Why Automated Collections Needs to be Your Next Big Move

Collections is as old as commerce itself. In ancient Mesopotamia, merchants tracked debts and repayments on clay tablets. Over centuries, those records evolved into the formal collections practice we know today: printed invoices, mailed reminders, logged calls, and reports on metrics like Days Sales Outstanding (DSO). The problem? Those methods were designed for a different era, and they’re still largely in use today.

Nearly 60% of companies still manage accounts receivable (AR) the hard way with some collections automation but still heavy reliance on manual processes. Or worse, move to the cloud hoping for a solution… but now… it’s simply a manual process in the cloud. These are the very reasons cash flow challenges are a primary driver of AR digital innovation. In today’s world of digital-first speed, and constant pressure to do more with less, finance organizations need automated collections software.

“If your collections process is still manual, you might as well be carving it into a clay tablet.”

Dave Ruda, VP Product, Billtrust

Collections is No Longer Just about Chasing Payments.

It’s about the customer experience. Payments may be transactional, but in today’s market they’re also inherently relational. Every touchpoint, including the ones tied to getting paid, shapes how customers perceive your brand. Every interaction is an opportunity to strengthen (or strain) that relationship.

It’s about reimagining one of the most overlooked levers of growth. The way you collect defines more than just your cash flow. It shapes workforce efficiency, impacts operational agility, and influences the long-term strength of your brand and employee retention. In today’s Business-to-business (B2B) payments landscape, collections has evolved from operational task to strategic weapon.

It’s about revenue protection. Every delayed payment, unresolved invoice dispute, and manual inefficiency doesn’t just put a dent in your AR metrics. Left unchecked, these gaps can create a ripple effect: stalled opportunities, higher risk exposure, and weakened financial resilience in the face of economic shifts. In today’s world, protecting revenue means treating collections as a core driver of business relationships, stability, and growth.

Collections isn’t the back-office chore it used to be. These three forces are evolving its role, and those who adapt are reducing bad debt through automation. Let’s explore them further.

Collections as a Customer Experience Battleground

Millennials and Gen Z are now managing budgets, making buying decisions, and running finance departments. But a lot of companies are still trying to collect on unpaid invoices using tactics that don’t resonate with these groups.

1. You’ve got Mail is a Vintage Movie

Caution! This statement might sting a little… The classic 1998 Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan flick establishes love based largely on emails. But that’s not how most finance leaders want to manage their payments and apply cash today. In a world of electronic invoice delivery, online payment portals, and auto-pay, paper invoices feel like junk mail. Then there are evolving tax compliance requirements. Most leading countries now mandate that invoices be sent and reported digitally, with the EU leading the way in creating global standard for eInvoicing.

Learn more about the global forces accelerating eInvoicing compliance mandates and how leading enterprises are getting ahead with Billtrust’s guide.

2. “Can you Hear Me Now?” Nope.

Calls from collectors? Ignored. Voicemail? Forget about it. The people you’re trying to reach now expect digital-first communication. That means text, email, or in-app messages with clear next steps, self-service options, and real-time visibility into payment status and dispute management steps. The days of pressure and ambiguity are over. Transparency and digital “pokes” are the new influencer of payment behavior.

3. It’s Not Enough for Collections to be Digital. It Needs to be Seamless.

Today’s B2B buyers expect the same ease they experience as consumers: embedded payment links, digital wallets, ACH, one-click transactions, and flexible terms. If paying an invoice feels harder than buying from Amazon, the relationship becomes affected – and the case for a better solution becomes stronger.

Collections as a Strategic Imperative

About 75% of finance leaders now place AR at the heart of business strategy, recognizing its power to accelerate growth and innovation. When collections is treated as a strategic imperative, it stops being a back-office function and starts acting as a growth engine.

With the right visibility, you’re spotting patterns, pinpointing inefficiencies, and uncovering opportunities that ripple across the organization. The ability to see what’s working (and what’s not) in real-time transforms collections from a reactive process into a proactive performance driver for AR.

• Fuel growth with better cash flow. Improving your average collections period or collections effectiveness index can unlock millions in working capital. That means you can reinvest into expansion, hiring, R&D, or acquisitions without relying on costly credit or slowing down other initiatives.
• Spot risk before it becomes loss. Real-time payment intelligence reveals subtle changes in customer behavior – the kind humans tend to miss – allowing you to act before late payments turn into short pay, write-offs, bad debt, and strained relationships.
• Boost productivity where it matters most. AI automation including, Agentic AI, removes repetitive, low-value work, freeing collectors to focus on high-impact accounts, resolve disputes faster, and build stronger customer relationships that pay off well into the future.
• Turn insight into action. Collections analytics can guide intelligent decisions on pricing, payment terms, and contract structure, helping reduce friction across the order-to-cash cycle, protect margins, and enhance the customer experience.

The most successful finance teams aren’t just streamlining collections. Today, they’re leveraging it as a force multiplier.

Collections as a Frontline Defense

Today’s economic landscape demands a new level of agility. Supply chain volatility, climbing interest rates, and tighter budgets mean financial predictability is harder to maintain. The cost of slow, inefficient collections is steeper than ever.

When companies can’t collect efficiently, they turn to expensive short-term credit, delay strategic investments, or miss out on opportunities to grow. In the most extreme cases, they take desperate measures – like the biotech firm that filed bankruptcy this year because it needed a legal mechanism to force collections on unpaid invoices.

With built-in intelligence, the best accounts receivable automation, and real-time control, collections transforms into a first line of financial defense.

• Reduce bad debt, like Peak Industrial. Bad debt decreased from $500,000 to under $100,000, driven by automated follow-ups and earlier customer engagement. Read their story.
• Detect and address early signs of customer distress. Real-time insight into payment patterns and behaviors flags potential risks sooner, allowing teams to act before accounts become uncollectible.
• Resolve disputes faster. Automatically pause dunning letters on disputed invoices, route them to the right team with all supporting documentation, and track progress through resolution – reducing delays, preserving relationships, and lowering the risk of write-offs.
• Grow with the right customers, like 84 Lumber. The company scaled annual credit applications – creating more chances to onboard strong, reliable customers – without adding headcount.

Companies that modernize collections shield against revenue loss, build resilience, and stay ready for whatever comes next.

How Billtrust Drives Peak Collections Automation with Software

Everywhere you look, AI is changing the way business gets done. Almost every company is either using it, experimenting with it, or thinking about how to make it part of their operations. Now, AR teams can put it to work for faster, more informed collections operations.

At Billtrust, we’ve built our groundbreaking new Collections capabilities to harness AI in ways that make a real difference: prioritizing outreach based on financial risk, personalizing workflows, and surfacing insights that help your team act before issues snowball.

Here’s a quick rundown of Billtrust Collections’ new features and functionality.

1. Agentic Email: AI-Powered Inbox Automation

Billtrust’s Agentic Email revolutionizes collections workflows. AI agents:

• Recognize key tasks like payment promises, disputes, and inquiries
• Summarize the situation and context
• Surfacing all relevant information (including dates, dollar amounts, and attachments)
• Draft thorough, intelligent responses, making collectors 10x more efficient

This makes inbox overload easy manage, eliminating manual triage and letting collectors focus on strategy versus busywork.

These enhanced capabilities help organizations leap toward collections transformation. Together, they help AR teams reduce manual effort, resolve disputes faster, lower risk, elevate brand perception, and unlock new revenue opportunities.

The Future of Collections Isn’t Written in Stone

Collections has long been a reflection of the times, but today, the tools that once helped finance teams stay on top of cash flow are now holding them back.

Billtrust’s latest innovations are designed with today in mind: intelligence, AI automation, and real-time insight that transforms collections into a true competitive advantage. The best part? Come as you are. You don’t have to rebuild your entire AR process to see results. Go live with Collections in as little as 45 days and then scale your accounts receivable automation into cash application, payments, and invoicing from there. Experience the power of Billtrust’s new collections automation software with a personalized product demo.