A Medical Assistant Working In Accounts Payable Should?

There are many instances where, as a medical assistant, you might get involved in the billing and accounts payable section of the healthcare facility. Accounts payable staff also deal with the payment of vendors and monitoring the expenses; as a medical assistant, there is a lot you can do to support the AP team in handling the invoices and other paperwork. Learning about accounts payable and expectations as this function will assist in being more productive in this vital part of a business.

Key Responsibilities

Some of the key ways a medical assistant might interact with and support accounts payable include:

- Handling Invoices – You can be required to check invoices coming from the various vendors and suppliers for correctness, ensure that all necessary vouchers and paperwork are scanned and attached to the invoice, check that expenses are allocated to the correct account, and ensure that invoices are ready for payment. This includes confirmation of the dates to which the money is payable, the amount of money owed, and any other related information.

- Setting up Payments – Many vendors want to know how they are going to get paid, and it may be up to you to explain to them their options. Answering such calls and addressing the concerns helps to ensure that the vendors receive their payments in the correct amount and within the correct time frame.

- Accounts payable involve sorting, handling, and processing of several papers such as invoices, check copies, and remittances. You may have to arrange these documents and keep records of any transactions or changes that take place.

- Issuing Checks – In some cases and specifically where checks are used when making payments, you may prepare and even sign checks for vendors upon the approval of the invoices to be paid. This needs to be done with a lot of care as there may be mistakes made which will have an impact on the final results.

- Sustaining records - accounts payable files require some periods to be preserved to address regulations. Ordering paper documents, and their electronic counterparts is important as it makes it easy to access any document when the need arises.

- Missing information – Invoices may be incomplete, for instance, the date of issue, or the amount may be missing, or any other information that would be relevant during processing may be missing. This way, the payments remain on schedule even if vendors do not provide all the information required for the payment.

Essential Skills - Having strong skills in the following areas allows medical assistants to excel in accounts payable duties:

- Organization – It is impossible to be always precise with numerous papers; therefore, there should be an efficient filing system.

- Accuracy - Payroll involves dealing with invoices and checks and therefore, any mistakes need to be noticed and corrected. There is a saying that goes, “The devil lies in the details.”

- Interpersonal skills – To answer vendor inquiries, and to write emails and letters to the vendors, one has to be good in both verbal and written word.

- Schedule - Generally, invoices and checks require handling within certain periods. Time management is critical They are key when it comes to managing deadlines and schedules.

- Computer proficiency - Knowledge of accounts payable software, spreadsheets, and other computer applications provides the means of maintaining a neat file.

Building Expertise

If you are new to supporting accounts payable, here are some tips:

- Shadow worked to follow what actual employees do throughout their shift to better understand their roles.
- Take time to ask questions as much as you can, and don’t be shy to have other senior members of your group explain what you cannot understand.
- Be sure to go through your work thoroughly so you can fix any error you make on the first run-through.
- Find out the codes that are commonly used in endeavors aimed at increasing the efficiency of data entry and recordation.
- Research the current trends and recommendations on managing accounts payable

By embracing some of the key organizational, communication, and learning skills in the job, a medical assistant can cultivate the knowledge that can help to be a valuable addition to the accounts payable and billing. Maintaining accurate and organized records on invoices and payments ensures that cash flow is stable, vendors are content, and the medical office is operating effectively.