When you see a large account starting to age, and they are a very good customer, what do you do?

Working in Accounts Recievable for over 8 years, I have heard almost every story and excuses for not paying. I find if I'm doing my job, of ensuring the invoices are sent in a timely manner and communicating with the customer on a regular basis that majority of invoices are paid. My first A/R job was for an assisted living facility, and the residents were all older and some had terminally ill mental and health conditions. The facilities AR aging report was over 90% past due, and largest customer was Medicare. The regulations and proper submission of paperwork into Medicare is very time consuming, so much that I was dedicated over 40 hours a week to submit all the proper requested paperwork , and normally it would be rejected and additional information would need to be provided. The facility was not submitting the additional paperwork and I dedicated 6 weeks of calling into medicare and talking with customer service, who was walking me through the proper online submission of new claims and older active claims. I created instructions on how to properly submit claims to medicare and brought the aging report current with the customer. The experience helped me to be patient, seek information, and understand why the customer was not paying. Once I has the information, then I was able to troubleshoot the root-cause.

The interviewer is looking for an answer that displays the fact you are detailed oriented, willing to take the initiative and are proactive. As an A/R professional, healthy client relationships can be the difference between a client who pays late and a client who respects your payment terms. Show the interviewer that you understand the balance between great client relationships and timely payment collections.

"Working in accounts receivable for over eight years, I have heard almost every story and excuses for not paying on time. My first A/R job was for an assisted living facility. The facilities aging report was over 90% past due, and the largest customer was Medicare. The regulations and proper submission of paperwork into Medicare are very time-consuming, and I dedicated over 20 hours a week to submit all the proper requested paperwork. Frustrated with returned paperwork, I dedicated six weeks of calling into Medicare and talking with customer service, who walked me through the proper online submission of new claims and earlier active claims. I created instructions on how to properly submit claims to Medicare and brought the aging report to current. The experience helped me to be patient, and seek information. Once I had the information, then I was able to troubleshoot the root cause and create an iron-clad process we could all follow in the future."