AR automation can increase your collections, reduce costs and provide your AR team with a more fulfilling work environment. The best AR automation features provide your customers with self-service options so they can pay their bills and manage their accounts when they want and where they want. Cloud-based AR applications are available with subscription plans which give you the opportunity to take advantage of automation without a large upfront outlay for new software. In addition, AR software can be integrated with many popular ERP platforms for a smooth installation. These benefits and a short payback period make AR automation a rewarding choice.

Here are 5 examples of automation every AR team should be using.

AR PORTAL

Providing an AR portal for your customers to manage their accounts is a win-win alternative for you and your customers. It gives you the benefit of automation of these processes:

  • Customer accounts – Customers can access information on their accounts and request copies of statements and invoices. It eliminates emails or phone calls back and forth to accomplish what should be a simple task that can be handled through your portal.
  • Payments – Providing online payment options such as credit cards, ACH, EFT and PayPal helps to accelerate cash flow and eliminate time spent manually processing customer remittances.
  • Disputes and Credits – Most disputes and requests for credits do not surface until an invoice is past due or paid short, because there is no convenient channel to make you aware of problems. With access to your portal, customers can initiate a dispute and request a credit. It also makes it easy for you to forward information to stakeholders for resolution.
  • Promises to pay – Customers can easily provide information on when invoices will be paid, reducing needless back and forth.

And, an AR portal gives your customers the flexibility to self-service their accounts when and where they choose.

AUTOMATED REMINDERS

Automated text messages or emails can be programmed to remind customers of upcoming due dates and past due invoices, significantly reducing follow-up phone calls and letters.

AUTOMATED INVOICING AND TEMPLATES

With automated invoicing and templates you can speed up invoicing, reduce errors and eliminate the need to create a new invoice every time you bill a customer.

ONLINE OR AUTOMATED PHONE PAYMENT OPTIONS

Providing online and automated phone payment options and links from automated invoices makes it easy for your customers to pay, and eliminates time spent processing customer payments.

ONLINE NOTES AND WORKFLOW

You can significantly reduce clerical work by recording online notes for easy reference in the future, and using work flow capability to facilitate communication with and forward documents to stakeholders and third parties.

The key to successfully automating AR is to partner with a software provider experienced in seamless integration of automation solutions.

Lockstep Collect is a market leader in cloud-based credit and collection platforms. Lockstep Collect can help you with seamless integration of AR automation solutions.

If you would like to learn more about how you can benefit from AR automation, please contact Lockstep Collect at www.lockstep.io.