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Your business is growing. Revenue’s up, invoices are flying out the door, and your customers are solid. So why does it feel like your Accounts Receivable (AR) team is stuck in the mud?
Because they are.
If you’re still relying on spreadsheets, manual email reminders, and a patchwork of payment methods, your AR team is spending too much time on admin — and not enough time on strategy.
In this article, we’ll break down what’s holding your AR process back, and how mid-sized businesses are using smart payment links to unlock faster payments, cleaner workflows, and scalable growth.
💥 The Reality for Most Mid-Sized AR Teams
If you have 50 to 500 employees, you’ve likely outgrown the startup chaos — but haven’t yet reached enterprise-level automation. That’s where the problems creep in:
Invoices go out… and then sit unpaid
Customers forget, delay, or don’t understand how to pay
Your team chases manually via email or phone
Payments arrive by bank transfer, card, ACH… with no context
Finance spends days trying to match payments to invoices
This isn’t just time-consuming — it’s expensive. You’re burning people-hours, delaying cash flow, and risking errors.
🧱 Why This Happens
Let’s break it down:
1. Fragmented systems
Your invoicing, CRM, payment gateway, and accounting tools often don’t talk to each other. That means the burden falls on your AR team to fill the gaps.
2. Rigid payment methods
If you only offer bank transfer, your customers have to switch apps, look up reference numbers, and guess what they’re paying for. That friction kills speed.
3. No automation or tracking
You don’t know if someone saw the invoice, clicked a link, or started a payment — until the money (hopefully) lands.
🚧 The Cost of Manual AR
Here’s what it costs mid-sized companies in real terms:
| Issue | Cost |
|---|---|
| Manual chasing | Hours per week per AR staff |
| Delayed payments | 5–12 day increase in DSO |
| Poor reconciliation | Errors, missed revenue, write-offs |
| Admin-heavy growth | Hiring more AR staff just to cope |
This isn’t just a finance issue. It affects cash flow, ops, forecasting, and customer experience.
✅ The Fix: Smart Payment Links
Smart payment links let you streamline collections without replacing your entire finance stack.
Instead of relying on static invoices and bank transfers, you send a branded, trackable payment link that’s:
Pre-filled with invoice data
Delivered via email, SMS, or WhatsApp
Offers cards, Open Banking (UK), ACH (US), or Pay by Bank
Tracked in real-time
Auto-reconciled with your invoice system
No logins. No portals. No chasing.
🔗 Real Example: What This Looks Like
Let’s say you send 200 invoices a month.
With Shuttle, those invoices are turned into smart payment links — sent via your CRM, accounting tool, or messaging system. Your customer clicks the link, pays via card or bank, and you get notified immediately. The payment is automatically matched to the invoice.
Your AR team? Free to focus on strategy, exceptions, and scale.
⚙️ Works With the Tools You Already Use
Smart payment links integrate with:
Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite, Sage
Zapier, Make.com, Salesforce, HubSpot
Twilio, WhatsApp, Email platforms
No dev work required. No new portals for your team or your clients.
🚀 Scale Without the Headcount
The real win? You can scale collections without scaling the team.
Mid-sized companies using Shuttle typically:
Reduce manual chasing by 30–50%
Collect payments 5–12 days faster
Improve reconciliation speed by up to 80%
All while keeping your existing systems in place.
💬 Final Word
Manual AR isn’t just inefficient — it’s a growth blocker.
Smart payment links are the simplest way to transform your receivables process without a painful systems overhaul.
If your finance team is stretched and your DSO is rising, maybe it’s time to make your AR team smarter — not bigger.
