Sage Intacct + AR Automation: 7 Best Practices to Accelerate Cash Flow

Finance leaders know the story all too well: invoices go out, payments drag in, and your team spends countless hours chasing down cash that should already be in the bank. For mid-market companies running on Sage Intacct, the software offers a solid foundation for managing AR, but it doesn’t erase the real-world challenges of late payments, high DSO, and collections bottlenecks.

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The encouraging part? Intacct’s AR tools, paired with automation from Centime, can help you build a receivables process that’s faster, more predictable, and far less manual. Below are practical best practices, shaped around the pain points Intacct users run into most often, along with examples of how automation closes the gaps.

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1. Get invoices out faster—and electronically

A surprising number of late payments trace back to billing delays. Roughly 55% of invoices in the US are paid late, and one of the most common culprits is invoicing that isn’t timely or accurate.

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With Intacct, you can cut those lags by generating invoices straight from sales orders or projects and sending them by email . You can also attach supporting documents (POs, timecards, expense details) so customers don’t come back with “we need more info before we can pay.”

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Centime strengthens this by introducing a branded customer portal where invoices live front and center . Customers not only receive invoices instantly but can also see all their open balances in one place. Pair that with automated early-pay discounts (e.g., 2% off for ACH within 10 days), and you’ve taken away two of the most common reasons payments get held up: lack of visibility and lack of incentive.

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2. Make it easy for customers to pay you

Checks remain the most fraud-prone and slowest method, and Deloitte data shows B2B payments still take ~30 days on average, with nearly half arriving late .

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Intacct helps by supporting ACH and card integrations, and by storing customer payment terms directly in the system .

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That’s where Centime comes in. Through its self-service portal, customers can pay all their invoices online in just a few clicks . Better yet, Centime allows you to incentivize ACH over cards by tying early payment discounts to lower-cost methods . That saves your customers money, saves you interchange fees, and—most importantly—gets cash in the door sooner.

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3. Don’t wait until invoices are late—systematize collections

Best performers use structured dunning processes. That’s how top companies keep average days delinquent to 8 vs. 30 for the rest.

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Intacct has a Collections module that helps by sending reminders and logging activities .

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Centime layers in AI-powered collections workflows. Routine follow-ups run in the background, freeing your team to focus on problem accounts. Companies using this approach have cut DSO by up to 30% without adding staff.

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4. Give customers a portal for disputes and statements

One of the silent killers of AR performance is the time wasted on back-and-forth over “missing invoices” or “incorrect amounts.”

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Intacct lets you log notes and track disputes internally, but it doesn’t give customers a way to self-serve.

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Centime closes this gap with a customer portal that doubles as a dispute resolution hub . Customers can view their account status, pull past invoices, and raise disputes directly in the system . Your team sees every open issue in one place, complete with timestamps and status updates.

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5. Use AR data for visibility—not just reporting

Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), Collection Effectiveness Index (CEI), and average days delinquent should be on every CFO’s dashboard. For context, industry median DSO is ~56 days, while CEI for top performers runs around 84% vs. 56% average.

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Intacct provides aging reports, dashboards, and audit trails .

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Centime extends it into real-time dashboards that tie collections KPIs directly into cash forecasts. If one customer consistently slips by 15 days, the forecast reflects that. If your team only captures half of available early-pay discounts, you’ll see it in the metrics.

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6. Connect AR directly to cash forecasting

Forecasting is where most mid-market teams stumble. Too often, it’s a spreadsheet exercise disconnected from live AR data.

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Intacct gives you the basics with due-date-based projections and links to Sage Intacct Planning, but it’s not dynamic.

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Centime bakes AR directly into its real-time cash forecasting engine. Forecasts adjust automatically based on actual customer payment behavior. CFOs can model scenarios—what happens if that $250K invoice pays 20 days late, or if offering a discount brings it in a week early?

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7. Automate cash application and reconciliation

Aggregate wires, short pays, or vague remittances leave unapplied cash that distorts your AR aging.

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Intacct handles payment recording and reconciliation, but complex matching often falls back on manual effort.

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Centime automates this with AI-driven cash application. Payments are matched to invoices based on references, amounts, or patterns. Exceptions get flagged with suggested matches, cutting manual effort to a fraction.

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Wrapping up

Accounts receivable doesn’t have to be a constant battle with late payments, manual follow-ups, and forecasting blind spots. With Sage Intacct as your foundation and Centime’s embedded AR automation layered on top, you can transform AR into a predictable engine for cash flow and strategic decision-making.

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Ready to see how Centime can streamline AR for your finance team? Book a demo today and experience the difference.

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**Deposit placement through ICS is subject to the terms, conditions, and disclosures in the applicable agreements. Although deposits are placed in increments that do not exceed the FDIC standard maximum deposit insurance amount (“SMDIA”) at any one destination bank, a depositor’s balances at the institution that places deposits may exceed the SMDIA (e.g., before settlement for deposits or after settlement for withdrawals) or be uninsured (if the placing institution is not an insured bank). The depositor must make any necessary arrangements to protect such balances consistent with applicable law and must determine whether placement through ICS satisfies any restrictions on its deposits. A list identifying IntraFi network banks appears at https://www.intrafi.com/network-banks. The depositor may exclude banks from eligibility to receive its funds. IntraFi and ICS are registered service marks, and IntraFi Cash Service is a service mark, of IntraFi Network LLC.

^††3.0% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) as of 01/07/25. Deposit rate may adjust to current market rate and may change daily. Fees may reduce earnings.

*Centime is not a bank and is not authorized by any federal or state agency to engage directly in core banking activities.
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*All banking products and services available through Centime are provided by FNBO and are governed by the applicable agreements and related disclosures provided to you by FNBO. Member FDIC.
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‍*While Centime facilitates traditional banking activities (such as the acceptance of deposits or extensions of credit), these services are actually provided by our banking partner, FNBO.
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*Centime may provide support services to FNBO, as permitted by applicable law, to facilitate the delivery of its bank products and services.

**Deposit placement through ICS is subject to the terms, conditions, and disclosures in the applicable agreements. Although deposits are placed in increments that do not exceed the FDIC standard maximum deposit insurance amount (“SMDIA”) at any one destination bank, a depositor’s balances at the institution that places deposits may exceed the SMDIA (e.g., before settlement for deposits or after settlement for withdrawals) or be uninsured (if the placing institution is not an insured bank). The depositor must make any necessary arrangements to protect such balances consistent with applicable law and must determine whether placement through ICS satisfies any restrictions on its deposits. A list identifying IntraFi network bank

Sage Intacct + AR Automation: 7 Best Practices to Accelerate Cash Flow

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