The manual version
The work got done and the invoice went out, and then the awkward part started. Someone keeps a mental list of who is late. Reminders go out when someone remembers, in whatever tone that day produces. The oldest invoices are the ones nobody wants to bring up anymore, and write-offs happen by exhaustion rather than decision.
What gets built
- A connection to the firm’s accounting system that reads invoice status directly
- A reminder sequence in the firm’s own wording, timed to its rules
- Escalation rules: when to nudge, when to firm up, when to hand a human the file
- Automatic stop conditions on payment, dispute, or reply
- A dashboard showing every open invoice, its age, and what happens next
How it works
- The system reads invoice status from the accounting software the firm already uses.
- Overdue invoices enter the reminder sequence. Payment, dispute, or a reply stops the sequence immediately.
- Invoices that cross the firm’s escalation threshold land in front of a person, with the full history attached.
What changes
Every overdue invoice is chased every time, without anyone spending an afternoon on it. The tone is consistent because the firm wrote it once, calmly. Aging receivables become a dashboard, not a guilt list.
The straight answer
A firm on Xero or QuickBooks with simple monthly billing should buy Chaser, which starts near $49 a month, and skip this page. Custom earns its price when billing is irregular, milestone based, or spread across systems, when the sequence needs the firm’s own escalation judgment built into it, or when chasing should live in the same owned system as the rest of the back office instead of becoming one more subscription.
Common questions
Will this annoy our clients?
The firm sets the wording, the timing, and the ceiling. A polite sequence the firm wrote once beats an inconsistent one written at 5pm on a Friday, and every sequence stops the moment a client pays or replies.
When does a human take over?
At thresholds the firm chooses, by amount, by age, or by client. Escalated invoices arrive with their full history, so the conversation starts informed.
What about partial payments and disputes?
Both stop the sequence and flag the invoice for review. Nothing in dispute gets chased automatically.
Does this replace our bookkeeper?
No. It removes the chasing, not the judgment. The bookkeeper stops sending reminders and starts deciding only the cases that need a person.
The engagement
Two weeks, $4,500 fixed. Week one maps how the work actually happens. Week two builds and tests against real cases. Handover includes source code, documentation, the accounts it runs on, and thirty days of fixes. No retainer, nothing locked in.