Credit Controller

Credit control job adverts have a habit of making collecting overdue invoices sound considerably more complicated than it is.

So here's the job, you'll be given a portfolio of accounts, and your job is to make sure customers pay what they owe, when they're supposed to pay it.

That means picking up the phone, it means sending emails, it means finding out why an invoice that was supposedly being paid last Tuesday still hasn't been paid. And occasionally, it means having a slightly uncomfortable conversation with someone who would rather you stopped asking.

If you're good at credit control, none of this will be particularly surprising.

What you'll actually be doing:

You'll manage your own ledger and be responsible for keeping overdue debt under control and helping the business hit its cash and debtor-day targets.

You'll chase outstanding invoices by phone and email, keep accurate records of what's happening with each account and make sure promises to pay turn into actual payments.

Not every unpaid invoice is simply an unwilling customer.

Sometimes there's a dispute, sometimes somebody has raised the invoice incorrectly, sometimes it's sitting in a customer portal waiting for something nobody knew it needed, and sometimes a customer's payment process appears to have been designed specifically to test your patience.

You'll need to work out which problem you're dealing with and get it resolved.

You'll also:

Manage invoice disputes and help negotiate payment

Reconcile accounts;

Work with customer invoicing and payment portals

Identify changes in payment behaviour before they become bigger problems

Deal confidently with customers and senior people internally

Manage credit notes where required

Support cash posting and reconciliations

Escalate genuine credit risks rather than simply adding another note to the account

Maintain proper records and follow the company's credit-control procedures

Produce occasional reports when somebody inevitably asks for one.

What they're looking for:

This probably isn't the right job for somebody looking to get their first taste of credit control. You'll need previous experience managing debt in a busy environment and a decent understanding of credit...