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Boston Career Explorer

Office and Administrative Support

Bill and Account Collectors

Locate and notify customers of delinquent accounts by mail, telephone, or personal visit to solicit payment. Duties include receiving payment and posting amount to customer's account, preparing statements to credit department if customer fails to respond, initiating repossession proceedings or service disconnection, and keeping records of collection and status of accounts.

Also called: Account Representative, Accounts Receivable Specialist (AR Specialist), Collection Agent, Collection Specialist, Collector, Debt Collector

Median pay in Greater Boston
$59,800
$28.75/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
2,260
Massachusetts 2024–2034
−10.8%
190 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
High school diploma or equivalent
plus Moderate-term on-the-job training

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$39,770$47,950$59,800$63,720$75,380

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Record information about financial status of customers and status of collection efforts.
  • Locate and notify customers of delinquent accounts by mail, telephone, or personal visits to solicit payment.
  • Locate and monitor overdue accounts, using computers and a variety of automated systems.
  • Arrange for debt repayment or establish repayment schedules, based on customers' financial situations.
  • Advise customers of necessary actions and strategies for debt repayment.
  • Answer customer questions regarding problems with their accounts.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Higher exposure80 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 84
  • Language-model AIOE 86
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 69

Observed AI use today: Substantial (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure is higher for this job, and observed AI use is substantial. Collections software and AI tools can help find overdue accounts, record account status, and send routine notices. Negotiating repayment plans and advising customers in tough financial situations rely on people. Federal projections expect fewer collectors as software lets the same work be done with fewer people, and Massachusetts is projected to lose about 10.8% by 2034.

Likely to change

  • Finding and tracking overdue accounts
  • Recording account status and routine notices

Still relies on people

  • Negotiating repayment plans with customers
  • Advising people in tough financial situations

What federal projections say

“Productivity change - share decreases as automated collections software allows the same amount of collections work to be done with fewer human collectors.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

No college programs near Boston map to this job. Many people enter through on-the-job training or apprenticeship.

Talk to a career coach at the Office of Workforce Development about apprenticeships and City partner programs.

Related occupations

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