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Why Your AR Team Is Drowning in Manual Work (And How to Fix It)r

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Shuttle Payment Links are not limited like others. We recognise that businesses need flexibility and control to improve their payment collection processes. Our payment links are not tied to any one payment provider, they can let the customer define the amount or you can be very specific about what and how much they’re for.

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Get paid via PayPal, Buy Now Pay Later, Financing or Bank to Bank. Payment links that are from your payment provider are limited to that provider and their features.

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Use one link for everything or organise your links by creating many for each use case. Other providers make you create a product or invoice just so you can create a payment link. That’s missing the point.
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Take a payment now or just authorize the card or save the payment method for later. Other payment link products don’t empower the seller, they are merely designed for a simple use case.

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:

IssueCost
Manual chasingHours per week per AR staff
Delayed payments5–12 day increase in DSO
Poor reconciliationErrors, missed revenue, write-offs
Admin-heavy growthHiring 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.