Billing is a vital process in every organization that serves a large base of clients with products or services. This process should be executed responsibly to avoid any inconvenience to the organization and the clients. Billing assistant is an important staff in the accounts department, who helps in streamlining this process and maintain transparency to avoid any misunderstandings.
Basically, a billing assistant is employed with an aim to provide administrative support to the senior staff. He issues and files the bills for sales, service, maintenance, and upgrades. He calculates various overheads such as discounts, EMIs, late payment charges, etc. He also collects the bills from vendors and verifies the amount before making the payment.
A billing assistant is required to clarify the doubts of the clients regarding billing disputes and generate duplicate and itemized bills if asked for. Another important duty of a billing assistant is to update the records as and when a payment is made or received against the bills.
A billing assistant is responsible for sharing the details of clients and unpaid bills with the bill/debt collectors. He has to rectify any errors in the bill details or amounts and resend the same to the clients.
Preparing Bills
The billing assistant prepares, prints, files, and sends bills to the clients. Generating reconciled and duplicate bills is also a part of the job of a billing assistant. He compiles the weekly and monthly bills and sends these statements to the clients.
Receiving and Making Payments
The billing assistant collects cash checks against bills receivable and makes payments to the vendors. He records the details of the payments and makes the entry into the accounts or informs the accounting staff to make the necessary entries.
Sending Reminders
The billing assistant sends reminders regarding unpaid bills to the clients. He may also contact them through telephone if they do not reply to the reminder.
Calculate Overheads and Profit/Loss
The billing assistant calculates the discount, commission, and other overheads on the billed amount.
As a billing assistant, a person needs to be highly organized and should be attentive to details. He should be able to identify and reconcile the bills and file the bills as per the organization's policies.
Knowledge of mathematics and basic accounting is also mandatory for a billing assistant. He should be able to prepare bills manually and also with the use of digital applications used by the organization.
Being efficient in multitasking is another mandatory trait to perform well in this position. The applicant should be able to handle stressful situations and work for prolonged periods during closing of accounts.
A billing assistant is expected to be inclined towards customer service and resolve their queries and disputes to avoid any inconvenience. He should be able to maintain a proper flow of information with the employees in the department and with the clients as well.
Being in an entry level position, the billing assistant should be open to learn from mistakes and take criticism positively to develop himself.
You can apply for the job of billing assistant if you have completed your education with a high school diploma. Prior experience of working in the accounts department can be helpful, though it is not always required as the employing organization will provide the necessary training. Knowledge of digital applications such as MS Office Suite is also beneficial.
Average salary of a person working in this position is $33,000. Salaries vary depending on previous experience of the applicant and the pay structure of the organization. Apart from the basic salary, organizations may pay various additional allowances.
This is an entry level position. You will have to work for a couple of years before expecting a salary hike and promotion.
We have provided the details about billing assistant responsibilities to clear all your queries and confusions related to this profession.