Company Description
The company is a leading full-service wholesale importer of food products, trusted by major national and international clients,with a turnover of more than $150 million in sales. Its products serve a diverse and prestigious client base, including distributors, government agencies, schools, hospitals, and the cruise industry.
Position Summary
The incumbent will take ownership of a portfolio of commercial accounts and improve the timely collection of receivables. The primary focus of the role will be active B2B collections: identifying payment delays, securing firm payment commitments, resolving disputes, and following through until outstanding balances are collected.
Key Responsibilities
Collections and Account Management
- Manage an assigned portfolio of commercial customer accounts and actively collect current and past-due receivables.
- Review the A/R aging each day and prioritize large exposures, broken payment promises, delinquent accounts, and invoices approaching due dates.
- Contact customers by telephone and email, determine the specific reason for nonpayment, and obtain firm payment dates and amounts.
- Follow up immediately on missed commitments and escalate unresolved or deteriorating accounts to management.
- Maintain complete collection notes, including contacts, commitments, disputed amounts, supporting documentation, next actions, and follow-up dates.
- Recommend credit holds, revised payment terms, payment plans, or further collection action when appropriate, subject to management approval.
Deductions, Disputes, and Reconciliation
- Research and resolve short payments, deductions, chargebacks, pricing discrepancies, missing invoices, credits, unapplied cash, and other account differences.
- Submit deduction disputes and supporting documentation through customer portals within required deadlines; track each claim through final resolution.
- Reconcile customer accounts and separate legitimate disputes from undisputed amounts that remain payable.
- Provide invoices, statements, proof of delivery, credit documentation, and other support requested by customers.
- Prepare credit memo requests with complete documentation and route them for the required approval before processing.
Credit and Internal Coordination
- Review customer credit status and release or hold daily orders within established credit limits, payment terms, and approval authority.
- Obtain and evaluate business and bank credit references for new and existing customers; document findings and escalate exceptions.
- Coordinate with Sales, Logistics, Customer Service, and Accounting to resolve issues preventing payment without transferring ownership of the collection effort.
- Assist with cash application and month-end A/R reconciliation, as needed.
- Prepare weekly collection reports covering past-due balances, payment commitments, broken promises, disputes, credit holds, and recommended actions.
Experience, Qualifications, Skills
- At least 3 years of hands-on B2B accounts receivable and commercial collections experience; 5 or more years preferred.
- Demonstrated success managing a customer portfolio and collecting material past-due balances.
- Strong telephone collection, negotiation, account-reconciliation, and problem-solving skills.
- Experience researching deductions, chargebacks, short payments, credits, and unapplied cash.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to be firm, professional, and customer-focused.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including filters, lookups, and pivot tables.
- Strong organizational skills, careful documentation habits, and consistent follow-through.
- NetSuite or comparable ERP experience preferred.
- Preferred experience in food distribution, wholesale distribution, importing, manufacturing, or another high-volume B2B environment.
- Preferred experience with national or multi-location customers, customer portals, and deduction or chargeback management.
- Exposure to customer credit analysis, credit limits, and order-release decisions preferred.
Performance Expectations
Success in this position will be evaluated based on:
- Reduction in total past-due A/R and balances in the 31-60, 61-90, and over-90-day aging categories.
- Timely collection of promised payments and immediate follow-up on broken commitments. Speed and accuracy in resolving deductions, disputes, and account discrepancies.
- Quality and completeness of collection notes, next-action dates, and weekly reporting. Early identification and escalation of credit risk.
- Accuracy in credit reviews, order-release decisions, account reconciliation, and supporting documentation.
- The ideal candidate does more than send statements. They determine why payment has not been received, establish a specific action plan, secure a commitment, and follow through until the balance is resolved.
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $70,000.00 - $75,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Employee discount
- Health insurance
- Health savings account
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Vision insurance
Application Question(s):
- Are you legally authorized to work in the United States?
- In your current or most recent A/R role, were you personally responsible for actively contacting past-due commercial customers and obtaining specific payment commitments, rather than primarily sending invoices or statements?
- Have you personally followed up with customers who failed to make a promised payment and continued the collection effort through payment, resolution, or escalation?
- Have you personally investigated and resolved deductions, short payments, chargebacks, or disputed invoices while continuing to collect any undisputed amounts owed?
- Have you personally reconciled customer accounts involving multiple open invoices, payments, credits, deductions, or unapplied cash to determine the actual amount due?
Work Location: In person
