Why are leading organizations investing in Account Receivable (AR) automation solutions now? Over the past few years, AR has evolved from a back-office billing function into a strategic lever for customer experience, risk mitigation, and working capital optimization. GenAI and agentic AI now deliver the speed, scalability, and intelligence to transform AR operations at scale. Finance leaders are using AR data to dynamically adjust credit limits, detect fraud patterns, and embed collections into broader customer experience strategies. Meanwhile, regulatory pressures and messy ERP transformations force these leaders to bridge legacy and modern systems, and often automation is the only viable path forward.

What’s more, the business case is compelling. AR automation vendors report customers cutting days sales outstanding (DSO) by more than 50% and slashing payment collection time in half. Bottom line: AR automation unlocks cash, protects margins, and turns a cost center into a competitive advantage.

But not every organization is ready to reap the benefits of AR automation yet

AR automation works best when organizations’ data and processes are prepared. Firms with fragmented systems or siloed data will struggle to adopt AR automation because their systems will be unable to talk to each other. Likewise, if organizations lack clear KPIs or executive buy-in, proving ROI can be tough. More importantly, AR staff need to embrace new workflows—organizations must be ready to invest in change management to benefit from automation.

Determine which AR automation solution fits your organization’s needs

The AR automation market is diverse. Solutions range from specialized AR tools to broader finance platforms. Forrester identifies five categories of vendors in the AR automation ecosystem. Understanding them can help you gauge which aligns with your organization’s readiness and goals:

  • AR automation suites. These vendors combine AR invoice automation with payment management, credit, and collections. Some examples of vendors in this category include Versapay, Billtrust, and Stuut. Vendors in this category may also increasingly add adjacent offerings such as treasury or order management.
  • AR and AP automation suites. Vendors in this category combine AR invoice automation with payment management, credit, and collections, while also offering AP invoice automation linked to procurement. Examples include Esker, Quadient, and FIS. Enterprises exploring integrated suites to streamline cash cycle management may be interested in this category of vendors.
  • Finance automation platforms. These vendors deliver suites that extend beyond AR and AP automation into broader financial close and accounting operations. Their offerings typically include reconciliation, journey entry automation, and intercompany accounting, alongside AR capabilities such as invoice automation, credit, and collections. Organizations seeking real-time visibility and analytics across the cash cycle will benefit from these solutions that allow end-to-end process control and compliance.
  • AR and AP automation specialists. Vendors in this category provide e-invoicing compliance capabilities for both inbound and outbound invoices, and may include a payment management product. Small to midsize businesses that want a single solution to handle both outbound AR invoices and inbound AP invoices can benefit from this category.
  • B2B payment and financing platforms. Vendors here enable digital B2B payments and embedded financing, targeting marketplaces and e-commerce. Unlike AR automation vendors, these platforms prioritize payment acceptance and liquidity over back-office automation. As B2B commerce digitizes, some are adding invoicing and reconciliation, signalling convergence between payment processing and finance automation.

In my latest report, I discuss the trends, benefits, challenges and vendor ecosystem of AR automation in greater detail.  Forrester clients may access this report to explore specific AR automation use cases and benefits. The report also identifies specific vendors in each of the five AR automations solutions categories. Interested clients may also book a guidance session with me to learn more and discuss their next steps.