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IW
Illinois workNet
Collections Specialist
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What they do
A Collections Specialist works for a company or credit agency to collect bill or account payments owed by customers. Reviews the amount of an overdue account, contacts customers to request payment, and negotiates payment plans as needed.
$43,361 / year median in Illinois
-13% projected decline
Job Description
Description We are looking for a skilled Collections Specialist to join a wholesale distribution organization in Oak Brook, Illinois. This Long-term Contract position will focus on improving the accuracy of customer accounts, reducing outstanding receivables, and supporting timely financial processing across multiple transaction types. The ideal candidate brings strong experience in collections and accounts receivable operations, along with the ability to manage detailed, high-volume work while collaborating effectively with both customers and internal teams.
Responsibilities:
- Investigate unpaid balances, short payments, and deduction-related issues to identify causes and drive appropriate resolution with customers and internal partners.
- Manage a high volume of open deduction items, maintain organized tracking records in Excel, and follow through on outstanding account activity.
- Perform cash application activities, including manually posting payments that are not successfully matched through automated banking processes.
- Review payment exceptions from bank files, apply funds to the correct customer accounts, and coordinate completed information for system upload support.
- Enter and process customer credit requests, route them through the approval process, and provide required documentation related to returned materials.
- Issue credits, assist with clearing pending request backlogs, and support credit and rebill transactions as business needs require.
- Record return transactions in Infor through manual entry and ensure related account activity is updated accurately.
- Work closely with customer service, IT, managers, and other stakeholders to resolve disputes, returns, credits, and deduction questions.
- Contribute to month-end close activities by ensuring payments, credits, deductions, and returns are completed accurately and within required timelines.
- At least 5 years of experience in collections, accounts receivable, cash application, or credit and returns processing.
- Background in researching deduction claims, short payments, billing discrepancies, and outstanding customer account issues.
- Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Excel, including formulas and tracking tools used for reporting and account analysis.
- Experience supporting credit workflows and data entry processes, including work completed in SharePoint or similar platforms.
- Familiarity with Infor or another ERP system used for financial transaction processing.
- Ability to manage a large transactional workload with strong accuracy, organization, and attention to detail.
- Effective problem-solving and communication skills with the ability to work across departments and with external contacts.
- Experience with rebills, billing collection activities, and reporting tools such as Power BI is a plus.