Billing and posting clerks and machine operators, commonly called billing clerks, calculate charges, develop bills, and prepare them to be mailed to customers. By reviewing purchasing records and making or verifying calculations, they ensure that even the most complicated bills are accurate.
Billing clerks review hospital records, purchase orders, sales tickets, or charge slips to calculate the total amount due from a customer. They must take into account any discounts, special rates, or credit terms. A billing clerk for a trucking company, for example, often needs to consult a rate book to determine shipping costs. A hospital's billing clerk may need to contact an insurance company to determine what items will be reimbursed. In accounting, law, consulting, and similar firms, billing clerks calculate client fees based on the time required to perform the service being purchased. They keep track of the accumulated hours spent on a job, the fees to charge, the type of job performed for a customer, and the percentage of work completed.
After billing clerks review all necessary information, they compute the charges, using calculators or computers. They then prepare itemized statements, bills, or invoices used for billing and recordkeeping purposes. In some organizations, the clerk might prepare a bill containing the amount due and the date and type of service; in others, the clerk might produce a more detailed invoice with codes for all goods and services provided. They might also list the items sold, the terms of credit, the date of shipment or of service, and a salesperson's or doctor's identification.
Computers and specialized billing software allow many clerks to calculate charges and prepare bills in one step. Computer packages prompt clerks to enter data from handwritten forms and to manipulate the necessary information on quantities, labor, and rates to be charged. Billing clerks verify the entry of information and check for errors before the computer prints the bill. After the bills are printed, billing clerks review them again for accuracy. Computer software also allows bills to be sent electronically if both the biller and the customer prefer not to use paper copies; this, coupled with the prevalence of electronic payment options, allows a completely paperless billing process. In offices that are not automated, billing machine operators produce the bill on a billing machine to send to the customer.
In addition to producing invoices, billing clerks may be asked to handle follow-up questions from customers and resolve any discrepancies or errors. Finally, all changes must be entered in the accounting records.
Work environment. Billing clerks typically are employed in an office environment, although a growing number—particularly medical billers—work at home. Most billing clerks work 40 hours per week during regular business hours, though about 16 percent work part time. Billing clerks use computers on a daily basis, so workers may have to sit for extended periods and also may experience eye and muscle strain, backaches, headaches, and repetitive motion injuries.
| 1. | Encode and cancel checks, using bank machines. |
| 2. | Take orders for imprinted checks. |
| 3. | Compare previously prepared bank statements with canceled checks, and reconcile discrepancies. |
| 4. | Verify signatures and required information on checks. |
| 5. | Post stop-payment notices in order to prevent payment of protested checks. |
| 6. | Maintain files of canceled checks and customers' signatures. |
| 7. | Match statements with batches of canceled checks by account numbers. |
| 8. | Weigh envelopes containing statements in order to determine correct postage and affix postage using stamps or metering equipment. |
| 9. | Load machines with statements, cancelled checks, and envelopes in order to prepare statements for distribution to customers, or stuff envelopes by hand. |
| 10. | Retrieve checks returned to customers in error, adjusting customer accounts and answering inquiries about errors as necessary. |
| 11. | Route statements for mailing or over-the-counter delivery to customers. |
| 12. | Monitor equipment in order to ensure proper operation. |
| 13. | Fix minor problems, such as equipment jams, and notify repair personnel of major equipment problems. |
[Back to Top]