# The AR & Collections Latency Playbook > Turn 10 days of waiting into same-day action. An invoice becomes overdue. But before the first meaningful collections touch happens, it may sit in a queue while Finance pulls together account details, payment history, invoice information, and the right next step. For straightforward accounts, much of that delay is avoidable. For higher-risk accounts, the collector still needs the right information before deciding how to proceed. Ballet turns that process into a workflow that brings the relevant information together, evaluates the account against the rules your team defines, and moves it into the right collections path. Teams: Finance, AR ## The real delay happens before the first collections action. An invoice becomes overdue, but that doesn’t necessarily mean someone acts on it right away. Finance may need to confirm the balance, review previous payments, check the customer’s account and invoice history, determine whether there’s an active dispute, understand the relationship, and decide who should handle the next step. When that work happens manually, invoices can spend days sitting in receivables before the first meaningful touch. And the same process gets repeated across every overdue account. The opportunity isn’t simply to collect better. It’s to remove the dead time between an overdue invoice and the right next action. ## The play: Define your collections logic. Ballet builds the workflow. Your Finance team already has a process for deciding which accounts are straightforward and which ones need more attention. Describe that process to Ballet in plain English. What you hand Ballet: > When an invoice becomes overdue, pull the invoice, payment history, account information, previous collections activity, and any open disputes. Evaluate the account against our collections rules. If it’s a straightforward, low-risk account, prepare and send the appropriate first-touch reminder. If it requires judgment or meets our high-risk criteria, route it to the assigned collector with the information they need to decide the next action. Ballet builds the integrations and workflow needed to gather that information, apply your collections logic, execute the defined actions, and surface accounts that require human judgment. Once built, the workflow runs as deterministic, reviewable code, giving your team visibility into what happened and why. You define how accounts should be handled. Ballet builds the workflow that moves them forward. ## Here’s how the workflow runs ### 1. An overdue invoice starts the workflow Instead of waiting for someone to work through an AR queue, an invoice reaching the overdue criteria your team defines can trigger the workflow. That might be an invoice reaching its due date, becoming a certain number of days past due, or meeting another condition your Finance team uses. ### 2. Ballet brings together the information needed to act Collections decisions often depend on information spread across multiple systems. Ballet brings that information into the workflow before determining what should happen next. | Data source | Tools | Information to pull | | --- | --- | --- | | Billing & invoices | Stripe, Zuora | Invoice number, amount due, due date, payment status, days past due | | ERP / accounting | NetSuite, QuickBooks | Outstanding balance, payment history, credit memos, account balance | | Customer / account data | Salesforce, HubSpot | Account owner, customer status, account history, relationship information | | Collections activity | ERP, CRM, collections tools | Previous outreach, payment commitments, prior escalations | | Disputes / support | Zendesk, Intercom | Open billing issues, disputes, unresolved customer requests | Your team determines which systems and information should be considered before a collections action is taken. ### 3. Ballet applies your collections logic Once the information is available, Ballet evaluates the account against the rules your Finance team has defined. Those rules might consider: - Amount outstanding - Days past due - Payment history - Previous collections activity - Open disputes - Customer or account status - Existing payment commitments - Other risk criteria defined by your team The goal isn’t for Ballet to invent a risk model. Your team defines what makes an account straightforward, higher-risk, or in need of review. Ballet executes that logic. ### 4. The account moves into the right path Once the account has been evaluated, the workflow takes the next action your team has defined. Straightforward / low-risk Ballet can execute the approved first-touch action, such as sending the appropriate payment reminder and recording the activity in the relevant system. Higher-risk / needs judgment Rather than automatically contacting the customer, Ballet routes the account to the appropriate collector with the information gathered during the workflow. That might include the outstanding balance, invoice history, previous outreach, open disputes, payment behavior, account details, and the reason the account was flagged. The collector starts with the information needed to make a decision instead of assembling it manually. ### 5. The workflow records what happens next Whether Ballet executes the first touch or routes the account to a collector, the workflow can record the action taken and continue the collections process your team has defined. That gives Finance visibility into which accounts moved automatically, which required human attention, and where each account is in the process. ## Less waiting. Faster action on receivables. When the information needed for collections is gathered and evaluated as part of the workflow, Finance doesn’t have to spend days working through the same manual steps before deciding what to do. Straightforward accounts can receive the defined first touch sooner. Higher-risk accounts reach experienced collectors with the information needed to make a decision. And instead of treating every overdue invoice the same way, your team can reserve human attention for the accounts where judgment actually matters. The result is less latency between an invoice becoming overdue and the right collections action taking place. ## Take this play and make it yours Every Finance team has different collections rules. Start with the process your team already follows: - What triggers your collections process? - Where do invoice and payment details live? - What information does your team review before contacting a customer? - What makes an account straightforward or low-risk? - What makes an account higher-risk? - Which first-touch actions can happen automatically? - Which accounts should always go to a collector? - What information does the collector need before taking action? - What should happen after the first touch? You don’t need to map the integrations or build the decision logic yourself. Start with how your team decides what should happen when an invoice becomes overdue. ## FAQs ### What is accounts receivable collections automation? Accounts receivable collections automation reduces the manual work involved in managing overdue invoices. With Ballet, Finance teams can build workflows that gather the information needed to act, apply their collections rules, execute defined outreach, and route accounts that require human attention. This can reduce the time Finance spends moving between systems and manually determining what should happen next for each overdue account. ### How can you reduce delays in the collections process? Ballet can automate the work that happens between an invoice becoming overdue and the appropriate collections action. It can bring together information from billing, accounting, CRM, support, and collections systems, apply the rules your Finance team defines, and either execute the appropriate action or route the account to a collector. ### Can collections outreach be automated? Yes. With Ballet, collections outreach can be automated when an account meets the criteria your Finance team has defined. For example, a straightforward, low-risk account may receive an approved first-touch payment reminder, while a higher-risk account can be routed to an experienced collector instead. ### How do you decide which overdue accounts should be automated? Ballet follows the collections logic your team defines. It doesn’t create its own collections or credit policy. Your rules might consider days past due, amount outstanding, payment history, previous outreach, open disputes, payment commitments, customer status, or other factors relevant to your collections process. Accounts that meet your criteria for automated action can move forward, while those requiring judgment can be routed for human review. ### What happens when an overdue account requires human review? Ballet can route the account to the appropriate collector along with the information gathered during the workflow and the reason it was flagged. That might include invoice details, outstanding balance, payment history, previous outreach, open disputes, and customer information, so the collector can make a decision without first searching across multiple systems. ### Can Ballet automate collections workflows across multiple systems? Yes. Ballet can build the integrations needed to execute a collections workflow across billing, accounting, CRM, support, and other business systems. Ballet can generate custom API integrations on demand and execute the workflow as deterministic, reviewable code. ### Does Ballet replace the collections team? No. Ballet handles the parts of the workflow your team defines for automation and brings in a collector when human judgment is required. Straightforward actions can move forward automatically, while higher-risk or ambiguous accounts can be routed to experienced collectors with the information they need to determine the next action. ### Do you need to build integrations to automate collections workflows? No. You describe the collections workflow you want, and Ballet builds the integrations and workflow needed to execute it. You define the systems involved, information needed, collections rules, actions that can happen automatically, and situations that require human review. Ballet handles the technical workflow needed to put that process into action.