Collections representatives perform the duties required to collect on overdue invoices and accounts.
Collections representatives can be part of an accounts receivable department within an organization or they may provide third party collections services on behalf of an organization.
What are the responsibilities of a Collections Representative?
Collections representatives are responsible for collecting what is owed on clients' past due invoices. Their main function is to reduce accounts receivable balances.
A collections representative collects on accounts by:
- Investigating the account
- Identifying the responsible party
- Following-up with calls, emails, or other communication with the responsible party
- Making payment agreements and payment plans
- Explaining collections policies including the potential of legal action
A collections representative will be talking with people who may or may not be willing to fulfill their payment obligations. Because of this, customer service skills are a must, as well as the ability to remain calm but persistent and be knowledgeable of the account, sales, credit, and collections policies.
The sales team, credit manager, and other accounts receivable management roles will interact with the collections representative to inform or assist with the collections process within the organization.
If the collections effort must be assigned to a third party collections agency, the agency's collections representative will fulfill the same duties and work closely with your company's accounts receivable department.
