Top 6 Accounts Receivable Automation Solutions for 2024

Are you tired of the complexities and challenges in managing your accounts receivable (AR) process? Are late payments, manual collections, and cash posting causing repeated headaches for your business? You’ve come to the right place. The following guide explores the most common AP pain points and shares the top solutions to simplify and streamline your receivables.

What is Accounts Receivable (AR) Automation? 

AR automation streamlines the traditional accounts receivable process by automating manual, repetitive tasks. 

It supports various functions such as creating and distributing invoices, processing payments, sending payment reminders, reconciling accounts, and analyzing AR data. 

By implementing AR automation tools, teams can significantly improve their workflow, ensuring faster and more reliable management of receivables.

What are the Benefits of Accounts Receivable (AR) Automation? 

AR automation significantly boosts the efficiency of finance teams by taking over routine accounts receivable tasks. This technology helps businesses: 

• Enhance cash flow with quicker payment collections
• Minimize data entry errors
• Free up team members for more strategic initiatives
• Strengthen customer relations through timely and professional interactions

Essentially, AR automation streamlines receivables management, empowering finance teams to focus on more impactful business activities.

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Understanding Today’s AR Landscape: 5 Common Pain Points

Accounts receivable is a decentralized process that involves invoicing customers and collecting payments. However, the process is often complex and non-linear, involving tasks such as invoice presentment, payment acceptance, collections, and cash posting. Unlike accounts payable, accounts receivable is less of a predictable workflow since much of the process depends on variables controlled by the customer like when and how they pay. 

This dynamic can make for a painful AR experience. Many businesses struggle with late payments, manual reminder systems, and tiresome reconciliation processes, among other challenges. Here's a breakdown of popular AR pain points:

1. Late payments and overdue invoices can strain cash flow and create financial uncertainty for your organization. 

2. Disputes and discrepancies in invoices require careful investigation and resolution to maintain healthy customer relationships. 

3. Ensuring accurate and up-to-date customer information can be a struggle, impacting communication and payment collection. 

4. The need to balance assertive collection efforts with maintaining customer goodwill. 

5. The administrative burden of manual data entry and reconciliation processes can be time-consuming and prone to errors. 

Effectively addressing these challenges is crucial for a well-functioning accounts receivable department. In the following section, we’ll dive into top-performing AR automation solutions and share their respective pros and cons. If you’re evaluating AR automation solutions, be sure to  consider your unique pain points before finalizing your decision.

What are the best AR automation software for 2024?

1. Centime: Best all-in-one AR and AP solution
2. Invoiced: Best Solution for Small Teams with Extremely Basic Collection Needs
3. Tesorio: Best Solution for Large Enterprises with Advanced Reporting Capabilities
4. HighRadius: Best Solution for Teams with Complex Cash Application Processes
5. BillTrust: Best Solution for Large Enterprises with Advanced Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) Needs
6. GETPAID by FIS Global: Best Solution for Enterprises with More than 100,000 Invoices per Year

Centime's powerful AR automation solution optimizes the AR workflow to improve collections effectiveness, reduce overdue payments and boost working capital - all while tracking industry-standard, account-level key performance indicators.

Cash connects every part of your business, so why fragment your cash management with disparate tools? Centime enables you to automate AP and AR, monitor cash flow, secure a new credit line and manage multiple bank partnerships – all in one integrated platform.

Pros of Centime

• The only all-inclusive cash management platform. Centime's AR automation platform is the only comprehensive cash management solution for SMBs and mid-market businesses. Unlike other AR automation software on this list, Centime includes cash planning as part of the AR process to help you plan and optimize your cash flow.
• A straightforward payment portal. Centime offers a digital B2B payment portal to streamline your payment process. You can use the portal to present open invoices to customers, share your payment preferences, and detail payment terms to your clients. 
• Best-in-class ERP integrations. Centime integrates seamlessly with world-class ERP systems like QuickBooks and NetSuite. Their two-way sync ensures that data flows continuously between your accounting system and their AR automation tool, so you have to worry about data gaps.
• White-glove customer support. Centime offers top-notch client services with its dedicated support team. In addition to offering support services, Centime assigns each client with a dedicated Centime Success Manager to deliver a top-tier implementation and onboarding experience.‍

Cons of Centime

• Built Exclusively for QuickBooks,NetSuite, and Sage Intacct users. Centime currently only integrates with three ERP systems: QuickBooks Online, Sage Intacct, and Oracle NetSuite. Unfortunately, teams that use other ERP systems won’t be able to take full advantage of the platform and its offerings. That said, by limiting their number of ERP integrations, Centime has established some of the best ERP integrations available today. This is a big win for the teams who can use their platform. 
• Not Built for enterprises. Centime’s platform is built primarily for growing SMBs and mid-market organizations. If you are an enterprise client looking for an AR automation solution, there may be other platforms that will better suit your needs.

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Invoiced offers a straightforward accounts receivable software that automates billing, collections, payments, and reporting within a single, digital platform. It aims to reduce fraud and vendor impersonation by providing clients with an invoice network to send invoices/payments and store documents.

Pros of Invoiced

• Simple and intuitive interface. Invoiced users seem to really enjoy the layout of the platform. They report that it’s easy to train new users on the system, which makes for better adoption rates. 
• Flexible plans. According to Invoiced’s website, you can use just a single feature or adopt a mix of tools. This approach makes sure that you only pay for tools that you will actually use. 
• Responsive customer support. Customers on G2 report that Invoiced’s customer support is quick to respond and easy to get in touch with – this is crucial for any software in your tech stack.

Cons of Invoiced

According to public G2 reviews, current Invoiced users report the following pain points: 

• Subpar analytics. Users have voiced concerns about the accuracy of Invoiced’s reporting capabilities. If your team is looking for reliable aging reports, then you may want to explore other options on this list.  
• Buggy QuickBooks Online integration. According to reviews on G2, users on QuickBooks Online sometimes experience gaps in synching. A strong integration between your accounting system and your AR automation solution is key to success, so keep this in mind when evaluating platforms. 

Tesorio offers cash forecasting and accounts receivable automation. They power their smart workflow tools and collections forecasting with machine learning to get accurate, easy data for clients.

Pros of Tesorio

• Strong tool for large enterprises. Tesorio is an impressive AR tool with powerful reporting capabilities. If you have a large AR department with complex needs, then Tesorio is likely a top AR automation contender. 
• Impressive data analytics. Clients on G2 rave about Tesorio’s data analytics. If you’re looking for more visibility across key performance indicators and historical data, then odds are that you will appreciate Tesorio’s data aggregation capabilities. 

Cons of Tesorio

• Users report synching issues. Users on G2 report synching issues which can ultimately lead to delays. Make sure to fully evaluate the tool and its synching quality if you’re considering Tesorio as your AR solution. 
• Not for SMBs and Mid-Market teams. As we mentioned above, Tesorio is a great tool for enterprise teams with complex needs. That said, if you are an SMB or mid-size team, you will likely not need all of the capabilities and functionality that Tesorio offers. Instead, we recommend looking at other tools to make sure you’re only paying for features that your team needs.

HighRadius is another popular AR automation tool for enterprises. The platform offers a number of AI-driven finance solutions for the back office. They offer two specific solutions for accounts receivable automation: HighRadius One (for mid-market customers) and HighRadius Enterprise (for larger clients). 

Pros of Stampli

• Automated remittance aggregation. HighRadius uses web bots and remittance software to automatically extract remittances from emails and attachments across multiple file formats and languages. If you have too many remittance headaches, then this is a solid tool to consider. 
• 80% automation rate for cash application. HighRadius can automatically match payments and remittances to open invoices for clients. The platform also simplifies cash application by being able to apply cash for most invoices – even when given an incomplete or inaccurate invoice number.

Cons of Stampli

• Slow customer service. Several customer reviews on G2 mentioned struggles with HighRadius’ customer service team. If you’re looking to get speedy, quality support then you may be disappointed with their customer support experience. 
• Variable ERP integrations. HighRadius supports integrations with various accounting systems, but not all connections are created equal. When evaluating any finance software, be sure to inquire about the integration with your specific accounting system. For example, one G2 review for HighRadius noted that real time updates from their ERP were impossible, which prevented timely cash application data in HighRadius for their team. 

Billtrust offers a suite of unified AR solutions, from collections and cash application to credit and eCommerce. The platform is best known for its EIPP (electronic invoice presentment and payment) capabilities, which provide a similar experience to that of a payment portal.

Pros of Billtrust

• Strong EIPP capabilities. Billtrust is known for its user-friendly buyer portal, where business’ customers can see their invoices and make payments with their preferred method. On the back end, Billtrust offers a central location for internal AR staff to see invoice status updates, dispute management and run key reports.
• An impressive array of AR solutions. Billtrust is a leading integrated payment processing solution for large enterprises, offering solutions across areas like credit decisioning and monitoring, online ordering, invoice delivery, payments and remittance capture, invoicing, cash application and collections. If you are an enterprise looking for a comprehensive AR platform, then Billtrust is a great option to consider.

Cons of Billtrust

• Too complex for non-enterprise teams. Billtrust is a great option for large teams with various AR needs, but its offerings are likely too advanced (and expensive) for smaller teams with more straightforward needs. 
• Segmented tools. According to G2 reviews, Billtrust customers complain about different applications not synching. For example, the Collections offering does not directly work with Billtrust’s Cash Apps platform, which calls for manual workarounds. If you’re looking for a centralized, all-in-one AR solution then you may want to consider alternatives.

GETPAID by FIS Global is one of the most comprehensive end-to-end AR automation solutions today. The platform is best suited for automating order-to-cash processes for large enterprises handling more than 100k invoices per year.

Pros of FIS GETPAID

• Simple dispute resolution options for large teams. GETPAID offers an online dispute resolution network, providing portal access to its clients and their customers, along with sales, customer service, and operations teams. If you’re looking to simplify your enterprise’s dispute resolution, GETPAID can help your team assign and track disputes. 
• Strong credit risk management capabilities. For teams with huge numbers of customers, GETPAID offers credit risk management tools like automated document tracking and credit review policies to help you expedite credit decisions.

Cons of FIS GETPAID

• The current portal experience leaves much to be desired. If you’re looking for a strong billing portal to use with customers, then GETPAID may not be the best solution for your team. Users have been known to complain about the overall portal experience which can negatively affect adoption rates. 
• No G2 reviews. Software rating platforms like G2 make it easy for teams to evaluate and compare multiple tech solutions. Unfortunately, GETPAID doesn’t have any public reviews posted on their profile, making it difficult to assess how current customers feel about the solution.

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‍When selecting an AR automation provider, it's crucial to assess your business's pain points and requirements. Consider the following factors:

• Integration. Look for providers that offer seamless integrations with your existing accounting systems.
• Scalability. Choose a solution that can scale with your business as it grows.
• Ease of Use. User-friendly interfaces and intuitive workflows can simplify adoption.
• Comprehensive Capabilities. Evaluate whether the solution covers your desired aspects of AR automation, from invoicing to cash posting.
• Customer Support. Responsive customer support can help resolve any issues or challenges that arise.
• Customization. Consider if the solution can be tailored to your business's unique needs and workflows.
• Technology. Assess the technology stack used by the provider to ensure reliability and security.
• Pricing. Compare pricing models and features to find the best value for your investment.

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‍There are multiple accounts receivable automation solutions that offer a pathway to streamline your AR process, reduce manual efforts, and optimize cash flow. Whether you're seeking invoice presentment, collections management, payment acceptance, or cash posting, there are comprehensive AR solutions available to meet your needs.

In reality, the answer will depend on factors like your team’s unique needs, budget and current accounting system. Make sure to consider the specific needs of your business, including your software integrations, accepted payment methods and workflows, before finalizing your decision.

By understanding your pain points and evaluating providers based on their capabilities, integration options, and customer support, you can select an AR automation solution that fits your business requirements and empowers you to take control of your accounts receivable process.