Account Receivable & Trade Specialist

About the Role

The Accounts Receivable & Trade Specialist manages day-to-day accounts receivable activities across multiple sales channels, including Retail, Wholesale, Corporate Gifting, Partnerships, and Dry Ice Manufacturing. The role is responsible for customer onboarding, billing, cash application, retail trade activity, ERP maintenance, reconciliations, and management reporting.

This position works closely across the business to ensure customer activity is accurately established, billed, collected, reconciled, and reported. The ideal candidate has strong AR experience with an understanding of retail trade programs and system maintenance.

Department: Finance

Reports To: Director of Accounting

Hours/location: 20 hours per week. At least 5 hours/week in office (Watertown, MA)

Compensation: $30-35/hour, benefits

Key Responsibilities

• Manage billing and accounts receivable activities across the business, ensuring transactions are complete, accurate, and timely.
• Manage new customer onboarding, including customer applications, credit references, required documentation, and coordination of account setup.
• Maintain AR-related customer and item setup within the ERP system, including payment terms, billing information, and other required customer attributes.
• Process and apply customer payments, including checks, ACH, EDI payments and electronic remittance, and research unapplied cash and payment discrepancies.
• Manage retail customer activity, including trade programs, deductions, chargebacks, promotional allowances, pricing discrepancies, shortages, and other customer claims.
• Research deductions against approved programs and supporting documentation; resolve valid deductions and dispute unsupported customer claims.
• Monitor AR aging, outstanding balances, and collection activity and proactively identify potential risks or issues.
• Prepare and communicate weekly AR metrics to management, including aging, collections, deductions, unapplied cash, billing activity, and other key trends.
• Perform month-end AR and account reconciliations, including reconciliation of the AR subledger to the general ledger and resolution of outstanding differences.
• Prepare and analyze budget-to-actual results, research significant variances, and provide explanations to management.
• Partner closely with Corporate Sales, Retail, Dry Ice, and Procurement teams to resolve billing, customer, sales, and operational discrepancies.
• Maintain appropriate documentation and internal controls and support month-end close, year-end close, and audit requests.
• Identify opportunities to improve and automate customer onboarding, billing, cash application, deduction management, and reporting processes.
• Work with the Accounting team on various projects such as system implementations and accounting process improvements

Qualifications

• 3+ years of Accounts Receivable, billing, trade finance, or related accounting experience.
• Experience with retail customers, trade programs, deductions, and chargebacks strongly preferred.
• Experience with ACH, EDI, electronic remittance, and retailer portals preferred.
• Strong understanding of accounts receivable and general accounting principles.
• Strong Excel, analytical, reconciliation, and problem-solving skills.
• ERP experience required; NetSuite experience preferred.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and high transaction volumes while maintaining accuracy and attention to detail.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to work effectively across numerous departments and stakeholders
• Consumer products, food, retail, or e-commerce experience preferred.