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Best Accounts Receivable Automation Software

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The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedNov 20222 min read

Getting paid on time is what keeps your company cash flowing. Any delay in the accounts receivable process puts this in jeopardy, whether it’s misplaced invoices or banking errors. Fortunately, accounts receivable automation software can streamline this process for greater efficiency and on-time payments. Here’s how to choose the best accounts receivable automation solutions.

How to automate accounts receivable

The accounts receivable process involves creating, verifying, and sending invoices to vendors as well as collecting payment. It involves numerous steps which can be time-consuming at best when performed manually. Automation in accounts receivable frees your team from these repetitive manual tasks, automatically scanning invoices to pick up errors and avoid common issues.

In addition to checking documents for accuracy, AR automation involves digital invoicing and follow-up. It’s easy to automate your accounts receivable system using the right software package. With accounts receivable automation software, you’ll generate, verify, and document all invoices within a central framework.

Accounts receivable automation benefits

There are numerous reasons to automate AR collections. Here are just a few accounts receivable automation benefits:

Faster payments
Less paperwork
Improved cash flow
Improved accuracy
Better customer relationships
Reduced administration costs
Streamlined workflow
Compliance with legal requirements

You can cut down on the time and money spent manually processing each invoice. This makes the full workflow far more efficient, freeing your AR team to focus on more valuable tasks.

How do accounts receivable automation solutions work?

No matter which software package you choose, the aim of accounts receivable automation solutions is to streamline the invoicing and payments process. This starts by integrating your finance systems with accounting and payment platforms. Integrating systems digitally means that you can generate an invoice and distribute it electronically to your customers. Track when invoices are received and enable easy payment with a single click.

Automated AR solutions also use tools like digital scanning and three-way matching to ensure all invoices, receipts, and shipping documents are accurate. Discrepancies are flagged for further investigation without slowing down the payments process.

How to choose the best accounts receivable automation software

Getting started is simply a matter of selecting the best accounts receivable automation software. Yet with dozens of options on the market, how can you find the right fit? Make sure your platform of choice lines up with your budget, industry, and business size. It should support transactions in the countries your business operates in, with all associated currencies and regulations.

Security is another important factor to consider, along with cash management, built-in accounting systems, and third-party integrations. Here are a few good examples of automated AR software.

Invoiced: This invoicing software lets you get paid faster with an automated collections process and streamlined payments portal. In addition to standard invoicing features, Invoiced also offers a suite of analytical tools to continually improve your AR processes.
Sellsy: This comprehensive CRM tool is not only useful for prospecting, sales, and managing customer relationships – it’s also a great accounts receivable automation platform. Take advantage of purchase management, payment security, and invoicing along with bank reconciliation
Zoho Books: Part of the wider Zoho library of software, Zoho Books is ideal for general bookkeeping as well as automatic invoicing and payment collection. It integrates easily with additional Zoho products to keep all data in one place. It can also link to your bank account for automated reconciliation.
Sage 50cloud: Sage Accounting offers numerous tools for small businesses. At the base level, businesses can take advantage of automatic invoicing, bank reconciliation, and payment tracking. It populates your AR journals for real-time tracking and reports.

When you issue digital invoices, how will you get paid? Accounts receivable software goes hand in hand with payments platforms. GoCardless integrates seamlessly with all software mentioned above as well as hundreds of other partners. Collect both one-off and recurring invoice payments on the day they’re due, without any hassle or delay. We also offer a Success+ intelligent retries solution to recover over 70% of payments that fail the first time, for improved cash flow.

We can help

GoCardless is a global payments solution that helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of financial admin your team needs to deal with. Find out how GoCardless can help you with one-off or recurring payments.