Senior Credit & AR Specialist with 20+ Years Experience
Resume:
MICHAEL CLARK
Houston, TX (Open to Dallas / Remote)
***************@*****.***
www.linkedin.com/in/michael-clark-sr-9602a91a
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Seasoned Credit and Accounts Receivable professional with 20+ years of experience managing complex B2B portfolios, billing, and collections in financial services, manufacturing, and industrial sectors. Proven track record of reducing DSO, resolving billing disputes, and improving portfolio health while partnering closely with sales, operations, and finance. Experienced in end-to-end AR lifecycle management, including billing, cash application, credit review, dispute resolution, and aging analysis, with consistent focus on minimizing financial risk and improving cash flow. Recognized for building strong cross-functional relationships and leading without authority to drive timely resolution of escalated billing and credit issues for internal and external stakeholders.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Wholesale Electric Credit Specialist
Houston, TX Dec 2024 - May 2025
Oversee the new customer onboarding process and work end-to-end with cross-functional teams to open accounts in a timely manner.
Partner with the A/R team on accounts with blocked orders and prioritize reviews for customers that need additional credit to fully service their business. Partner with sales leaders to identify customers that require a credit increase, communicate concerns with higher-risk accounts, and contribute periodic updates through designated channels. Partner with cross-functional teams to support revenue targets while appropriately mitigating risk. Review, recommend and/or assign credit limits for all existing customer accounts on an as-needed basis. Complete ad-hoc projects and tasks as needed, including process documentation, managing technical system changes, and training teammates.
Equipment Share Lien Specialist
Houston, TX Aug 2024 - Nov 2024
Completed credit reviews independently for a portfolio of customers, including financial analyses of large and complex wholesale customers.
Gathered data and insights to support customer credit risk assessments and credit limit decisions through financial statement analysis and leading interviews with business owners, CFOs, controllers, finance VPs, and treasurers.
Processed bank and trade references and reviewed credit agency reports to support creditworthiness evaluations.
Reviewed, recommended and/or assigned credit limits for existing customer accounts on an as-needed basis.
Completed ad-hoc projects and tasks as needed, including process documentation, managing technical system changes, and training teammates.
CMC Commercial Metals Senior Credit Analyst
Houston, TX Jun 2024 - Aug 2024
Managed credit evaluation and assessment processes for assigned accounts, ensuring compliance with internal policies and service level agreements.
Collaborated with various departments to handle daily cash applications, wire transfers, and ACH payments, improving overall cash flow and reducing DSO. Developed and implemented process improvements, conducted financial searches, and provided timely credit reports to support business decisions.
Monitored aging and risk across assigned accounts to proactively identify and address emerging credit and collection issues.
Siemens Industry Credit Analyst
Houston, TX Jan 2023 - Jan 2024
Successfully managed seven different Atlantic States with Bond and Lien processes for the Credit Department for Siemens Industry Inc., a digitization to automation company focusing on engineering and manufacturing technology.
Processed credit evaluation and assessment of customers to meet requirements of service level agreements and to comply with internal control/credit policy requirements. Worked closely with the Cash Allocation Back Office on daily requests, wire transfers, and ACH transactions.
Reviewed customers' finances and determined customer credibility to provide guidance to the business on credit limits to be granted.
Managed release of sales order blocks and conducted searches of customers' financials for review. Provided relevant credit reports to businesses as requested on a timely basis and produced monthly debtor reports and ad hoc reports.
Maintained customer contact records in the collection tool and other SAP modules and assisted with system and process improvements.
National Trench Safety Credit Analyst & Lien Specialist Houston, TX Jun 2016 - Jun 2022
Reported to the Director of Credit and managed lien/bond processes across four different states for the Credit Department for National Trench Safety, a trenching, traffic & safety company with $125–150 million in revenue and $40–50 million in receivables. Supervised six direct branches with indirect dotted line responsibility for three different states. Reduced DSO by over 25 days and managed daily cash applications to improve collections performance. Implemented process improvements and partnered with sales to make customer visits and strengthen B2B communication in collections.
Successfully converted the A/R system from National Trench Safety utilizing Sage ERP System 100–700
.
Collaborated with the Director of Credit, Branch Manager, and Salesmen to resolve and rectify credit and collections issues.
Worked on improving/fixing problems within billing and cash application processes to improve credit/collections performance.
Standardized Letter of Credit requests to minimize the number of payments needed on L/C's and speed up payment.
Sent out Bond & Lien Letters to customers to minimize the company's exposure from delinquent payments, working with insurance companies, contractors, and guarantors to accelerate collections. The Art Institute of Houston Collection Analyst / Credit Consultant Houston, TX Feb 2009 - Aug 2012
Improved collections and established meaningful credit limits through analytical review of past collection history to minimize account expenses.
Effectively reduced the total percentage of past-due accounts for students and shaved 17 days off DSO. Successfully reduced A/R balances for The Art Institute of Houston and Education Management Corporation (EDMC).
Oversaw extension of credit and setup of accounts, as well as resolution of various student payment and balance issues (stand-by, transferable, and regular letters of credit). Drove policy and procedural development across organizational functional areas, resulting in a 78% reduction in slow-paying and delinquent customer accounts. American Express Credit Analyst
Phoenix, AZ May 2002 - Nov 2008
Reported to Director of Credit and managed various sector B2B divisions for the credit department; American Express generated $10.4 billion in revenue and is a Fortune 500 company. Defined high-probability paying customer accounts and made credit decisions that increased profitability from $7M to $10M in 12 months.
Worked on Auto Credit Checking system, credit card processing and auto-withdrawals in Oracle. Drove continued improvement in DSO numbers by over 15 days for multiple business units and improved percentage of past-due accounts.
Managed daily cash applications.
Worked with Sarbanes-Oxley for Credit Management and Derivatives Management process tracts. Worked with the Commercial Vehicle section and international accounts teams. Negotiated, reviewed, and presented documentation for Letters of Credit, Documentary Collections, and Ex-Im Bank Financing transactions for international accounts. Worked to standardize Letter of Credit requests to minimize the number of payments needed on L/C's and speed up payment.
Prepared financial models related to receivables, cash flow, and calculation of the company's bad debt reserve.
Engaged the international group to offer more competitive terms when bidding on foreign projects to increase leasing and sales.
First Sierra Financial Collections Specialist
Houston, TX Nov 1995 - May 2002
Involved in the collection of all receivables for this multinational leasing company and promoted through the organization from Credit Analyst.
Supervised two collectors and one billing clerk in all aspects of credit approval and collection efforts, including billing accuracy and sales tax issues.
Worked to standardize letters of credit requests to customers to minimize amendments needed to reach agreement on L/C terms.
Developed a system to ensure proper filing of notices for all 50 states with varying filing requirements. Handled customer disputes, including direct resolution and coordination with customer service in cases involving product problems.
Improved collections and established meaningful credit limits through analytical analysis of past collection history to minimize account expenses.
Collected on commercial vehicle accounts and all other leasing sections in the B2B space for American Express-related portfolios.
Prepared financial models relating to receivables, cash flow, and calculation of the company's bad debt reserve.
Worked on Auto Credit Checking system, credit card processing, and auto-withdrawals in Oracle. EDUCATION
Graduated 1991 BS Business Marketing Southern University Baton Rouge LA ADDITIONAL SKILLS
Accounts Receivable portfolio management across diverse B2B customer segments, including aging review, dispute tracking, and risk monitoring
Credit analysis and policy compliance
Collections and dispute resolution
Billing support, cash application, and payment reconciliation SAP Collection Tools and other SAP modules
Oracle, Sage ERP System 100–700
Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
Cross-functional collaboration with Sales, Operations, Finance, and Customer Service to resolve escalated billing and credit issues
Experience working with agent-based or multi-branch operating models, supporting multiple internal and external stakeholders
Strong communication skills with ability to lead without formal authority and influence outcomes across teams
Financial analysis, aging analysis, and DSO improvement initiatives Letters of Credit, Bond & Lien processes
RELEVANT STATISTICS
Increased profitability at American Express from $7M to $10M in 12 months through improved credit decisioning.
Reduced DSO by over 25 days at National Trench Safety and by 17 days at The Art Institute of Houston. Helped manage portfolios supporting up to $150M in annual revenue and $50M in receivables. Contributed to a 78% reduction in slow-paying and delinquent accounts through policy and procedure optimization.
More than 20 years of experience directly supporting AR, credit, collections, and billing operations in complex B2B environments.
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