Accounts Receivable Clerk

An accounts receivable clerk tracks money owed by customers. They issue invoices, post payments, apply cash receipts, chase late accounts, and reconcile the AR ledger each month so cash comes in on time and working capital stays sound for the firm each cycle.

Sitting inside the finance function, the clerk owns the sales-invoicing side of working capital while the accounts payable clerk handles supplier bills. The two roles mirror each other, and mid-market finance teams staff them side by side.

Most positions sit at entry to mid level. Employers hire from a two-year accounting diploma or an associate degree; a full four-year bachelor’s is not required. Offshore delivery from the Philippines or India is common for volume AR shops serving Western clients.

On the tooling side, most AR clerks live inside QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, or SAP S/4HANA. Modern shops layer AI-assisted cash application on top, which reduces manual matching but does not remove the need for a human owner of exceptions and edge cases.

Salary bands sit at the entry end of the finance ladder. A U.S. AR clerk earns roughly $42,000 to $52,000 base, per typical 2024 postings on Indeed and Glassdoor. The offshore equivalent in the Philippines lands closer to $6,000 to $10,000 a year all-in.

Key takeaways

• Owns the invoice-to-cash cycle: billing, cash posting, collections, and monthly AR reconciliation.
• Reports into a bookkeeper, staff accountant, or offshore controller depending on team size.
• Common KPIs are days sales outstanding (DSO), collection effectiveness index, and bad-debt ratio.
• Offshore delivery cuts AR labour cost by 60–70% versus onshore hires, per typical BPO seat-cost benchmarks.

How it works

An AR clerk works the invoice-to-cash cycle in five clear stages. They issue the invoice, post the payment, apply the cash, chase any overdue balance, and reconcile the AR sub-ledger to the general ledger every month-end.

Invoicing kicks off when the sales team closes an order. The clerk pulls order details from the CRM or ERP, generates the invoice in the accounting system, and dispatches it via email or EDI. Terms are usually Net 30, sometimes Net 45.

Cash application is the heart of the job. When a customer pays, the clerk matches the receipt to the open invoice, posts the deposit, and clears the item from AR aging. Short pays and unapplied cash escalate to the staff accountant.

AR aging is the tracking framework that anchors most of the clerk’s collections work. It buckets open invoices by how many days they have gone unpaid and drives the escalation ladder.

Collections is the most people-facing part of the role. Polite email reminders go at 15 days, phone calls at 45 days, and hand-off to an outside collections agency past 90 days. Good clerks keep the tone firm but relationship-preserving.

Disputes are where AR clerks earn their keep. When a customer refuses to pay, the clerk gathers the paper trail (signed contract, invoice, delivery proof) and hands the file to the account manager or finance lead. Fast triage protects both cash and relationship.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the parent bookkeeping-and-accounting-clerks category earned a median $47,440 in 2023 across roughly 1.5 million U.S. jobs.

The AICPA treats accounts receivable as one of the highest-risk balance-sheet items, so segregation-of-duties controls sit at the core of every AR SOP. The clerk posts, the supervisor approves, and the auditor tests independently.

Month-end is the quiet crunch. The clerk closes the AR sub-ledger, reconciles it to the general ledger, and hands an aging report to the bookkeeper or controller. Any unreconciled balance gets researched, journaled, or written off before the books close.

Examples

AR clerks work across every sector that invoices customers on credit terms. Retail, wholesale, SaaS, professional services, and manufacturing all run in-house or outsourced AR teams. The role scales cleanly, which is why offshore providers publish it as a standard seat.

Adobe — the San Jose software vendor runs its global AR through a shared-service centre in Bangalore, first opened in 2020.

AR clerks there handle subscription-billing exceptions for enterprise customers on Net 30 terms, feeding data into Adobe’s global finance team in Utah.

Genpact — the New York-listed BPO staffs AR clerks in Manila, Hyderabad, and Cluj for Fortune 500 clients. Its 2023 annual report cited finance-and-accounting as a $1.5 billion segment, with AR the highest-volume workstream inside that book.

Xero — the Wellington-headquartered cloud accounting platform used by 3.5 million subscribers as of 2024.

Small businesses run their AR clerks directly inside Xero’s invoicing plus bank-feed pipeline, cutting the clerk’s manual keying to near-zero on happy-path transactions.

Related terms

AR clerks work next to a tight cluster of finance and outsourcing roles. Understanding the neighbours helps hiring managers scope the org chart, avoid overlap when they staff an offshore finance team, and pick the right seat for each candidate.

• Accounts Payable Clerk: the mirror role owning supplier invoices and outbound payments.
• Bookkeeper: the generalist recording all ledgers, often the AR clerk’s direct manager in small firms.
• Staff Accountant: the next rung up, owning journal entries, month-end close, and AR reconciliation review.
• Offshore Accountant: the broader offshore finance profile that often includes AR duties in a hybrid role.
• Offshore Controller: the senior finance lead supervising AR, AP, and general-ledger teams from Manila or Cebu.
• Financial Analyst: the reporting-side partner who consumes AR aging data for cash-forecast models.

FAQ

What does an accounts receivable clerk do daily?

An AR clerk issues customer invoices, posts incoming payments, applies cash receipts to open items, calls or emails overdue accounts, and updates the AR aging report each day. Month-end adds full sub-ledger reconciliation into the general ledger.

What qualifications does an AR clerk need?

Employers typically require a two-year accounting diploma or associate degree, comfort with Excel or a cloud accounting suite like QuickBooks or Xero, and clean written communication for chasing customers by email.

Larger firms prefer AAT, ACCA, or CPA-track candidates.

How does an AR clerk differ from a bookkeeper?

An AR clerk owns only the receivables side of the ledger. A bookkeeper owns all sub-ledgers, including AR, AP, cash, and general journal entries, and often manages the AR clerk directly in small firms.

How much does it cost to outsource an AR clerk to the Philippines?

Fully loaded seat cost sits at around $1,200 to $1,800 a month in Manila, compared with $4,500 to $6,000 for an onshore U.S. hire — a 60–70% saving before quality adjustments.

Which KPIs measure AR clerk performance?

Days sales outstanding (DSO), collection effectiveness index (CEI), unapplied-cash balance, and dispute-resolution turnaround are the standard four. Best-in-class teams keep DSO under 40 days and CEI above 85%.

Can an AR clerk role be fully remote?

Yes, since 2020 cloud accounting stacks have made the role fully remote-ready.

Ready to hire a vetted offshore accounts receivable clerk? Browse pre-qualified BPO providers on the Outsource Accelerator directory.