of having a positive attitude is a must in every profession or endeavor; however, a billing clerk arguably needs it more. Positivity will help you to interact easily with customers and colleagues. In addition, company representatives and clients tend to respond better to billing clerks with a positive attitude than those with irritable attitudes. A positive attitude promotes and enhances physical and mental wellbeing. It makes billing clerks get their work done more frequently and freely.
A proactive approach: A good billing clerk is always proactive in the job. They keep track of payments, record payments as soon as they come in, follow up on late payments on time, and put together a system to continue following up on late payments. When a billing clerk finds inconsistencies in the payments of a bill, they should have the awareness to contact the people involved. Overall, the billing clerk should have the ability to combine problem-solving and proactivity to work effectively; rather than waiting for clients to call them first.
Active listening and good communication: Active listening goes hand in hand with good communication. Both are essential skills to possess to become successful as a billing clerk. The job of a billing clerk involves rapid communication with various clients; effective communication and active listening are important for better understanding. For example, active listening is important when a billing clerk talks to a healthcare professional they work with. You need to listen carefully to them when they explain the procedures and treatment plans done. Communication is vital because the billing clerk might need to talk to a client to find the missing pieces when bills are not complete.
Time management and organizational skills: A solid organizational and time management skills are crucial to doing a job well. When the billing clerk is organized, they easily find and retrieve the necessary information to generate bills and create memos. These skills enable the billing clerk to make all the financial information they handle easily accessible. On the other hand, time management enables the billing clerk to meet deadlines and timelines. Since they have a certain amount of work to get done, strong time management enables them to choose how their tasks are executed.
Ability to Multitask: It is important to be good at multitasking. There are several different things a billing clerk will need to do each day. Instead of being a monotonous job, a billing clerk will have to execute different tasks that will require multitasking. They need to complete multiple tasks and responsibilities at once.
Conflict management skills: As a billing clerk, you might need to use your conflict management skills at times. Being a billing clerk can be stressful sometimes especially when you need to follow up on payments with the clients. You will need to balance compromise with a solution that is best for the practice. This may include making long-term payment plans or connecting with the client to try and get more of a claim paid.
How to Become a Billing Clerk
Through quality performance and certification, you can progress in the role of a billing clerk. Follow these steps to find employment as a billing clerk;
- Earn a high school diploma or GED
- Find a suitable educational or vocational program
- Gain relevant experience and training
- Develop and build your skills
- Consider enrolling for further study
Earn a high school diploma or GED: This is the minimum requirement for employment as a billing clerk. Most employers screen out candidates that fail to produce a high school diploma or equivalent. Therefore, concentrate and take business, mathematics, and office classes in high or secondary school to prepare you for the position. Demonstrating proficiency and expertise with numbers, mathematics, organization, and computers can get you entry-level positions as well.
Find a suitable educational or vocational program: The next step in becoming a billing clerk is vocational development. Hence, look to see if your local community has a vocational education in a related subject. This can make you come to terms with the daily activities of a billing clerk. Also, vocational education can train you in billing, invoicing, data recording, and calculations. The vocational subjects include technology, accounting, business education, and computing.
Gain relevant experience and training: Although experience in the field is not mandatory, it makes an individual desirable and preferable. Relevant experience gained from an internship for example can help. Thus, surf the internet and look for opportunities to enhance your experience; try using excel, read QuickBooks, and learn any other software that can help to increase your marketability.
Develop and build your skills: While gaining experience, try and build your skills. Develop and improve your communication, problem-solving, active listening, and multitasking skills amongst others.
Consider enrolling for further study: There are several options available to those looking to further their studies. Degrees that emphasize accounting will ultimately be attractive to the hiring manager. Another option is an associate of applied business in business administration. The core of the aforementioned degree covers payroll tax, bookkeeping, business, and corporation tax.
Where to work
The industries that employ billing clerks are;
- Health and healthcare
- Casinos and gaming industries
- Manufacturing companies
- Retailers and wholesalers
- Restaurants and hospitality
- Maintenance
- Transportation industry
Billing Clerk Salary Scale
The average salary for a billing clerk in the United States is 14.77USD per hour. Depending on your level, experience, and location, the salary range from 7.25USD to 25.35USD. In relation, the average salary for a billing clerk is 22,613GBP in the UK.