Customer Accounts & Order Operations Specialist — Zoho, Invoicing, AR & Process Improvement

ABOUT US

A19 Artisan Lighting is a very small California-based manufacturer of handmade ceramic lighting. We create artisan wall sconces and ceiling fixtures for homes, designers, hospitality projects, and commercial spaces.

We are looking for a trustworthy, detail-oriented, systems-minded tea ---------- mber to help with customer accounts, order entry, invoicing, accounts receivable, purchasing support, and daily operations.

This is not a basic VA role. We need someone who enjoys accuracy, systems, process improvement, and making messy work more organized and repeatable.

ROLE DETAILS

This is a long-term full-time role, ideally 30–40 hours per week. We are open to starting closer to 30 hours while training, with the goal of growing into a consistent full-time role if it is a good fit.

Starting compensation is $5.80/hr, with room to increase over time for someone who proves reliable, proactive, trustworthy, accurate, and able to take ownership.

ABOUT THE ROLE

You will help keep customer orders and accounts moving accurately while also helping us clean up and improve processes that have become messier than we are comfortable with.

You should enjoy improving systems, catching details, creating checklists, maintaining accuracy, and making work cleaner and easier to manage. You will not simply maintain what we already have, which to be honest, is a bit of a mess. We are looking for someone who likes the challenge of improving order-entry, customer-account, invoicing, and bookkeeping-adjacent workflows that need better organization, consistency, and follow-through.

Ideally, you have experience with Zoho One or are excited to learn it deeply. We want someone who can help us better use our business operating system and transition away from QuickBooks into Zoho 100% by year-end. Our current Zoho apps include Zoho Inventory, Zoho Books, Zoho Mail, Zoho CRM, Zoho Flow, Zoho Analytics, and related tools.

You have a high level of competency, strong judgment, and confidence implementing process improvements. You should also be comfortable coordinating regular check-ins and progress updates with me, the President of the company.

WHAT YOU'LL HELP WITH

• Manage or help manage the email inbox
• Enter orders in Zoho Inventory
• Enter or mirror needed information in QuickBooks during our transition
• Prepare estimates, invoices, sales orders, and order confirmations
• Send customer statements and friendly payment follow-ups
• Help manage customer accounts and AR
• Support customer service through email and occasional calls
• Help with purchasing and vendor follow-up
• Maintain accurate customer, order, invoice, and payment records
• Apply credits or correct clear pricing/account issues within agreed guidelines
• Create checklists, improve SOPs, and document recurring processes
• Identify bottlenecks and suggest and implement practical improvements
• Use AI and automation tools responsibly to draft, summarize, organize, and improve efficiency
• Provide regular progress updates and flag questions or process gaps


THE RIGHT PERSON IS

• Highly trustworthy
• Accurate and detail-oriented
• Organized and proactive
• Comfortable with customer-facing communication
• Systems-minded and tech savvy
• Confident improving processes
• Honest when something is unclear
• Willing to ask questions before guessing
• Interested in long-term work
• Comfortable working with a small business where things are improving but not yet perfect

You should enjoy making processes more organized, accurate, repeatable, and efficient.

HELPFUL EXPERIENCE
Helpful experience includes, but is not limited to:

• Zoho Books, Zoho Inventory, Zoho CRM, or similar systems
• QuickBooks or bookkeeping support
• Order entry, invoicing, AR, or purchasing
• Customer account management
• Email support
• Spreadsheets
• SOPs, checklists, or process documentation
• AI tools such as ChatGPT or Claude

Interest in interior design, lighting, home décor, architecture, handmade products, or artisan goods is a strong plus.

HOW WE'LL START

We will begin with a paid trial project before expanding into ongoing work.

The trial may include watching a short order-entry screen recording, repeating the process with sample information, drafting a customer confirmation email, reviewing a sample account, or creating/improving an order-entry checklist.

HOW TO APPLY

Please reply with:

1. Why this role interests you
2. An example of a messy process, account system, spreadsheet, or workflow you helped improve
3. Your weekly availability during U.S. Pacific Time business hours
4. The phrase “I’m ready to lighten the load” so I know you read the full post

Please do not send a generic application. We are looking for someone careful, honest, thoughtful, and genuinely interested in helping a small handmade lighting company become more organized, accurate, and efficient.

Thank you in advance!