Categories / Invoicing/
End-to-end debtor workflow
Bookkeeping firm · outstanding invoices from $60k to $24k in 30 days
- Task
- automate the debtor workflow so only phone calls remain manual
- Result
- outstanding invoices from $60,000 to $24,000 in 30 days; payment delays from 45+ days to under 25; ~90% of collection process automated; owner notes people stop paying "almost immediately" when the workflow is off
- Tools
- Paidnice (automated debtor workflows, customer whitelists); Xero
- Setup
- connect Xero → switch on automated debtor workflow end to end → whitelist clients on special payment terms → keep humans only for escalation phone calls
Send this to your AI
A ready-to-send prompt built from this card. Your AI will ask a few questions about your business, then give you a beginner setup plan.
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Help me set this up for my business: "End-to-end debtor workflow".
Example business: award-winning bookkeeping firm (New Zealand) running AR on its own debtor book. Task: automate the debtor workflow so only phone calls remain manual.
Reported result: outstanding invoices from $60,000 to $24,000 in 30 days; payment delays from 45+ days to under 25; ~90% of collection process automated; owner notes people stop paying…
Tools: Paidnice (automated debtor workflows, customer whitelists); Xero
Setup outline:
1. connect Xero → switch on automated debtor workflow end to end → whitelist clients on special payment terms →…
Starter prompt from the guide (use it as a base):
I run a small [bookkeeping/service] firm with about [NUMBER] clients on [NUMBER]-day terms. Write a 4-step reminder sequence (3 days before due, due date, 7 days overdue, 14 days overdue) in a friendly, professional voice that gets firmer each step. Keep each under 80 words, use {{name}}, {{amount}}, {{due_date}} and {{link}}, and end the last one by saying I'll call them this week.
First, ask me up to 5 questions about my business and tools. Then give me a beginner step-by-step setup plan, plus copy-paste prompts/templates I can use. Plain English, and tell me if any step needs a tech helper.
via autopilotbusiness.ai/use-case/bookkeeping-firm-own-book-paidnice-debtor-workflow-outstanding-60k24k/Step-by-step setup guide + copy-paste prompt
> Cost: Paid. Paidnice Essentials is $69/month (monthly, no contract). First 20 actions free.
Honest note: rules automation, not AI. These are Paidnice-published numbers from one firm's own debtor book, over 30 days. The owner also says that when the workflow was switched off, people stopped paying "almost immediately". So the reminders work because they keep running, not because of a one-off cleanup.
Prerequisites
- A Xero organisation with your customer invoices in it (Paidnice also works with QuickBooks Online).
- Admin access to Xero so you can approve the connection.
- Your payment terms, and any late-fee wording, already in your invoices or contracts. Late fees need a legal basis, so check with your accountant.
- Customers' email addresses (and mobile numbers if you want SMS) in Xero.
Step-by-step setup
Step 1. Connect Xero. Sign up at paidnice.com, click Xero and approve. Paidnice drafts starter policies; nothing sends until you approve them.
Step 2. Whitelist clients on special terms. Create a group called "Whitelist" with no policies. On the Contacts tab, tick those clients and click Move Contacts to Group. They'll get nothing automatic. You can also tag them (Apply Tags) and exclude the tag in a policy under More Options and Filters → Contact Tags → Exclude.
Step 3. Build the full workflow in the default group. Add, in order:
- Email reminder 3 days before the due date.
- Email on the due date.
- Email 7 and 14 days after (firmer each time).
- A monthly Statement policy for anyone with an open balance.
Send on Weekdays at a set Action time.
Step 4. Add a phone-call task for yourself. For invoices 21+ days overdue, keep a short weekly list (Paidnice's dashboard shows overdue invoices) and phone those clients yourself. That's the only manual step.
Step 5. Test, then switch on. Run it on a test contact, turn off Xero's own reminders, then set policies to Active.
Step 6. Leave it running. Don't pause the workflow at busy times; the case shows payments slow down quickly when it stops.
Easier: let your AI do it
On the Pro plan (from $99/month) Paidnice has an official MCP server. That's a secure plug that lets an AI chat such as Claude or ChatGPT read your Paidnice data.
- In Paidnice, go to Settings → Advanced → API & MCP → Connect an agent (MCP) and copy the address
https://api.paidnice.com/mcp. - In Claude, open Customize → Connectors, click +, then Add custom connector. Name it Paidnice, paste the address and click Add (Claude's free plan allows one custom connector). ChatGPT needs a paid plan with developer mode turned on.
- Sign in to Paidnice when asked, pick your organisation, and choose Read (safest) or Read and Write.
Today it can read customer replies, contacts and invoices, and update contact people. Sending reminders and building policies by chat are still in beta. Try: "Which customers replied to reminders this week, and what did they say?" You can revoke access any time under API & MCP.
What success looks like
Within a month your overdue total is noticeably lower and the average time to pay shortens. Your only collections job is a short list of phone calls each week.
Common issues & fixes
- A whitelisted client got a reminder: they're still in another group, or the tag filter isn't set on that policy.
- Clients got Xero and Paidnice reminders: turn Xero's off.
- Too many emails for one client: check they aren't in two groups.
Optional: Maintenance
- Weekly: phone the 21+ day list.
- Monthly: compare overdue totals and average days to pay.
Copy-paste prompt
I run a small [bookkeeping/service] firm with about [NUMBER] clients on [NUMBER]-day terms. Write a 4-step reminder sequence (3 days before due, due date, 7 days overdue, 14 days overdue) in a friendly, professional voice that gets firmer each step. Keep each under 80 words, use {{name}}, {{amount}}, {{due_date}} and {{link}}, and end the last one by saying I'll call them this week.Sources
Industries: AI automation for Accounting, Bookkeeping & Tax Firms
Results as reported by the source; not independently verified. Community-sourced from public sites and attributed to the source platform. Original author? Ask us to correct or remove it. Read the disclaimer.