AUTOMATION

AI Collections Agent: Replace Chaser, YayPay, and Invoiced with a Single Agent

Build a collections AI that sends payment reminders, tracks overdue invoices, and recovers revenue—without awkward phone calls or expensive AR software.

December 22, 2025•AUTOMATION

AR automation software charges $200-500/month for what's essentially automated email reminders. And you still have to chase the tough ones yourself.

What if an AI agent handled the entire collections process—from friendly reminders to escalation—while preserving your customer relationships?

The Hidden Cost of AR Software

Here's what collections automation tools actually cost:

Tool	Price/Month	Annual Cost
Chaser	$49/mo	$588
YayPay	$500/mo	$6,000
Invoiced	$299/mo	$3,588
Tesorio	$400/mo	$4,800

Prices based on standard tiers as of December 2025. Enterprise tiers cost 2-3x more.

You're paying $300-500/month for scheduled emails. An AI agent does more—for less.

What AR Software Really Is (Demystified)

Strip away the branding and what are you left with?

AR Feature	What It Really Is
Payment Reminders	Scheduled emails with merge fields
Aging Reports	Spreadsheet with date calculations
Customer Portal	Login page showing invoice PDFs
Escalation Workflows	If-then rules changing email templates

What an AI Collections Agent Actually Does

An AI collections agent isn't just a reminder scheduler. It's a persistent agent that actively manages your entire AR process:

Tracks all receivables in real-time

Invoice status, aging buckets, payment history—complete visibility without switching between apps or updating spreadsheets.

Sends context-aware reminders

Not just 'your invoice is overdue.' The agent understands customer history and adjusts tone, timing, and message based on the relationship.

Escalates intelligently

Friendly reminder → firm follow-up → escalation to you. The agent knows when to get tough and when to involve a human.

Preserves customer relationships

Professional, personalized communication that gets you paid without burning bridges. Your best customers get treated like it.

Reports on AR health

DSO trends, aging analysis, at-risk accounts—insights that help you improve cash flow and spot problems early.

The Killer Feature: The Agent's Own AR Database

Here's what makes this fundamentally different from any AR automation tool you've used before.

/workspace
  ├── finance/
  │   ├── receivables/
  │   │   ├── open-invoices.csv
  │   │   ├── aging-report.csv
  │   │   └── payment-history.csv
  │   ├── customers/
  │   │   ├── acme-corp/
  │   │   │   ├── contact.md
  │   │   │   ├── invoices.csv
  │   │   │   └── communications.md
  │   │   └── ...
  │   └── reports/
  │       ├── weekly-ar-summary.md
  │       └── dso-trends.csv

No subscription fees per feature

The agent maintains its own receivables database. No Chaser, no YayPay, no monthly AR software bills.

Full ownership of your data

Your AR data lives in your workspace. Export it, analyze it, integrate it—no vendor lock-in.

Agent adapts to each customer

Different customers need different approaches. The agent learns who responds to gentle reminders vs. who needs firm follow-up.

Connects to your existing tools

QuickBooks, Xero, your invoicing system—the agent reads from what you already use. No duplicate data entry.

This isn't software that helps you do collections. It's a collections team that does collections.

Meet Your Collections Agent

Here's what a typical collections agent configuration looks like:

Collections Agent

collections@yourcompany.lazarusconnect.com

Capabilities

Track invoicesSend remindersEscalate overdueGenerate reports

Scheduled Work

Daily: Check for new overdue invoices. Weekly: Send AR summary report. Monthly: Generate DSO analysis.

A Day in the Life: AI Collections Agent in Action

Here's what it looks like when an AI agent manages your collections. These are real conversations you'd have with your agent:

Morning AR Check via Slack

via Slack - #finance

@collections what's the AR situation today?

Good morning! Here's your AR snapshot:

Customer	Amount	Days Overdue	Status
Acme Corp	$4,500	45	Escalation needed
TechStart Inc	$3,000	14	Reminder sent yesterday
Global Services	$1,250	7	First reminder due

Total outstanding: $59,500 across 22 invoices. 3 need attention today. Want me to send the scheduled reminders?

Automated Reminder Sent

via Slack - #finance

Just sent a friendly reminder to Global Services for Invoice #1847. Here's what I sent:

Re: Invoice #1847 - Quick reminder

Hi Sarah, hope you're well! Just a quick note that Invoice #1847 for $1,250 was due last week. I've attached a copy for easy reference. Let me know if you have any questions or if there's anything holding up payment. Happy to help!

This is their first late payment in 2 years, so I kept the tone friendly. They usually pay within 3 days of a reminder.

Perfect, thanks. Keep me posted.

Will do. I'll follow up if no payment in 5 days.

Escalation Alert via Email

via Email

ESCALATION: Acme Corp requires your attention

Invoice	Amount	Days Overdue	Reminder Attempts
#1823	$10,000	47	4

I've sent 4 reminders with no response. Their contact Sarah hasn't opened the last 2 emails. Recommend: personal phone call or putting account on hold.

Put their account on hold and draft a final notice email for my review.

Done. Account flagged as on hold. Draft saved to /finance/escalations/acme-corp-final-notice.md. Let me know when to send.

Weekly AR Report

Give me the weekly AR report

AR Report - Week of December 16, 2025

Aging Bucket	Invoices	Amount
Current (0-30 days)	12	$30,000
31-60 days	5	$12,000
61-90 days	3	$7,500
90+ days	2	$10,000

DSO: 34 days (down from 38 last month)

Collected this week: $24,500 across 8 invoices

On-time payment rate: 78% (up 5% since implementing agent reminders)

Full report saved to /finance/reports/ar-weekly-12-16.md

Step-by-Step: Build Your AI Collections Agent

Here's how to build your own AI collections agent in about 15 minutes:

Step 1: Create the agent and write instructions

Open Lazarus and create a new agent. Name it 'Collections Agent' or 'AR Manager.' Then describe what you want in plain language:

"You are my collections agent. Track all invoices in /finance/receivables/. Send friendly reminders at 7 days overdue. Send firm reminders at 14 and 30 days. Escalate to me after 45 days or if amount exceeds $10,000. Generate weekly AR reports every Monday."

Step 2: Import your receivables

Export your open invoices from QuickBooks, Xero, or your invoicing system. The agent builds your AR database from whatever format you have.

Step 3: Define your escalation rules

When should the agent escalate to you? Set thresholds for amount, days overdue, or specific customer flags.

Step 4: Set your tone and templates

Friendly or firm? Casual or professional? The agent adapts to your brand voice. Upload examples of emails you've sent before.

Step 5: Start collecting

The agent starts monitoring your receivables immediately. Watch your DSO drop as consistent follow-up becomes automatic.

That's it. You've built a collections team that works 24/7, never forgets a follow-up, and costs almost nothing.

Advanced: Build a Multi-Agent AR Team

Once you're comfortable with a single collections agent, you can build a team of specialized agents that work together:

Agent	Role	Files It Manages
Collections Lead	Strategy & escalations	/finance/escalations/*
Reminder Agent	Automated follow-ups	/finance/reminders/*
AR Reporter	Analytics & reporting	/finance/reports/*

All agents share the same AR database. When one updates an invoice status, the others see it immediately. Your finance team stays perfectly coordinated.

Stop chasing payments manually. Start getting paid on time.

Get started free

Use Case