AR AUTOMATION
Recover the DSO Days You Are Losing - Without Hiring a Collections Person
We design and deploy the accounts receivable automation that mid-market professional services firms need - dunning sequences, payment matching, AR aging dashboards, and the integrations that make them run as one system.
What Is It?
What Is Accounts Receivable Automation?
Accounts receivable automation is the use of software and AI to automate the collections cycle: sending dunning sequences, matching incoming payments to open invoices, surfacing aged receivables to the right person, and reporting AR health back to the leadership team. AR automation consulting is the engagement that picks the right tooling for your stack - HighRadius, Bill.com, Versapay, custom workflow - and implements it end-to-end.
Most professional services firms lose meaningful working capital to AR slack: invoices that go out late, follow-ups that depend on whoever has time, and payments that sit unapplied because the memo is ambiguous. Each item is small. The cumulative drag on working capital is the difference between hiring next quarter or next year.
Automation fixes the drag. A well-deployed AR automation runs the dunning cadence on its own, applies most payments without human review, and surfaces only the exceptions that actually need a partner conversation. We pick the right tool for your stack and operate the implementation through go-live.
How AR Slack Compounds in Mid-Market Firms
- ✕Dunning happens when finance has time, which is never the same day twice.
- ✕Payment matching is manual against memos that say 'invoice' with no number.
- ✕AR aging reports come out monthly when they should be daily and proactive.
- ✕Senior people get pulled into collection conversations that should never have escalated.
- ✕DSO drifts up quarter over quarter and no one notices until it is well past 60 days.
- ✕Working capital tied up in receivables limits hiring, marketing, and growth investments.
AR Capabilities We Build
What Goes Into a Production AR Automation
Dunning Sequence Automation
Multi-touch reminders calibrated to client tier - polite, escalating, professional, and shut off automatically when payment lands.
Cash Application & Payment Matching
ACH, wire, check, and lockbox payments matched to open invoices automatically. Exceptions surface for review with full context.
AR Aging Dashboards
Daily AR aging visibility with client tier overlays, trend lines, and partner-level accountability.
Escalation Routing
Aged receivables route to the right partner or account owner with a pre-drafted outreach - escalations stop slipping.
Statements & Portal Access
Self-service statement and payment portals that reduce inbound 'where is my invoice' email volume.
GL & ERP Integration
QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Xero - cash application syncs directly to the GL with no double-entry.
How It Works
From AR Audit to Live Automation in 4 Phases
AR Workflow Audit (Week 1)
We map every step of the receivables cycle, quantify DSO drag, and document where dunning, application, and escalation break down.
- AR cycle map with hour and dollar impact
- DSO improvement projection
Tooling Selection & Design (Week 2)
We pick the right AR platform or custom workflow for your stack and design the dunning ladders, escalation rules, and integration architecture.
- Vendor recommendation with rationale
- Dunning sequence design
Build & Deploy (Weeks 2-4)
First dunning sequence live within 2-3 weeks. We integrate with your GL, run a parallel cycle, then cut over.
- Live dunning automation
- Cash application running
- Aging dashboard delivered
Tune & Expand (Ongoing)
Monthly review of DSO, aging buckets, and exception volume. We refine the cadence and expand into adjacent finance workflows.
- Monthly AR health report
- Expansion to AP and reconciliation
VENDOR LANDSCAPE
Revenue Institute Consulting vs AR Software Vendors
HighRadius, Bill.com, Versapay, and Esker each sell a piece of the receivables stack. We pick the right tool for your firm and operate the deployment.
| Capability | Revenue Institute ConsultingRecommended | HighRadius | Bill.com | Versapay | Esker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tool selection | Recommends HighRadius / Versapay / custom for your stack | Sells the HighRadius platform | Sells the Bill.com platform | Sells the Versapay platform | Sells the Esker platform |
| Best fit | Mid-market professional services ($5M-$100M) | Enterprise order-to-cash | SMB AP-first | Mid-market with portal payment focus | Enterprise document automation |
| Dunning ladder design | Designed with you, by client tier, tuned across cycles | Templates - you configure | Templates - you configure | Templates - you configure | Configurable, complex |
| Cash application | Integrated with your GL, exceptions surfaced for review | ML-driven (enterprise volumes) | Basic matching | Portal-driven | OCR-driven |
| Implementation | We build, integrate, run parallel, cut over | Multi-quarter enterprise rollout | Self-serve | Self-serve or partner | Multi-quarter enterprise rollout |
| Time to first sequence live | 2-3 weeks | 3-6 months | Days, but unconfigured | 1-2 months | 3-6 months |
| Pricing model | Fixed-bid implementation; payback < 6 months | Six-figure annual contract | Per-user / per-transaction | Per-user / annual | Enterprise contract |
Tool selection
- Revenue Institute ConsultingRecommended
- Recommends HighRadius / Versapay / custom for your stack
- HighRadius
- Sells the HighRadius platform
- Bill.com
- Sells the Bill.com platform
- Versapay
- Sells the Versapay platform
- Esker
- Sells the Esker platform
Best fit
- Revenue Institute ConsultingRecommended
- Mid-market professional services ($5M-$100M)
- HighRadius
- Enterprise order-to-cash
- Bill.com
- SMB AP-first
- Versapay
- Mid-market with portal payment focus
- Esker
- Enterprise document automation
Dunning ladder design
- Revenue Institute ConsultingRecommended
- Designed with you, by client tier, tuned across cycles
- HighRadius
- Templates - you configure
- Bill.com
- Templates - you configure
- Versapay
- Templates - you configure
- Esker
- Configurable, complex
Cash application
- Revenue Institute ConsultingRecommended
- Integrated with your GL, exceptions surfaced for review
- HighRadius
- ML-driven (enterprise volumes)
- Bill.com
- Basic matching
- Versapay
- Portal-driven
- Esker
- OCR-driven
Implementation
- Revenue Institute ConsultingRecommended
- We build, integrate, run parallel, cut over
- HighRadius
- Multi-quarter enterprise rollout
- Bill.com
- Self-serve
- Versapay
- Self-serve or partner
- Esker
- Multi-quarter enterprise rollout
Time to first sequence live
- Revenue Institute ConsultingRecommended
- 2-3 weeks
- HighRadius
- 3-6 months
- Bill.com
- Days, but unconfigured
- Versapay
- 1-2 months
- Esker
- 3-6 months
Pricing model
- Revenue Institute ConsultingRecommended
- Fixed-bid implementation; payback < 6 months
- HighRadius
- Six-figure annual contract
- Bill.com
- Per-user / per-transaction
- Versapay
- Per-user / annual
- Esker
- Enterprise contract
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you automate accounts receivable?
AR automation runs four jobs: dunning (sending the right reminder at the right time), cash application (matching incoming payments to open invoices), aging visibility (showing leadership the AR picture daily not monthly), and escalation routing (sending the right account to the right person at the right threshold). We pick a platform that handles those jobs for your stack and integrate it cleanly with your GL.
What is the difference between AR consulting and AR software?
AR software is a product - HighRadius, Versapay, Bill.com, Esker. AR consulting is the engagement that maps your workflow, picks the right product (or custom build) for you, integrates it with your GL, designs the dunning ladders, and stays through go-live. Buying software without consulting often results in a half-deployed product and the same manual work underneath.
How much can we improve DSO?
It depends on where you start. Firms with DSO above 75 days typically see the largest absolute improvement; firms already running tight collections see smaller but still meaningful gains. We model the projected improvement during the audit phase so the number is grounded in your actual aging buckets, not an across-the-board claim.
Can the dunning sequence be tuned by client tier?
Yes. Strategic clients get a softer cadence with partner-level escalation. Volume clients get a sharper cadence. We design the ladders together and tune them across the first two cycles.
Will this damage client relationships?
The opposite. Inconsistent dunning is what damages relationships - clients get reminders weeks late, sometimes never. Automated dunning is consistent, professional, and on-cadence. Strategic clients see better cash management. Slow payers see clearer expectations.
Does it work with our accounting system?
Yes - we integrate with QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Enterprise, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Xero, and most major mid-market accounting systems. Cash application syncs to the GL automatically.
How long does deployment take?
First dunning sequence is typically live within 2-3 weeks. Full AR automation - dunning, cash application, aging dashboard, escalation - usually goes live within 4-6 weeks of kickoff.
What does it cost?
Implementation is fixed-bid after scoping. Most engagements range from $20K-$60K for AR-only deployment. Payback is typically inside 6 months from DSO improvement plus avoided collections headcount.
Ready to Recover the Cash Stuck in AR?
Tell us your current DSO and your top three slow payers. In a 30-minute call we will tell you what is automatable, what the DSO improvement looks like, and how fast we can deploy.
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