Create an AI Agent to Follow-Up Unpaid Invoices with Make

AI Agents - Your Secret Weapon Against Unpaid Invoices

• AI Tools: Make

• Level: Advanced

• Access: Paid

Unpaid invoices plague businesses, tiny pain points, draining your resources and threatening your viability. 

Enter AI, automation & AI Agents: game-changers in invoice management. 

These technologies offer customisable, scalable solutions that slash your processing costs by up to 80% and triple the chances of on-time payments, saving you potentially thousands in revenue.

By acting as cost-effective "AI employees," they free up your time to focus on other priorities, levelling the playing field, especially for small businesses and solopreneurs.

In this guide, I explore why unpaid invoices are such a pain point for businesses and show you how to build an AI Agent 'employee' using Make to follow up on these unpaid invoices automatically while you remain in control.

In this guide, we will cover:

• Who this Guide is For

• The Challenge of Unpaid Invoices

• How AI & Automation Solves Invoice Follow-up

• Building an AI Agent for Invoice Follow-up

• Improving the AI Agent

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Who this Guide is For

This is an advanced guide. If you are new to using automation & AI, I'd suggest trying one of my free beginner AI courses first such as:

• Learn how to use Claude AI

• Learn how to use ChatGPT

This guide also assumes you're familiar with using AI automation platform Make. If you're not check out this guide first.

The Challenge of Unpaid Invoices

Unpaid invoices and the process of chasing them up represent a significant pain point for businesses, particularly small businesses and solopreneurs.

This issue can have far-reaching consequences on your financial health and operational efficiency.

Cash Flow Constraints

Unpaid invoices directly reduce available working capital, making your daily operations challenging.

For small businesses and solopreneurs who often operate on tight margins, this can be particularly problematic. 

As one source notes:

Every unpaid invoice directly reduces the available working capital, making daily operations challenging. This constraint means funds that could have been reinvested into the business remain locked away.

Time and Resource Drain

Chasing unpaid invoices is a time-consuming process that diverts resources from your core business activities.

Small business owners often find themselves spending valuable time following up on late payments instead of focusing on growth and development. 

According to a recent study:

On average, small businesses in the UK have to chase overdue payments twice a week. According to the survey, UK businesses spend an average of eight times per month chasing unpaid invoices.

Financial Impact

The financial implications of unpaid invoices, you might appreciate, can be substantial. 

Recent research indicates for example:

Retailers are currently being affected the most, with businesses in this industry facing around £1,532 worth of unpaid invoices.

This loss of revenue can be critical, especially for smaller enterprises with limited financial buffers.

Increased Costs

To address the issue of unpaid invoices, businesses often need to allocate additional resources or outsource the task, leading to increased operational costs. 

This can involve:

1. Hiring dedicated staff to manage accounts receivable

2. Contracting external debt collection services

These additional expenses can further strain already tight budgets, particularly for small businesses and solopreneurs.

Stress and Productivity Loss

The constant worry about unpaid invoices can take a toll on business owners' mental health and productivity. 

As one study reveals:

Xero further looked into the consequences of unpaid invoices for British firms. The most popular responses included loss of productivity (37%), loss of cash (25%) and the fact that it creates a backlog of work (20%).

Business Viability at Risk

In extreme cases, the accumulation of unpaid invoices can threaten the very existence of a business. 

Some recent research by the FSB:

According to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), 50,000 business closures could be avoided each year if late payments had been made on time.

Unpaid invoices represent a significant challenge for your business, with small businesses and solopreneurs being particularly vulnerable. 

The impact extends beyond mere financial inconvenience, affecting your productivity, mental health, growth potential, and overall business viability.

Addressing this issue effectively is crucial for maintaining healthy cash flow and ensuring your long-term business success.

How AI & Automation Solves Invoice Follow-up

AI and automation are transforming invoice management for businesses and solopreneurs, offering sophisticated solutions that save time and money.

Customisation and Flexibility

AI Automation solutions provide unprecedented customisation, adapting to specific business needs. 

As one source notes:

AI solutions can be tailored to meet the specific needs and preferences of individual organisations... offering flexibility and customisation to optimise invoice processing according to organisational requirements

This customisation allows businesses to:

• Create personalised payment reminders reflecting the brand voice

• Implement dynamic payment terms based on client history

• Automate multi-currency invoicing

• Integrate seamlessly with existing systems

Scaling Without Overhead

AI automation enables businesses to scale their invoice follow-up operations without proportionally increasing their costs.

As an article by Mesha explains:

AI-powered systems can easily handle increased volumes of invoices as businesses grow, without the need for proportional increases in staff. 

This scalability is crucial for small businesses looking to expand.

A study highlights the impact: 

By adopting a proactive approach to prevent late payments using automation and AI, your business is three times more likely to be paid before the invoice due date

Cost-Effective "AI Employees"

AI automated 'agents' act as virtual employees for you, performing tasks such as:

• Data extraction and validation

• Complex decision-making for payment prioritisation

• Comprehensive financial analysis and reporting

• Automated & customised follow-ups and reminders

The cost-effectiveness is significant: 

AI-powered invoice management systems can reduce processing costs by up to 80% compared to manual methods

Another source adds:

Research says that automated invoice processing saves up to 90% of the costs AP side, reducing the cost of processing per invoice to just $3.50

This allows small businesses to:

• Reduce labour costs

• Eliminate human errors

• Focus on core business activities

• Operate 24/7 without overtime costs

ClearStack also highlighted this recently:

AI invoice processing significantly reduces processing time and cuts the cost of invoice handling

This efficiency gain is crucial, especially for small businesses and solopreneurs who need to allocate their limited resources wisely.

AI is transforming invoice management from a burdensome necessity into a strategic advantage for small businesses and solopreneurs, levelling the playing field with larger corporations. 

As one expert puts it:

AI can give businesses better financial tools. It will continue to automate the different elements businesses need to get a complete financial overview, including benchmarking insights, costs, financial processes, treasury, accounting, cards and controls

[Like me to help you build your own AI automation to help improve your business? Find out more and book a free 1-2-1 with me here.]

Building an AI Agent for Invoice Follow-up

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