Search
Close this search box.

Accounts Receivable Automation Guide 2026: Benefits, Process & Best AR Software

The AR automation solution pulls information from the company’s accounting or ERP system to create invoices automatically. Multiple ERPs, global customers, diverse payment formats, and compliance pressures make manual work unrealistic. Cash flow is the lifeblood of every business, and your ability to collect cash quickly, accurately, and consistently often determines how healthy that cash flow is.

For instance, it can automate payment reminders, invoice generation, reconciliation, and follow-ups, reducing manual effort and improving cash flow management. It reduces manual errors, improves cash flow, and saves time, making it easier for businesses to get paid faster and focus on growth. Customization is a key feature of many AR automation solutions, allowing businesses to tailor the software to their unique processes and industry requirements. It supports various functions such as creating and distributing invoices, processing payments, sending payment reminders, reconciling accounts, and analyzing AR data. A/R automation digitizes invoicing, payments and collections to accelerate cash flow and improve accuracy. Streamlining accounts receivable processes is essential for continuous improvement, as it reduces manual work, accelerates collections, and enhances overall financial performance.

You will need to figure out whether you need to automate a particular process, like electronic invoicing, cash application, collections, etc., or automate the end-to-end accounts receivable process. Automate tedious tasks involved in the process, such as pulling out invoices, following up with clients, and the credit approval process etc. Automating accounts receivable (AR) processes can significantly improve process efficiency by reducing manual errors. Implementing end-to-end accounts receivable automation can result in substantial cost savings, exceeding 70% in invoicing expenses.

To ensure your business leverages the best out-of-the-box automation software, streamline the workflows and approval processes to reduce delays and improve process efficiency. To understand this, let’s take a look at the challenges that accounting teams encounter in manual accounts receivable processes and how automating AR eliminates these workflow challenges. It generates reports on accounts receivable aging, cash flow forecasts, collection performance, and customer payment trends. AR automation solution simplifies this process by sending automated reminders and notifications for upcoming or overdue payments. The invoices are then delivered electronically to customers, whether through email, electronic data interchange (EDI), or customer portals, facilitating quicker delivery and reducing manual effort.

Accounts Receivable Automation: Definition, Benefits, Process, and Best Practices (2026 Guide)

  • HighRadius stands out as an IDC MarketScape Leader for AR Automation Software, serving both large and midsized businesses.
  • From automated payment reminders to setting and tracking “promise-to-pay (P2P) commitments, this platform reduces manual grunt work. The UI is clean and intuitive and doesn’t require a steep learning curve, which is rare for financial software.
  • Use this overview to match the best accounts receivable automation software to your company’s size and operating model.

Streamlining accounts receivable workflows is essential for businesses aiming to optimize cash flow management and minimize the burden of manual processes. Core features include automated invoicing, intelligent collections workflows, payment reminder automation, customer self-service portals, dispute management, cash application automation, credit risk monitoring, and real-time aging dashboards. By integrating seamlessly with existing systems, the accounts receivable automation solution provides real-time visibility into receivables, enabling businesses to manage their AR processes more effectively.

Without automation, their finance team spends 15+ hours weekly creating invoices, sending payment reminders, and reconciling payments. A company processing 50 invoices monthly might manage with spreadsheets, but one handling 500+ invoices faces inevitable mistakes, delayed payments, and countless hours of administrative overhead. Automation streamlines the AR process from invoicing to payment reconciliation, reducing manual effort and making collections more efficient for finance teams. In this comprehensive guide, you’ll discover the top accounts receivable automation solutions, key features that deliver real ROI, and a step-by-step framework for choosing the right platform for your business needs. With remote work making traditional collection methods less effective and economic uncertainty putting cash flow under pressure, businesses need automated solutions more than ever. A strong AR system helps small businesses get paid faster, reduce manual work, and maintain accurate financial data.

Advanced systems handle bank feeds, lockbox processing, and exception management for unmatched transactions. Most businesses see payback within 6-12 months through reduced DSO and labor savings. Integration with existing accounting systems eliminates the need for manual data entry, reducing errors and boosting productivity.

Check out the best expense management software in 2025 to set a budget restraint and ensure smooth expense approvals to manage revenue. It is very easy to manage all day-to-day transactions, including the generation of client invoices, the sending and receiving of funds, and the depositing of cheques. Managing receipts, tagging transactions, and even syncing invoices is easier than before. With a customer satisfaction score of 80 and a striking 91% average user adoption rate, Qonto is scaling beyond the small business footprint. Those handling international payments or needing FX and cross-border capabilities may also need to upgrade to higher-tier plans to unlock that functionality. When it comes to customer service, users on basic plans have shared that response times can be slow, especially for time-sensitive issues.

Buyer guide to compare accounts receivable automation software

  • AR automation liberates your AR analysts from manual, time-consuming tasks such as cash application, claims aggregation, and manual credit report aggregation and scoring.
  • Automation empowers your business to remain on top of the AR management with human oversight to ensure a personalized, customer-friendly approach.
  • By freeing up working capital and lowering operational costs, it creates a scalable foundation that supports long-term, sustainable business growth.
  • Essentially, AR automation streamlines receivables management, empowering finance teams to focus on more impactful business activities.

As one of the leading accounts receivable automation platforms, we understand the nitty gritties of it. TreviPay’s credit decisioning engine uses business, financial and behavioral data to approve accounts in seconds. Best fit for enterprise finance teams that plan to run credit decisions and customer servicing internally and want to centralize automation in one platform. HighRadius provides an A/R software suite covering credit, invoicing, cash application and collections workflows.

These insights empower finance teams to make informed decisions and optimize receivables management strategies. These proactive insights empower your credit teams to control and improve bad debt by proactively managing upcoming orders. Identify external bankruptcy alerts, negative payment trends, and credit utilization thresholds. Efficiently manage your credit risk by leveraging AI-based automation tools to fast-track reviews. Ongoing maintenance typically includes regular system how to fill in irs form 8917 updates, periodic performance reviews, user training for new features, and occasional process optimization.

Meanwhile, digital-first organizations may need credit embedded directly at checkout, or recurring billing tied to revenue recognition. Others prefer to operate A/R differently — offloading credit programs or high-volume buyer servicing to reduce internal workload. Some companies centralize A/R internally and want a software suite to streamline workflows.

How does B2B AR automation help reduce DSO?

Reduce manual work, get paid faster, and deliver superior customer experiences with Billtrust’s unified AR platform. For over 20 years, Billtrust has helped organizations transform their accounts receivable operations through innovative automation solutions. The team should blend technical expertise, financial knowledge, and change management skills.

Lower DSO with automated collections

Given below is an example of how accounts receivable automation can help businesses save time efforts, and avoid potential cash flow problems. Modern B2B accounts receivable automation tools eliminate manual, error-prone work and ensure invoices are delivered faster, customers pay sooner, and cash is recognized accurately in ERP and accounting systems. ‍There are multiple accounts receivable automation solutions that offer a pathway to streamline your AR process, reduce manual efforts, and optimize cash flow. A comprehensive accounts receivable automation platform should address the entire invoice-to-cash process plus the underlying data and collaboration infrastructure.

Axis 2: Integration & data

If not handled properly, unpaid invoices can quickly turn into overdue debts, putting your cash flow and business operations at risk. Faster invoice processing and collections mean steady cash inflow, allowing companies to reinvest in strategic initiatives and expand without financial strain. Manual accounts receivable processes wrack up unnecessary costs and errors for businesses. AR automation solutions typically integrate with existing financial software through APIs and plug-and-play modules, ensuring seamless data synchronization and real-time financial reporting. Whether you’re seeking invoice presentment, collections management, payment acceptance, or cash posting, there are comprehensive AR solutions available to meet your needs. Tesorio offers cash forecasting and accounts receivable automation.

Ready to Experience the Future of Finance?

HighRadius Accounts Receivables is a B2B accounts receivable and financial management tool that optimizes cash forecasting, offers AI-driven cash management services, and tracks invoices and debtors to monitor finances. Qonto is an invoice management and AR tool that automates invoice processing, offers flexible payment methods to customers or partners, and tracks sales credits to forecast future operations and manage capital for the company. Billtrust is an agile B2B AR software that manages your business income, tracks expenses, and reduces manual errors while processing client invoices or bills. I spent weeks evaluating the reviews of the 7 best accounts receivable software that can help companies automate financial transactions, log cash transactions, and maintain digital ledgers to improve accuracy and receive payments faster. Instead of having your teams drowning in ever-piling invoices and follow-ups, adopting account receivable automation software helps streamline the process.

TreviPay funds the receivable upfront, removing payment uncertainty and improving working capital forecasting. Implementation includes guided onboarding focused on reducing internal lift and accelerating time-to-value. TreviPay manages onboarding, billing, collections and support under the client’s brand, operating as a seamless extension of the finance team. Accounts receivable (A/R) represents revenue owed to a business for delivered goods or services. Corcentric provides billing and receivables automation alongside broader procurement and payables tools.

This integration enhances data accuracy, improves visibility across departments, and supports more efficient decision-making. Ensuring that your AR automation solution can be easily integrated with the existing systems, such as your ERP, CRM, and other tools, is essential. Accounts receivable automation provides robust reporting and analytics capabilities. It sends payment reminders, updates payment statuses instantly, and ensures accounts are reconciled efficiently. For example, collections analysts receive instant updates about invalid deductions or blocked orders, allowing them to prioritize collections efficiently. This automation lets your team focus on more defining indemnity in the context of actual cash value calculations strategic work, improving overall efficiency.

B2B AR automation reduces bad debt by sending timely reminders, flagging high-risk accounts early, improving dispute resolution, and ensuring faster collections, helping businesses act before overdue invoices turn into write-offs. AR automation accelerates invoicing, ensures faster payments through smart reminders and digital options, reduces delays, and improves accuracy, helping businesses boost cash flow and lower Days Sales Outstanding (DSO). With the help of accounts receivable invoice automation, businesses can automate the process of generating and delivering electronic invoices. Automated accounts receivable uses technology to simplify and handle tasks like creating invoices, tracking payments, and collections management. Accounts inventory rollback procedures receivable automation (AR automation) refers to the use of software, AI agents, and integrated workflows to automate the end-to-end invoice-to-cash cycle, including invoicing, credit management, collections, dispute resolution, cash application, and reporting. The best accounts receivable automation software will also offer security features and scalability to grow with your business.

Facebook
WhatsApp
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome to Djeema Marketing

Special offer for our new customers

Djeema Marketing is offering one year of free hosting to the first 10 new customers, available for a limited time only