Career Details
Career Details
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Career Details

43-3011.00 - Bill and Account Collectors


Locate and notify customers of delinquent accounts by mail, telephone, or personal visit to solicit payment. Duties include receiving payment and posting amount to customer's account, preparing statements to credit department if customer fails to respond, initiating repossession proceedings or service disconnection, and keeping records of collection and status of accounts.


Key Facts
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Bright Outlook
Career Details
Green Job
Career Details
Current Employment
350,400
Estimate
Forecasted Employment
330,900
Estimate
Change in Employment
-19,600
Estimate
Change in Employment %
-5.6%
Estimate
Tasks
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Tasks
The tasks listed below can be performed to prepare you for a career in this field.
Core
  • Receive payments and post amounts paid to customer accounts.
  • Locate and monitor overdue accounts, using computers and a variety of automated systems.
  • Record information about financial status of customers and status of collection efforts.
  • Locate and notify customers of delinquent accounts by mail, telephone, or personal visits to solicit payment.
  • Confer with customers by telephone or in person to determine reasons for overdue payments and to review the terms of sales, service, or credit contracts.
  • Advise customers of necessary actions and strategies for debt repayment.
  • Persuade customers to pay amounts due on credit accounts, damage claims, or nonpayable checks, or to return merchandise.
  • Sort and file correspondence and perform miscellaneous clerical duties, such as answering correspondence and writing reports.
  • Perform various administrative functions for assigned accounts, such as recording address changes and purging the records of deceased customers.
  • Arrange for debt repayment or establish repayment schedules, based on customers' financial situations.
  • Trace delinquent customers to new addresses by inquiring at post offices, telephone companies, credit bureaus, or through the questioning of neighbors.
  • Notify credit departments, order merchandise repossession or service disconnection, and turn over account records to attorneys when customers fail to respond to collection attempts.
  • Answer customer questions regarding problems with their accounts.
Supplemental
  • Negotiate credit extensions when necessary.
  • Contact insurance companies to check on status of claims payments and write appeal letters for denial on claims.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Knowledge
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Knowledge

The items listed below are organized into sections that contain knowledge useful for pursuing a career in this field. Each section also contains a "Percentage of Importance" statistic that shows how relevant an item is to the occupation.
 English Language
  • 82%
    Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
 Customer and Personal Service
  • 75%
    Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
 Mathematics
  • 66%
    Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
 Economics and Accounting
  • 65%
    Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
 Law and Government
  • 65%
    Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
 Computers and Electronics
  • 62%
    Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
 Clerical
  • 61%
    Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
 Administration and Management
  • 61%
    Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Tools
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Tools
The tools listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Computers
  • Laptop computers
  • Personal digital assistants PDA
 Call management systems or accessories
  • Autodialers
  • Predictive dialers
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Technology
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Technology
The technologies listed below include machines, equipment, tools, and software that is useful for individuals who are interested in this career.
 Finance accounting and enterprise resource planning ERP software
  • ADP Drive DMS for Accounting
  • Intuit QuickBooksHOT
  • Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOneHOT
  • Sage 50 Accounting
  • Microsoft Dynamics GPHOT
  • NetSuite ERPHOT
  • SAPHOT
  • HMS
 Content authoring and editing software
  • Microsoft WordHOT
  • Word processing software
  • Microsoft PowerPointHOT
  • Microsoft ExcelHOT
  • Spreadsheet software
  • Optical character recognition OCR software
 Content management software
  • Document management system software
 Data management and query software
  • Diagnostic and procedural coding software
  • ADS Advantage
  • Adtec Agency Manager
  • Austin Logistics CallSelect
  • Collection Data Systems CollectOne-Tiger
  • Columbia Ultimate Archive
  • Columbia Ultimate RPCS
  • Data-Tel Ceasar
  • Debt account management and collection software
  • Microsoft DynamicsHOT
  • Ontario Systems FACS
  • Quantrax Intelec
  • Relational database software
  • LexisNexis
  • LexisNexis Banko
  • TCI XML Credit Interface
  • W3 Data BatchAppend411
 Industry specific software
  • Healthcare common procedure coding system HCPCSHOT
  • MEDITECH softwareHOT
  • Medical condition coding softwareHOT
  • Medical procedure coding software
  • Columbia Ultimate Remit
  • System Innovators
 Network applications software
  • Internet browser software
  • Web browser software
 Networking software
  • CU Connect processing software
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Certifications
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Certifications
The certifications listed below are useful to pursue if you are interested in a career in this field.
 Specialty
 Advanced
 Product/Equipment
  • Oracle Fusion Financials 11g Accounts Payable Certified Implementation Specialist
    500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065800-833-3536

 Core
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Licensing
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Licensing
The licensing information below is organized into sections and is useful for pursuing if you are interested in a career in this field.
No specific licensing information is listed for this occupation in the area you have selected.
All data sourced from US Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration O*Net Database.
Related Programs
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Programs related to this career, offered by participating institution(s), are listed below.

Clicking on the Degree programs in the list below will take you away from the Careers page.
INSTITUTION
PROGRAMS
Peirce College
Jobs
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Jobs related to this career may be found on Indeed.com or on the Google Job Search page.