Invoice Payment Solutions

Every day you reduce collection time is worth 365 days of improved cash flow. Let me show you the maths. Current state: $100,000 monthly revenue, 60-day collection time. Outstanding invoices: $200,000 (two months sitting there). Reduce collection by 20%: 60 days becomes 48 days. Cash released immediately: $40,000. You didn't make more sales. You didn't cut costs. You collected $40,000 faster by implementing systematic processes. The acceleration strategies that work: Invoice the same day work completes. Not Friday. Not the month-end. Same day. Add payment links to every invoice. One-click payment increases collection speed by 23%. Call before invoicing on projects over $10,000. Confirm satisfaction, address issues, create commitment. Set up automated reminder sequences at days 7, 14, 21, and 30. Friendly but systematic. Offer 2% discount for payment within 7 days on large invoices. Costs you $200 on a $10,000 invoice. Saves you $197 in opportunity cost. A business reduced collection from 67 days to 23 days in 90 days using this system. Released $86,000 in cash without changing anything else. Most businesses focus on growing revenue. Smart businesses focus on collecting faster.

How a Small Business Leveraged Invoice Factoring to Scale Up for Costco Many small business owners dream of securing a contract with a retail giant like Costco. However, for one determined entrepreneur, the real challenge began after landing the deal. The Wall Street Journal recently shared the story of a snack company founder, Florence Dennis, who spent three years convincing Costco to stock her African-inspired snacks. Then came the hard part. Less than two weeks before the agreed-upon delivery date, Dennis still hadn’t secured the financing needed to begin production of her peanut-and-corn mix. With the clock ticking, she crafted an email. Once the deal was signed, she faced an even bigger hurdle: funding the rapid increase in production while managing the lengthy payment terms typical of large retailers. Costco’s payment cycle, like many major retailers, can stretch up to 60 days or more. For small businesses, waiting that long for payment while covering upfront production costs, shipping, and payroll can create a serious cash flow crunch. Traditional loans weren’t a viable solution due to lengthy approval processes and high collateral requirements. This is where invoice factoring came to the rescue. The Solution: Turning Waiting Into Working Capital By partnering with an invoice factoring provider, the business could sell its unpaid Costco invoices for immediate cash. This allowed the company to: Ramp up production to meet Costco’s demands without delays. Secure bulk discounts on raw materials by paying suppliers early. Eliminate stress associated with long payment terms. As Forbes explains, invoice factoring offers a "unique blend of flexibility and speed, making it ideal for businesses facing seasonal fluctuations or long payment terms." The Result: A Win-Win Partnership With steady cash flow in place, the business not only fulfilled its Costco orders but also grew its distribution network to include other large retailers. Invoice factoring provided the financial agility needed to thrive in a competitive market without incurring debt or compromising equity. Why This Matters Cash flow remains the #1 reason small businesses fail. According to the Small Business Administration, “82% of failures are due to cash flow mismanagement.” Invoice factoring can be a game-changer for businesses working with large retailers or clients with long payment terms. It’s not a loan or an MCA; it’s a practical solution to optimize cash flow and seize growth opportunities. If your clients or business partners are navigating similar challenges, let’s connect to explore how invoice factoring could help them grow. #cashflow #SBA #factoring

I talk to a lot of B2B finance teams about autopay. And the reaction is always the same. "Our customers won't trust it." "Nobody will actually set it up." Data proves otherwise, but I get it. Every customer wants to remain in control. B2B invoices aren't always predictable. Amounts change. Disputes happen. This isn't the same as your Netflix subscription—you can't just charge and hope for the best. But what if autopay let customers stay in control? The problem isn't autopay itself—it's the legacy consumer products built around it. Here's how we built it differently. The customer saves their payment method once. They receive their invoice with a clear due date. Through the portal, they can quickly verify everything is correct. If something's off, they flag it and pause the payment immediately. Two days before the due date, they get notified again. If everything looks good, payment happens automatically. Clear context and notification windows are everything. This turns autopay from a liability into something customers actually trust. Now, instead of 100% of manual payments being late, 90% are processed on time, and your team only handles the remainder that needs attention. Strong cash flow, strong customer relationships. Setting up autopay with Upflow is easy. 1) Your sales rep brings it up at the right moment with an ad hoc notification (e.g., at contract signature). 2) Use our smart rule engine to trigger the payment method request based on an event (e.g., customer created). 3) Or run a campaign to reach your entire customer base at once. Still not convinced? Just give it a try and see the results. Worth asking yourself: how many hours a week is your team spending on payments that were always going to happen? 😅 This is Video 3 in the Upflow Product Series. We started with the payment portal, then payment methods, and now autopay. Let us know what you think!

You see high revenue on your P&L and think you’re doing great, but… That’s only until you look at your cash flow. The most valuable exercise every month is to compare your revenue with the cash flow you actually received (or not) from customers. Hack: You can even create a graph to track the dynamics of this difference. Unpaid invoices are a huge pain point and a top reason for cash flow gaps. ✅ Here’s how we fixed it: We built a custom, real-time Aging Report that integrates directly with QuickBooks, Xero, Bill.com, and other systems. In real time, you get an updated view of who owes you money, exactly how overdue the invoices are, and what cash is flowing in. Once an invoice is paid, it’s automatically removed from the list. Clients can immediately see the invoices that are: ▪️1–30 days overdue ▪️31–60 days overdue ▪️60+ days overdue (possibly bad debt) This allows them to take different actions for different groups: ▪️Send emails ▪️Verify credit card details ▪️Stop providing services for unpaid invoices ▪️Or at least create much more realistic cash flow budgets We also believe that receivables should be tracked weekly—not just at the end of the month. By simply tracking these payments and taking weekly actions, some of our customers have increased their cash inflows by 40%. It’s hard to believe such a simple, powerful report can have such an impact. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash gaps have been fixed. May the Cash Flow be With You 💚

As CEO of a high-growth startup, Pranav Piyush found himself spending hours chasing unpaid invoices. Here’s how Invoice Butler gave him that time back 👇 I spoke with Pranav(ex-Dropbox, ex-PayPal, now CEO of Paramark.com) about something every early-stage founder can relate to: endlessly chasing invoices. Before using Invoice Butler, his entire “system” was a Notion table and a remote admin updating a spreadsheet once a month. If a payment slipped, the only “system” was memory and guilt. And as revenue grew, so did the chaos. Suddenly they were dealing with: • 20+ invoices a month • Non-standard terms • Missed follow-ups • Invoices going out late And nothing they tried solved it. From Stripe to QuickBooks to Maple, nothing worked once real-world chaos kicked in with constantly changing entity names, new billing contacts, AP inboxes that kept bouncing back. At one point he said something that stuck with me: “We were jerry-rigging a process between me and my remote admin. It wasn’t sustainable.” That’s the thing, every startup looks clean from the outside, but behind the scenes, founders are duct-taping ops together. You can’t grow when half your week goes into chasing payments you’ve already earned. That’s where Invoice Butler changed things. And Paramark saw results in the first 90 days: • $799,928 collected (up from $356,500) • 124% faster cash in the door • Almost zero overdue invoices • No manual follow-ups Here’s the part most founders don’t realize: it’s not just automation, it’s real cash showing up without the chase. That’s what Invoice Butler delivers. PS: If overdue invoices are slowing down your growth, it’s probably time to fix how you collect. The full Paramark case study in the comments.

Stop sending "Quick reminder on that invoice" emails forever. Here's how we tie in an automated system for some of our clients: - Connect Xero to Stripe natively or connect Quickbooks to Acodei - Set up recurring invoice templates - Enable auto-pay options for clients - Automate payment matching in your books Results from one agency client: - Reduced payment delays by 84% - Saved 12 hours per month on invoice admin - Improved cash flow prediction accuracy to 94% - Zero additional dollars spent hiring collection agenices Offering auto-pay doesn't just help you - it helps your clients too. I find that MOST clients happily chose auto-pay when given the option because: - No manual processing each month - Simpler expense tracking - Better budgeting on their end But here's what most miss: Don't just automate the invoices. Automate the ENTIRE system: - Payment reminders - Receipt generation - Bookkeeping entries - Revenue recognition - Tax documentation Your time is worth more than chasing payments.

Manual invoice processing costs finance teams hundreds of hours every year? Here's how to fix it. Most finance teams are losing hours every week on AP tasks a system could handle. I spent years as a CFO signing off on payment runs. Half the time, the real bottleneck was upstream - invoice capture, approvals, matching. Not strategy. Data entry. Here is what accounts payable automation actually covers: 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 ✅ Automatic invoice capture and data extraction ✅ Email, PDF, portal - all ingested automatically 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ✅ Approval workflows without chasing people on email ✅ Rules-based routing with a full audit trail 𝗘𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ✅ 2-way and 3-way purchase order matching ✅ Duplicate payment detection before it costs you 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 ✅ Real-time view of what is owed and when ❌ No more spreadsheets tracking open invoices manually ❌ No more month-end surprises from unrecorded liabilities 💡 The business case is straightforward. Fewer errors. Faster close. Better cash flow timing. And your team stops doing work that adds zero analytical value. Want to see how AP automation works inside a real finance function? Check out how BILL can transform your process. P.S. Where are you losing the most time and money when it comes to managing AP?

Just how are payment solutions offering working capital to B2B buyers and suppliers? As a follow up to my post last week, let’s dig in on the various offerings in the market today. There has been an explosion of fintech lending because large banks and community banks often underserve SMBs due to high onboarding friction and risk adverse underwriting (See data in the comments). 💳 Payment Processors (e.g., Stripe, Square, PayPal) Target: Mostly sellers, especially SMBs and micro-merchants Products Offered: ☑️ Instant Payouts (within minutes) ☑️ Merchant Cash Advances (MCAs) ☑️ Working Capital Loans (via partners or balance sheet) Typical Loan Size: ☑️ $500 to $250,000 ☑️ Repayment often tied to % of daily sales Cost Structure: ☑️ Flat fees or fixed % (6%–15%++) ☑️ Instant payouts: 1.5%–1.75% per transaction Risk Profile: ☑️ Medium-high—based on sales volatility and limited financial history. ☑️ Automated underwriting minimizes cost but increases exposure. Market Growth: ☑️ High—massive growth driven by embedded finance and cash flow demand from digital SMBs. 🧾 AP Automation / Procurement Platforms (e.g., Coupa, Tipalti, Ariba/Taulia) Target: Primarily buyers, with optional supplier participation Products Offered: ☑️ Dynamic Discounting (self-funded) ☑️ Supply Chain Finance (bank/fintech-funded) ☑️ Invoice approval + embedded lending Typical Loan Size: ☑️ Buyer-funded discounting: unlimited (cash on balance sheet) ☑️ Supply Chain Financing via partner: $250K–$5M+ depending on buyer size Cost Structure: ☑️ Discount rate on early payment (1%–3% typical) ☑️ Often rev share with funding partners Risk Profile: ☑️ Low for platforms (not balance sheet lenders) ☑️ Buyer risk if self-funded; financier risk otherwise Market Growth: ☑️ Accelerating, especially as treasury teams get pressure to optimize cash yield and procurement teams seek smoother, more reliable supplier relationships 🧩 Vertical SaaS & Marketplaces (e.g., Shopify Capital, Toast Capital, Faire, Mindbody) Target: Generally sellers, though some also extend buyer credit. Products Offered: ☑️ Embedded BNPL for B2B ☑️ Invoice Factoring ☑️ Revenue-Based Financing Typical Loan Size: ☑️ $5K–$500K ☑️ Often underwritten using real-time platform activity Cost: ☑️ Flat fees, take rates, or tiered rates (~8%–20%+ depending on model and term) Risk Profile: ☑️ High volatility but offset by strong real-time data signals ☑️ Tends to outperform traditional SMB lending in default predictability Market Growth: ☑️ Explosive—driven by embedded finance in vertical SaaS. ☑️ Lower CAC due to captive customer base. Software platforms don’t have to build these capabilities themselves, nor do they need to extend funding from their own balance sheet. As with embedding payments, there are partners that SaaS can rely on to get started, such as Pipe, Kanmon, OatFi and, of course, Stripe Embedded Finance and Adyen Capital. Shout out to Michael Barbosa, Luke Voiles, and Jon Lear

Profit on paper means nothing if the cash never comes in. 81% of businesses struggle with late payments. Here’s how we are fixing it 👇 Late payments have become an epidemic. One of our clients, Daloopa, faced the same issue. Their collections workflow was solid: → AR tracked in spreadsheets → Manual follow-ups → Automated reminders Despite sending 100s of invoices, converting to cash took months. What made things worse: payment success rates drop fast over time. 31-90 days overdue: 50-85% recovered 181-360 days overdue: just 5–15% That’s the gap Invoice Butler is built to close. Not another invoicing tool. We take care of the human side of collections. > Communicate when invoices are late > Clarify forms or payment details > Escalate intelligently when needed Our messages feel personal, and customers actually respond. In turn, finance leaders gain visibility without micromanaging.  Teams get time to focus on growth. Even Laura at Daloopa saw collections accelerate by 50%. In her words: “There are weeks where I literally don’t have to think about AR. During quarter-end, it saves me 2–3 hours a week.” The bottom line is that cash flow is the lifeblood of every business. And getting paid shouldn’t feel like pulling teeth. This is what we are solving. PS: If you’re tired of chasing payments, Invoice Butler is here to do the chasing for you.

It's embarrassing how much cash startups leak because they didn't set up their Stripe right. Here's how to fix it: 1. Smart invoicing timing: Set up automated billing 3 days before your contract date. Contract says payment due 15th? Invoice on 12th. Never chase dates again. 2. Service date clarity: Every invoice shows exactly what period you’re billing for. “April 15 - May 15 Professional Services” Customer always knows what they’re paying for. 3. Payment contact strategy: Find the AP team email during onboarding. Your champion leaves companies. Accounts Payable doesn’t. Bill the people who actually cut checks. 4. Fee optimization: Set minimum thresholds for payment methods. ACH for invoices over $X. Credit cards for smaller amounts. Save 3% on every large payment. 5. Naming consistency: Match your Stripe customer name to the contract signatory exactly. “Bob’s Plumbing LLC” on contract = “Bob’s Plumbing LLC” in Stripe. No confusion six months later. 6. Handoff documentation: Create a billing calendar with customer details, amounts, and dates. Anyone can step in and invoice correctly. No duplicate billing disasters. Good Stripe setup works while you sleep. Your customers get predictable bills, and your cash flow becomes predictable too. PS: LedgerUp lives in your Slack, automates those follow-ups, and makes sure overdue cash doesn’t slip away.