Sr. Credit & Collection Specialist

Location: Durham, NC
Summary:
The Sr. Credit & Collection Specialist is based at Bell and Howell's Durham, NC office, with operations throughout the U.S. and Canada, and reports directly to the Manager, Credit & Collections. This position has overall responsibility for administering credit and collection activities for assigned customers net 30-day cash portfolio of accounts by interfacing with Customers, Sales, Service, and Manufacturing personnel to resolve problems regarding outstanding accounts receivables, customer complaints, and credit evaluation of new and existing customers. This position includes heavy interface with our external and internal customer base, in addition to external contacts with Banks, other organizations for trade references, and Credit Agencies (e.g., Dun & Bradstreet, outside collection firms, etc.). The Sr. Credit & Collection Specialist provides analytical review of customer's financial condition in determination of credit approval/release.
Job Responsibilities:
Collections

• Monitor and collect on assigned portfolio as assigned by Credit and Collections Manager.
• Sort and mail monthly statements to customers, identify those past due.
• Collects past due accounts minimizing bad debt losses and maximizing sales while working with customers, internal personnel, and management.
• Contacts assigned accounts as needed to lower past due balances. Reviews past due accounts with supervisor monthly.
• Input specialist for third party payment platforms. Ariba, Coupa, Taulia etc.
• Provide or populate list of accounts that need a collection letter sent from BH before resorting to third party collections.
• Determines accounts to be placed with collection agencies and legal firms.
• Ensure sales tax exemptions for customers are loaded timely.
• Monitor's for receipt of PO's to the shared AR mailbox and forwards them to the correct contract analyst.
• Will act as backup for OEM accounts.

Analysis

• Reconciles customer accounts by reviewing orders, shipments, and cash receipts; processes refunds as appropriate and secures appropriate management approval for any over $50,000.
• Researches and analyzes application of cash receipts.
• Prepares monthly collection forecast; responsible for forecasting an $1 - $5 million dollar portfolio of open receivable; identifies known and potential collection problems; preparing monthly ad-hoc analysis as requested by management.
• Participates in bi-weekly accounts receivable meetings / collection reviews of top accounts past due. Provides current feedback and status of collection items.

Credit

• Reviews and approves sales orders in Salesforce.com
• Releases orders on credit hold, once credit worthiness has been determined and collecting the receivable is deemed reasonably assured. Has credit approval authority up to $100,000 per account.
• Establishes credit limits up to $750,000 when approving equipment orders in Salesforce. For existing customers, a review of the internal accounts
• For new customers by analyzing credit reports, financial records, and other available credit information.

General

• Contributes to team efforts by accomplishing related results in a cooperative and supportive manner.
• Work closely with the Credit and Collections Manager to present process improvements and efficiencies to executive management.
• Establish working relationships with contract department, DSMs, and external customers to ensure timely collection of invoices.

Supervisory Responsibilities: N/A
Competencies (Skills, Knowledge and Abilities):

• Ability to reason logically and make sound decisions along with considering alternative and diverse perspectives.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, quantitative, and time management skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
• Ability to understand, remember and follow verbal and written instructions.
• Ability to work as an integral part of a team.
• Intermediate Excel and Word skills to aid in analysis and reconciliation of larger customer accounts

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, or Business Administration required.
• 3+ years' commercial credit and collections experience or equivalent combination of education and experience strongly preferred and/or 3 years as a staff accountant.
• Experience with web-based sales applications (SFDC) as well as ERP systems (SAP) is preferred.

Travel:

• This position requires no travel.

Physical Requirements:

• Ability to remain in a stationary position 75% of the time.
• Ability to type on a keyboard.
• Ability to hear and talk.
• Ability to move about inside the office to access file cabinets, office machinery, etc.
• Ability to operate a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a calculator, copy machine, and computer printer.
• Requires close vision for computer work and reviewing correspondence.

Other Duties:
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
Bell and Howell does not require full vaccination at most sites. However, those customers that do require full vaccination against COVID-19, it is required to provide documentation prior to hire. If there is a medical or religious reason preventing you from receiving an available COVID-19 vaccination, and you are offered a position with our company, we have an accommodations process in place for those requests.
Bell and Howell is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is company policy to administer employment based solely on an individual's qualifications, ability and performance without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity, sex (including pregnancy, lactation, childbirth or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information (including testing and characteristics), veteran status, uniformed servicemember status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.