Assistant Manager - AR Collections & Deductions - EXL Kochi

Assistant Manager - AR Collections & Deductions

Location : Kochi

Shift : 8pm - 5am (Mandatory)

Should be ready to relocate to kochi

Work from Office

Prefers Immediate joiners

Brief Job Description:

• Perform daily customer invoicing for PPD division including review for accuracy, freight rating and escalate as needed. Deliver invoices 4x day in Elixir
• Perform releasing of loads for freight rating, reconcile shipping documents/SDN to invoicing, LC/DP documentations to US Bank, Documentation related to COI's, upload documents to US Bank portal, Marsh portal and for Air freight export shipments
• Perform /create manual debit/credit and rebates after obtaining adequate approvals per approval matrix and without any non-conformance to Sales Policy.
• Rebates
• Process/Manage line-item credits/Internal adjustment entries or claims by /from customers
• Process/Manage line-item credits/Internal adjustment entries in customer accounts and rebilling to customers due to corrections in original billing due to various reasons. The process includes Load Recalls, Invoice cancellations and reprocessing and Pricing/PO changes
• Manage FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) related activities like Preparing weekly FSC report, completing line-item credits and Transferring rolls to FSC orders
• Manage and monitor customer invoicing process to ensure timely completion of entire activities and report business in case of any issue/error to correction
• Perform /Manage month close/Month end activities related to AR process like Change the dates in ERP(JDE), pre/post close communications to business, adding to auto moved loads at 6 AM, move invoice report to clear of closing month shipment and share reconciliation reports to controllers
• Participate in UAT related to application and ERP upgradation projects related to AR (applications like Elixir, DMX, Paper Soft and JDE)
• Support AR Supervisor on various key corporate initiatives
• Perform daily customer order releasing activity in invoicing applications (Elixir)
• Responsible for updating the SOP/process map of customer invoicing and exporting invoices to ERP processes
• Provide trainings to team members on customer invoice application (Elixir) and customer invoicing process
• Support of controllers reconciliation of inventory moves vs invoicing weekly/month end
• Responsible for maintaining the AR resource page and process related documents up to date in SharePoint
• Supports accounts receivable activities through high level collection, deduction, Refund and billing practices
• Communicates and builds strong partnerships cross functionally, departmentally and provides excellent service to customer base
• Investigate and research all claims and deductions for customer accounts.
• Obtain supporting back up documentation from mills, customers and/or carriers to validate claims.
• Coordinate with internal business partners the resolution of non-standard complex deduction related issues submitted by both customers and internal stakeholders within set deadlines and authority amounts.
• Dispute invalid deductions and submit to customers and brokers for repayment.
• Maintain the track of all open and closed claim deductions for customer accounts.
• Perform all collection related duties including calls/correspondence, troubleshooting collection issues, processing customer refunds, and resolving client discrepancies and short payments for customer accounts.
• Maintain collection tracking using a weekly collection report of all open AR in conjunction with various customer watch lists.
• Address and communicate collection related issues, including dealing with non-standard, complex issues submitted by both customers and internal stakeholders.
• Convey the highest level of support to the collection effort and overall DSO results.
• Monitor the aged receivables/credits and work with customers/internal stake holders to close the open issues on a timely manner.
• Follow up with customer for refund cases and close them on a timely basis
• Mitigate bad debt by monitoring aging reports and potential write-offs.
• Perform the Credit/rebill offsets activities by working closely with customers and buyers
• Perform Check/ACH changes and Bank account confirmations function with highly degree of quality
• Regularly escalate cases to respective buyers/sales team related to past due payments from customers
• Reporting of customer aging, customers on hold and handling of various claims from customers
• Generate weekly customer statements with outstanding, analysis, reporting, circulation to customers and follow up for timely settlements
• Monitoring of WinSCP application. Track and report movements in customer records on a daily basis. Take corrective actions on any cash application errors. Perform reconciliation between main ERP and subsidiary 's ERP
• Perform month end activities. The activities incudes review of old/open deductions, monitor/review write offs, bad debts, uncollectable amounts, minor write offs, offset entries, reconciliation between ERPs, inter-company sales, month end customer invoicing, inventory management, month end statement creation, cash discounts and reverse upload from main ERP to subsidiary ERP and Month end reconciliation certification etc.
• Perform all AR related month end reporting including reconciliation and analysis of data. This needs to be performed prior and post-closing of each month. This includes comprehensive summary reporting of invoicing, bad debts, month on month movement/changes, Status of top 25 customers, DSO, trade litigation and AR scorecard etc.
• Take care of all the activities as a back of credit manager and also support credit manager to keep the system up to date. The duties include order release, Handle discrepancies, calculation of DSO, discount analysis, update changes in DMX application and address sales related questions and reporting
• Handle SOX reporting related to orders shipped, but not invoiced
• Perform/handle adjustments or corrections to customer accounts for over-billed or erroneous charges
• Perform uploading of Paper Soft supplier invoice into ERP during AP month end
• Perform customer creation and its related activities like validation/decide on New customer forms, Credit Application, Establish credit limits, Review credit reports, Credit references, Establish terms after discussion with sales team and average Annual volume expectations etc.
• Maintain/update customer master data in ERP/applications JDE, DMX, Elixir. Track changes, new customer creations and inform master data team for making timely changes in ERP records. Manage C/P hierarchy like master data management, credit assessment, invoice creation and its delivery, Payment monitoring, dispute resolution and reporting & analysis and Tax ID collection
• Responsible for training new hires/team members in the process
• Responsible for email box handling (Helpdesk)
• Should be experienced in credit analysis role. Should be able to evaluate and manage the credit risk associated with customers. Should be experienced in the following activities:
• Customer Creditworthiness Evaluation: Assessing the financial stability and credit history of customers. This includes reviewing credit scores, financial statements, and payment histories
• Credit Risk Scoring: Using models and tools to assign a credit risk score to each customer and helps in quantifying the risk and making informed decisions about extending credit
• Setting Credit Limits: Based on the creditworthiness evaluation, setting appropriate credit limits for customers to ensure that the risk is manageable
• Monitoring and Reviewing: Continuously monitoring customer accounts for any changes in their financial status or payment behavior. Regular reviews help in adjusting credit limits and taking proactive measures
• Risk Mitigation Strategies: Implementing strategies such as requiring advance payments, securing collateral, or using credit insurance to mitigate potential losses
• Collection Management: Developing and executing collection strategies to recover overdue payments. This includes sending reminders, negotiating payment plans, and, if necessary, taking legal action
• Should be able to manage duties like Order releases, Term discrepancies/changes, Average days to pay (DSO),Discount analysis, Sales questions/reporting & Quarterly Credit Limit reviews
• Work closely with cash application team to ensure accurate and timely receipt of all payments and provide missing remittance advices
• Evaluate the creditworthiness of potential customers to fix/modify credit limits. Perform Credit Assessment, establish credit policies, Implement/process credit applications and credit reference checks
• Perform /Maintain up-to-date Portal logins details, Carrier contact list and Customer List/information for smooth Ar functions
• Monitor and maintain AR Corp Box. Perform Filing all emails for Shared service manager/AR supervisor, Maintain Daily Invoices, Open Invoice Reports, Credit Hold notifications, sent remittances to Corp remits email box for smooth function of cash application process and monitor and file all communications for customer portfolio
• Support AR Supervisor on all internal/external audit requests. Collate and save all audit selection documentation for selected customer portfolios and perform flow chart reviews/walkthroughs sessions
• Regularly perform releasing of customer orders and hold orders for past due customers in Paper soft application
• Regularly participate in sales call with sales team and note down/track and report the important points
• Create and maintain credit folders in shared drive to save the credit reports from agencies like Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, S&P Global, and Moody’s. Help businesses assess the creditworthiness of their customers, manage credit risk, and make informed decisions about extending credit as needed for credit manager
• Support in creating/setting up new customers in ERP. Update/maintain related supporting like Credit references, Filing, Documentation collection, Credit Reports & request for resale certificates
• Support all daily invoicing activities as needed including resolution to sales order errors prior to invoicing and generation of invoices, as needed
• Enter manually all the invoices/credits for all divisions for customers subscribed Ariba portal. Work with customer services for correcting the errors while entering invoices/credits into the Ariba portal
• Update approved credit limits and the credit review dates in respective customer records in JDE/ERP as per the request by credit manager
• Collect the Remittance details, bank fees related to all wire payments and share it with cash application team for timely and accurate application of payments received from customers
• Generate weekly aging to Sales report from ERP for all divisions and circulate among respective internal stake holders
• Should be able to handle all AR related calls from customers and internal stake holders independently

Competencies Required:

• High degree of business curiosity; quick learner with a proactive and agile mindset
• Exceptional opportunity identification and resolution mindset
• Optimistically looks toward future for opportunities to innovate and improve
• Exceptional communication skills (written and verbal); leading and presenting complex materials for various audiences
• Demonstrated strong time management skills
• Confidence in dealing with ambiguity; bringing different perspectives to light
• Ability to gather, analyze and interpret large quantities of data, and set action plans based on the analysis

Technical Skill Requirements:

• Minimum 5 to 8 years claims, collections, deduction management and accounts receivable experience required.
• Qualification - Should be a B. Com/M. Com/MBA Finance/CA Inter
• Strong computer skills fluent in all Microsoft Suite products including Microsoft Excel, Word and Power Point applications.
• Experience with accounting (ERP) programs/Applications (JDE/Papersoft /Deduction modules).
• Understanding of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP)
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Demonstrated organizational skills.
• Solid analytical, problem solving, and critical thinking capabilities.
• Strong customer service and interpersonal skills.
• High level of detail and efficiency.
• Solid analytical, problem solving, and critical thinking capabilities.
• Ability to function in a team environment.
• Strong accounting knowledge with O2C experience
• Knowledge of JDE, Papersoft, DMX systems and deduction modules is desired
• Knowledge of SOX related activities and documentation
• High level of detail, accuracy and efficiency.