54% of businesses expect late payment. This staggering statistic reflects the reality of doing business these days. It’s also a likely driver behind the fact that 87% of enterprises are planning a legacy system modernization program in the next 1-2 years.

Outdated, manual systems don’t deliver the results expected these days. Worse, they can hinder growth. Given this, it’s hardly surprising that digital transformation across business has accelerated at an unprecedented rate in recent years. Remote working and contactless customer experiences have increased dramatically during the pandemic years. One person in a back office with a few spreadsheets just doesn’t cut it any more when it comes to best in class accounts receivables.

If you’re reading this then you’ve already started your journey toward automating accounts receivable. This guide will help you understand:

• If automated AR is right for your business
• The key benefits of automated AR
• How to select the right solution for your business
• Questions to ask to ensure a quick, successful integration

More cash in the bank. That’s what our customers tell us. With customized workflows driving a true reminders journey, the likelihood of getting your invoices paid and paid faster increases dramatically. Invoices can no longer slip through the cracks. And by including SMS communications, your reminders won’t get lost in the inbox jungle or be bottom of the payments pile.

Not only does automating your accounts receivables ensure your customers pay faster, it also reduces your overheads. We have customer who’ve been able to either maintain or reduce their finance headcount thanks to CreditorWatch Collect. And with debt being paid faster, automating your accounts receivables reduces interest paid on outstanding money and decreases the opportunity cost of having cash locked up with debtors.

Automating your accounts receivables isn’t just about reducing the admin load. It also delivers better visibility over what’s actually happening with your accounts. Through customer history, dashboards and advanced reporting, you’ll be able to understand why debtors pay late and see trends in key KPIs like Days sales outstanding to ensure you’re tracking well. All this adds up to knowledge, and knowledge is power. Power to forecast better, to improve services and process, to grow.

Automating your accounts receivables saves time. With workflows running at the press of a button, and debtor insights easily accessible, our customers say this is one of the key benefits for them. Productivity increase as time spent on accounts receivables admin, chasing debts and in meetings to resolve disputes is reduced. Automating your accounts receivables will give your team time back to focus on more value-adding work.

With your accounts receivables on autopilot, you’ll find that customer disputes are more easily identified and faster to resolve. As payment reminders are sent out through a regular workflow, customers who have a dispute won’t just ignore the issue. They’ll get in touch. And with automated accounts receivables software you’ll be able to review the account history, make notes visible to all and get to a resolution faster.

Whilst customer experience is not viewed as a core role of the finance team, automating your accounts receivables ensures customers receive a first in class experience. Clear payment reminders and instructions go a long way to closing the final step of the buying cycle. With a strong AR process in place, making payment quick and easy, your customers are more likely to complete the buying process as happy, loyal customers. They’ll walk away advocates for your brand, happy to repeat their business with you.

The most common problems automated accounts receivables helps solve are:

• Overdue debt that’s causing issues
• Unstructured or unclear internal AR processes
• A lack of debtor insights

Some questions we’d recommend to start the conversation in your business are:

Overdue Debt

• Is overdue debt a problem?
• Do we understand why debtors are slow to pay?
• Are we chasing every account, even the small ones?

Accounts Receivables Process

• Do we have dedicated AR support?
• Do we send out statements or just invoices?
• Do we have a clear process for payment reminders? Does it include email, SMS and phone calls?
• Are there weekly meetings to review debtors and resolve disputes?
• Where does ownership sit in regard to collecting debt? Is it finance or is it the relevant account/sales manager?
• What’s our escalation path for hard to collect debt?

Debtor Insights

• Can we see debtor trends overtime?
• Do we have the info needed to deliver thorough reports to the board/exec team?
• How do our customers pay us compared to the payment terms agreed?
• Do we know which customers need more prompts to make payment?
• Can we clearly see customer history when we’re chasing payments?

Once you’ve identified what issues you’re facing, compare these with the features offered by the automated accounts receivables tools you’re reviewing. You’ll then be able to assess which tools deliver the solutions your business needs.

Good questions to ask at this point are:

• How long does it usually take to integrate the automation software with our accounting/ERP system?
• Does data sync automatically?
• What systems does your software integrate with?
• Do you need specialist/IT support to manage the implementation?
• Are there any additional costs associated with implementation?