accounts-receivable-automation

Accounts Receivable Automation

Overview

Accounts receivable (AR) automation converts manual invoice follow-up — sending reminders, tracking payment status, escalating overdue accounts — into a system-driven workflow. In B2B ecommerce, where customers pay on net-30, net-60, or net-90 terms rather than at checkout, AR management directly impacts cash flow and days sales outstanding (DSO).

A well-configured AR system reduces DSO by 5–15 days by ensuring follow-up is timely and persistent, eliminates invoices falling through the cracks, and gives the finance team real-time visibility into what is owed and how overdue each invoice is.

When to Use This Skill

• When your B2B customers pay on credit terms (net-30, net-60, net-90) rather than at checkout
• When your finance team spends more than a few hours per week chasing past-due invoices
• When you have more than 50 active B2B accounts and manual tracking is breaking down
• When you need to enforce credit limits and flag accounts that have exceeded them
• When DSO is higher than industry benchmarks and you need to identify the root cause
• When building a wholesale or distribution ecommerce platform with trade accounts
• When you need audit-ready AR records for lenders or investors

Core Instructions

Step 1: Determine your platform and choose the right AR tool

Platform	Recommended Tool	Why
Shopify	Invoiced.com or Apruve (B2B app) + QuickBooks Online	Shopify handles orders; a dedicated AR tool handles net-terms invoicing, dunning, and aging outside Shopify's standard checkout flow
Shopify Plus	Shopify B2B (built-in) + Invoiced or NetSuite	Shopify Plus has native B2B payment terms, company accounts, and order approval workflows; pair with Invoiced for advanced dunning
WooCommerce	WooCommerce B2B plugin + WooCommerce PDF Invoices	WooCommerce B2B enables net terms; WooCommerce Payments or Stripe handles payments; FreshBooks/QuickBooks sync handles AR aging
BigCommerce	BigCommerce B2B Edition + Apruve or NetSuite	BigCommerce B2B Edition supports company accounts, payment terms, and quotes natively
Custom / Headless	Stripe Invoicing API or build with Stripe + accounting system webhook	Stripe Invoicing handles invoice creation, dunning, and payment links; pair with QuickBooks or Xero for AR aging

Step 2: Configure net-terms payment options

Shopify (Standard)

1. For basic net-terms invoicing, install Invoiced from the Shopify App Store
2. In Invoiced: go to Settings → Payment Terms and configure net-30, net-60, net-90 options
3. Assign payment terms per customer in Invoiced → Customers → [Customer] → Payment Terms
4. Connect Invoiced to Shopify: go to Invoiced → Integrations → Shopify and authorize your store
5. When a B2B order is placed, Invoiced automatically creates a corresponding invoice with the correct due date

Shopify Plus (B2B native)

1. Go to Shopify Admin → Customers → Companies and create company profiles for B2B accounts
2. For each company, set Payment Terms (net 7, net 15, net 30, net 60, net 90, or custom)
3. Set a Credit Limit on the company profile to prevent orders beyond the approved amount
4. Orders placed by company buyers automatically generate invoices with the configured payment terms
5. For dunning, install Klaviyo or Invoiced to automate past-due email sequences beyond Shopify's basic reminders

WooCommerce

1. Install the WooCommerce B2B plugin and configure payment terms per customer group
2. Install WooCommerce PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for branded invoice PDFs
3. For dunning automation, install AutomateWoo and configure a workflow:
   • Trigger: Order status changed to On Hold (representing unpaid invoices)
   • Add timing rules for 1 day, 7 days, 14 days past the due date
   • Actions: Send reminder email with payment link
4. Connect to QuickBooks Online via the WooCommerce QuickBooks plugin for AR aging reports

BigCommerce

1. In BigCommerce B2B Edition: go to Company Management → Payment Methods and enable net-terms
2. Set credit limits and payment terms per company in B2B Edition → Companies → [Company]
3. Install Invoiced or NetSuite from the BigCommerce App Marketplace for advanced AR automation
4. Configure automated dunning sequences in your AR tool for 1 day, 7 days, 14 days, and 30 days past due

Custom / Headless

Use Stripe Invoicing to handle the full AR lifecycle without building from scratch:

// Create an invoice for a B2B order using Stripe Invoicing
const invoice = await stripe.invoices.create({
  customer: stripeCustomerId,
  collection_method: 'send_invoice',
  days_until_due: 30, // Net-30 terms
  metadata: { order_id: orderId, po_number: poNumber },
  description: `Invoice for Order ${orderNumber}`,
});

// Add line items
await stripe.invoiceItems.create({
  customer: stripeCustomerId,
  invoice: invoice.id,
  amount: lineTotal, // in cents
  currency: 'usd',
  description: productDescription,
});

// Finalize and send
await stripe.invoices.finalizeInvoice(invoice.id);
await stripe.invoices.sendInvoice(invoice.id);

Stripe automatically handles:

• PDF generation with your branding
• Payment link in the email so customers pay online
• Dunning retries (configure in Stripe Dashboard → Billing → Settings → Invoice reminders)
• Marking invoices as paid when payment arrives

Step 3: Configure dunning sequences

Set up automated reminder emails for overdue invoices. The standard escalation sequence:

Day 0 (due date): Invoice due reminder — "Your invoice is due today" Day 1 overdue: Friendly reminder — "Your payment is a day past due" Day 7 overdue: Second notice — "Invoice still outstanding — please arrange payment" Day 14 overdue: Final notice — "Account review required — please contact us immediately" Day 30 overdue: Credit hold — stop new orders; escalate to account manager or collections

In Invoiced: Configure this under Settings → Chasing → Chasing Schedules. Set a default schedule and assign it to all customers, with a separate more aggressive schedule for high-risk accounts.

In Stripe Invoicing: Configure under Stripe Dashboard → Billing → Settings → Invoice reminders. Enable reminders at due date, 3 days after, 7 days after, and 14 days after.

Step 4: Set up aging reports

Aging reports show outstanding invoices grouped into buckets: current, 1–30 days, 31–60 days, 61–90 days, and 90+ days.

• Invoiced: Built-in aging report under Reports → Accounts Receivable Aging
• QuickBooks Online: Reports → Accounts Receivable Aging Summary or Detail
• Xero: Reports → Aged Receivables
• Stripe: Use Stripe's invoice reporting under Dashboard → Billing → Revenue Recognition or export via the API

Review the aging report weekly. Any account in the 61–90 day bucket should get a phone call, not just an email. Any account in the 90+ day bucket should be on credit hold.

Step 5: Enforce credit limits

Before accepting new orders from a B2B customer on net terms, check that their current AR balance does not exceed their credit limit.

• Shopify Plus B2B: Credit limits are enforced natively — orders over the credit limit are blocked or sent for approval
• Invoiced: Set credit limits per customer under Customer → Credit Limit; Invoiced blocks invoice creation when the limit is exceeded
• WooCommerce B2B: Configure credit limits in the plugin's customer settings; orders over the limit go to pending/on-hold status for review

Best Practices

• Send invoices immediately — do not batch invoices for weekly or monthly sends; each day of delay is a day added to your DSO
• Include a payment link in every invoice — make it a single click for the customer to pay online; friction in the payment process is the enemy of on-time payment
• Separate dunning sequences by customer tier — your treatment of a $500K annual account should be very different from a $5K account; set up separate sequences
• Offer early payment discounts for strategic customers — "2/10 net-30" (2% discount if paid in 10 days) can dramatically reduce DSO
• Set credit holds at 45–60 days overdue, not 90+ — by 90 days, the relationship is already damaged and you have been extending unsecured credit to an uncreditworthy customer
• Reconcile AR daily against payment processor deposits to ensure partial payments are recorded promptly

Common Pitfalls

Problem	Solution
Dunning emails marked as spam	Use a dedicated sending domain for billing emails ([email protected]); authenticate with SPF, DKIM, DMARC; never send dunning from your marketing domain
Customer paid but invoice still shows overdue	Connect your payment processor to your AR tool so payments are matched automatically; Invoiced and Stripe Invoicing both do this automatically
Credit limit not enforced at checkout	Use platform-native credit limits (Shopify Plus B2B, BigCommerce B2B Edition) or your AR tool's credit limit feature; check limits before order confirmation
Month-end AR balance does not reconcile with accounting	Use a single integration between your ecommerce platform and accounting system (QuickBooks or Xero); avoid manual data entry that creates discrepancies
Customer disputes invoice amount after 60 days	Require PO number at order creation for B2B; send invoice immediately at shipment; document customer email acknowledgment

Related Skills

• @invoice-generation-automation
• @payment-terms-optimization
• @payment-reconciliation-automation
• @stripe-integration
• @tax-compliance-automation