Outsourced accounts receivable services, run in your name

What outsourced accounts receivable means

Outsourced accounts receivable (AR) means handing the day-to-day work of getting invoices paid to an outside team, while the customers, the money and the decisions stay yours. In practice that's a steady stream of small, easy-to-postpone jobs:

• Sending reminders before and after due dates, with the invoice and a way to pay attached.
• Answering customer replies: "Can you resend that?", "We need a PO number on this", "It's in our next payment run".
• Keeping track of promised payment dates and following up when they pass.
• Matching incoming payments to the right invoices (cash application).
• Flagging disputes, short pays and unusual replies to someone who can decide what to do.
• Giving you a clear, regular picture of what's open, what's coming in and what needs your call.

None of this is hard on its own. The trouble is that it never stops, it competes with work that feels more urgent, and it's usually the first thing to slide when the person doing it is busy, out sick or leaves.

Outsourced AR is not a collection agency

This is the distinction that matters most, and search results tend to blur it. A collection agency is a third party that steps in after an account has gone bad, usually writing to your customer in its own name and often working on contingency. That's a last resort, and it changes the relationship.

An outsourced AR team works before things go wrong, as part of your own finance function. Customers hear from your company, from your email address, in your tone. The goal is the ordinary, consistent follow-through a good in-house AR clerk would provide. Mitt works this way: we're not a collection agency, we only work on business-to-business invoices, and we never send third-party collection letters.

Signs it might be time to outsource

• Reminders go out when someone remembers, not on a schedule.
• The owner or controller is personally chasing invoices.
• Customer replies sit in an inbox for days because nobody owns them.
• Payments land without remittance details and sit unapplied in QuickBooks.
• You're weighing a full-time AR hire but don't have a full-time role's worth of volume, or don't want the hiring, training and cover that comes with it.
• Your bookkeeper or fractional CFO keeps telling you collections need more attention than their engagement covers.

If none of that sounds familiar, you may not need outside help yet, and the overdue invoice follow-up guide may be all you need.

What to ask any outsourced AR provider

Whether or not you talk to us, these are fair questions to put to anyone who'll be contacting your customers:

1. Whose name do customers see? Yours, or the provider's? Who do customers reply to?
2. Who reviews what goes out? If software or AI writes messages, ask how a person oversees them and what happens with replies it can't handle.
3. What decisions stay with you? Write-offs, credits, settlements and payment plans should need your approval.
4. Where does the money go? Payments should go straight to your account. Be wary of anyone who wants to collect funds on your behalf without a clear reason.
5. What access do they need? Ask for the least access the work requires and a written agreement covering storage, who can see your data and when it's deleted.
6. How is it priced? Per invoice, flat fee or contingency each create different incentives. Ask what's included and what costs extra.
7. Can you try it first? A short pilot on your own receivables tells you more than any sales call.
8. What do they promise? Be careful with guaranteed results. Nobody controls when your customers pay. A provider can commit to a process; outcomes depend on your customers.

How Mitt handles outsourced AR

Mitt is a done-for-you receivables service for small and mid-sized B2B businesses, built first for QuickBooks Online. We set everything up, and then our team runs your receivables with AI doing the heavy lifting.

• Reminders in your name. Polite, specific reminders before and after the due date, from your email address, with the invoice attached and a way to pay.
• Replies handled. AI reads customer replies and drafts answers to routine requests. Our team oversees what goes out and handles the judgment calls. Disputes and anything sensitive come to you.
• A customer payment page. Customers see what's open and pay by card or bank transfer, straight into your QuickBooks. Mitt never holds your money.
• Cash application and forecasts (full AR). Payments matched to the right invoices, with unclear matches checked by a person, and a regular estimate of expected collections to plan with.
• A named person. Someone at Mitt is accountable for your account and you know exactly who to call.
• You stay in charge. Write-offs, credits and settlements are always your decision.

We're onboarding pilot clients in Dallas–Fort Worth now. The customer payment page, QuickBooks Online connection and forecasts launch with our pilot clients, and we set each one up with you as it goes live.

What it costs

AR follow-up starts from $1.25 per invoice, with a $750 monthly minimum. Full AR, which adds cash application and forecasts, is quoted per client. A 60-day pilot comes with onboarding waived, and final terms are always set out in a written agreement before any work begins. See pricing on the home page for details.