Introducing Agentic Procedures: AI Sets New Standard for Automated Collections Software

If your AR team is still relying on static, one‑size‑fits‑all dunning schedules, you’re leaving cash on the table. Today’s leaders are turning to Agentic AI to operationalize accounts receivable collections best practices—applying behavioral science, AI-based segmentation, and outreach improvement strategies to collect smarter, not harder. With Billtrust’s new Collections Agentic Procedures, you can bring personalization and precision at scale to every touchpoint, tailoring sequences by risk level and letting AI agents do the heavy lifting. Explore Billtrust’s AI-automated collections software.

What are Billtrust’s new Agentic Procedures?

Collections procedures have historically been built once and rarely revised. Agentic Procedures is a new feature set inside Billtrust’s automated Collection software. It modernizes legacy procedures by learning from buyer behavior over time and using AI to recommending improvements to your outreach mix, timing, and cadence, so your processes are more effective in collecting on overdue invoices. You stay in control at every step: accept, reject, or customize AI-generated recommendations with full transparency into the recommended steps. The result: an adaptive playbook that boosts recovery rates while protecting relationships.

Under the hood, Agentic Procedures leverages Billtrust’s proprietary behavioral segmentation and network-wide behavioral data insights to:

• Prioritize recovery efforts intelligently. Segment accounts by financial risk metrics like average days delinquent, outstanding balance, and average payment volume, so collectors focus their efforts where the impact is highest.
• Tailor payment reminders by risk profile. Recommend different procedures for high-, medium-, and low‑risk segments—e.g., proactive phone calls for high‑risk accounts versus gentle email nudges for low‑risk payers.
• Continuously improve collections outreach. As behavior changes and payment patterns emerge, recommendations evolve to keep your communications channels, timing, and messaging aligned with what’s working best — all without adding complexity for your team.

Behavioral science: Why collections practices must evolve

Rigid dunning schedules are the default standard, but they often get ignored, overwhelm customers, and make it hard to understand which touchpoint actually inspired the payment behavior. Modern best practices now need to be grounded in behavioral science and clear attribution models with set windows for influencing behavior: for example, measuring last‑touch effectiveness within a 5‑day window strikes the right balance between immediacy and real‑world payment lags.

Billtrust’s research further shows practical timing guidance AR teams can apply immediately:

• Start reminder outreach ~30 days before the due date for maximum responsiveness.
• Make phone calls the day before or on the due date, when urgency peaks.
• Space touchpoints by at least 5 days to avoid fatigue and preserve good customer experience.

When organizations and automated collections software adopt these data‑backed practices, they can reduce Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) by up to 25%, improving cash flow while maintaining a positive customer experience.

Go deeper: Resources for collections best practices

• Dunning Letter Management: Optimize Your Collections Strategy
• The Guide to Calculating and Improving Your Average Collection Period
• 10X Faster: New Collections AI Automation Capabilities
• Collections Efficiency Index: Measuring Collections Performance

Automated collections software: From one‑size‑fits‑all to precision at scale

Why use behavioral segmentation for collections success? Because one size does not fit all. Chronically delinquent buyers don’t behave the same way or respond in the same manner as moderately overdue clients or even reliable payers. Billtrust’s data shows that segmenting by monthly payment volume and days delinquent per month provides a strong foundation for risk grouping and targeted communications, enabling teams to apply the right pressure at the right time.

Additionally, our analysis revealed a recurring pattern across suppliers, regardless of industry or size. Similar behavioral clusters consistently emerged, suggesting that procedural treatment would yield the same actions across comparable groups. While initial segmentation models considered 10 to 20 categories, the consistent overlap in recommended actions led to a streamlined framework of three core segments.

Agentic Procedures enables precision at scale in three ways:

1. Smarter prioritization
   With 55% of B2B sales paid late and 81% of companies reporting worsening delays, AR teams are under pressure to manage growing volumes without adding headcount. Agentic Procedures automatically classifies accounts into high, medium, and low-risk categories—so your team can focus on the accounts that matter most, even as workloads surge.
2. Tailored payment reminders
   Blanketing clients in the same message doesn’t work when payment behaviors differ. Agentic Procedures recommend the right mix of steps and timing for each risk group: tight, multi-channel sequences for high-risk accounts and light, well-timed reminders for low-risk ones. As behaviors change, recommendations evolve, keeping your strategy sharp without constant manual rework.
3. Ongoing collections optimization with full control
   Each month, the system proposes refinements such as adjusting message timing, shifting communication channels, or updating cadences, while you maintain the final say on what changes are actually implemented. This human oversite allows for a “human in the loop,” so you can be confident that AI automation is optimizing your strategy without taking total control.

Segmentation alone can improve recovery rates

Customer segmentation is one of several management practices linked to higher recovery rates, and it’s often the fastest way to improve collections performance. It’s known to reduce unpaid invoices by 25% and result in 15% higher debt recovery rates.

Agentic Procedures is powered by an embedded AI intelligence layer within the Billtrust platform that analyzes buyer behavior and delivers actionable insights across core AR workflows, including invoicing, payments, cash application, collections, and credit. Built on Billtrust’s proprietary data, our AI engine provides a secure environment for smarter, data-driven decisions, helping businesses improve cash flow and reduce risk.

This announcement comes on the heels of other AI-powered enhancements to Billtrust’s Collections solution. See how Agentic AI transforms collections email management, drafting context-aware responses that speed up collections work by 10x. Plus, you won’t want to miss our latest collections analytics tools, which includes the Collections Effectiveness Index.

Agentic Procedures + a unified AR platform

Billtrust offers a complete suite of accounts receivable solutions that streamline invoicing, payments, collections, and credit management, helping finance teams accelerate cash flow and improve visibility.

The power of Agentic Procedures compounds inside a connected ecosystem. Billtrust brings Invoicing, Payments, Cash Application, Credit, and Collections together so your data — such as customer history, disputes, promises‑to‑pay, or payment preferences — flows seamlessly across the entire order‑to‑cash cycle. That unified view eliminates silos, sharpens targeting, and accelerates decision‑making.

For finance leaders who need to prove ROI, Billtrust solutions have demonstrated compelling outcomes. An independent IDC study found an average 384% ROI for Billtrust customers, reflecting both hard-dollar savings and cash flow acceleration due to automation and process improvements.

Ready to see Agentic Procedures in action?

Experience how precision at scale can increase recovery rates, reduce manual effort, and protect customer relationships. Request a personalized consultation.