Your AR, run for you, inside your own ERP.
Managed AR operations is a third way between hiring, outsourcing to a BPO and buying an AR platform. AI agents do the volume work in your ERP, QServices analysts handle the exceptions, and your team keeps the decisions on credit, write-offs and key customers, all under one SLA with a monthly report.
Same remit-to details, same mailbox, same ERP. Your customers notice nothing except faster answers.
Managed AR operations is an accounts receivable service in which a provider runs the day-to-day AR work, cash application, collections follow-up, dispute intake and the month-end tie-out, inside the client's own ERP, using AI agents for the volume and analysts for the exceptions, against written service levels. Unlike traditional AR outsourcing, the work isn't handed to a large offshore team; unlike an AR platform, there's no second system to buy.
APQC puts the median cost to perform AR at $0.34 per $1,000 of revenue, and $0.77 for companies under $100M, which is the number to beat.Each one fits someone. Mid-sized companies on older ERPs are usually poorly served by the first two.
| AR outsourcing (BPO) | AR platform | Managed AR operations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | The provider's people, often offshore | Your team, with software helping | Agents on the volume, our analysts on exceptions, you on decisions |
| How it's priced | Hourly, per FTE or per invoice | Yearly subscription by volume | A fixed monthly fee by volume, with service credits |
| Fit with SYSPRO, Epicor, GP, Sage | Works in your ERP through people | Often flat-file connections for these ERPs | Works in your ERP through its own APIs |
| Time to start | 6 to 12 weeks, longer for complex set-ups | 45 days for collections only, 3 to 6 months for the full set | About 6 weeks, in phases |
| Main risk | Staff turnover and lost knowledge | Software bought, process unchanged | Agent errors, which is why every posting is logged and approval rules apply |
| Assurance | SOC 1 Type 2 for the delivery centre | SOC 1 or SOC 2 for the software | A control matrix, your responsibilities stated, monthly evidence pack |
BPO and platform figures are vendor-published (Helpware, ERP Research, Billtrust) and labelled as such in our sources. Timing for managed AR is our own target.
Operational targets carry service credits. Outcome measures like DSO are reported monthly against your baseline, because they also depend on your customers and your terms.
| Measure | Our target | How it's measured |
|---|---|---|
| Cash applied | 98% within 1 business day of the bank receipt | Bank file timestamp to posting in the ERP |
| Match rate | 80% or more matched first time by month 3 | Hackett puts the median at 70% and the top third above 80% |
| Unapplied cash over 5 days | Under 2% of receipts | Weekly from the ERP |
| Disputes | Logged within 1 business day, routed within 2 | Dispute log, with cycle time reported |
| Customer questions | First answer within 4 business hours | Shared AR mailbox |
| Month-end tie-out | AR subledger matched to the GL by business day 3 | Signed reconciliation, variances explained |
| Approvals | 100% of credit memos and write-offs over your threshold approved by you | Approval log in the ERP |
Targets are agreed per client after the assessment. Typically 10% to 15% of the monthly fee is at risk across the operational measures.
We never change your bank details, lockbox or remit-to address during the switch, and your team stays in charge until each stage's exit checks pass.
DSO, CEI, aging, the top 50 customers, open disputes, remittance sources and templates.
Agents and analysts work in parallel while your team stays primary; we compare every decision daily.
We take the low-risk accounts first; your team reviews. Top 20 accounts keep a named analyst.
Close support through the first month-end, then the monthly SLA report.
Exit checks at each stage: cash applied same or next day, no rise in unapplied cash, a clean aging tie-out.
Our own plan. Vendor-published BPO transitions run 6 to 12 weeks.
Most AR problems surface at month-end. This is the routine we run every month, inside your ERP.
Every receipt up to the cut-off is in the ERP.
Cut-offAll cash applied, unapplied cleared and credits posted.
Unapplied clearedAging at period end against the GL control account, with every exception owned and dated.
Exceptions listedFixed at the source, re-run and signed off, with the bad-debt reserve reviewed.
SignedWhoever you pick, get these answered in writing before you sign.
The two-week AR Cash Assessment sets the baseline every SLA target is measured against.
Two weeks, fixed price: unapplied cash, match rate, aging and where the hours go. See the AR Cash Assessment.
You set the targets and the approval thresholds for credit, write-offs and key accounts.
Unmatched payments, disputes and customer questions, worked by a named team.
Credit limits, write-offs and your most important customers stay with your team.
SLA results, DSO and CEI against the baseline, and the control evidence your auditors want.
Consider it if your AR cost per $1,000 of revenue is above the APQC median, unapplied cash keeps building, one person holds all the knowledge, or disputes eat a big share of the team's day. Keep credit decisions, write-off approvals and your key customer relationships in-house either way.
Large BPOs such as Genpact, WNS, EXL and Conduent; mid-market providers such as Auxis and IQ BackOffice; and AR platforms such as HighRadius, Versapay and Billtrust, which you run yourself. Managed AR operations like ours sits between them.
Vendor-published BPO rates run from about $8 an hour offshore to $55 onshore, or $0.50 to $5 per invoice, plus integration and transition costs. AR platforms are yearly subscriptions by volume. We charge a fixed monthly fee by volume with service credits. Check any price against APQC's median of $0.34 per $1,000 of revenue.
Who works your account and their turnover, whether the SLA covers exceptions and disputes, how they connect to your ERP, who approves credits and write-offs, their SOC 1 Type 2 report, minimum term and how you take the work back.
Operational targets with service credits: cash applied within a day, match rate, unapplied cash age, dispute logging and routing, response times and a month-end tie-out date. Outcome measures such as DSO, CEI and percent current, reported against your baseline. And control measures, such as every credit and write-off over your threshold approved by you.
Phase it: a baseline, a shadow period with your team still primary, a reverse shadow on low-risk accounts, then a full run. Never change bank details, lockbox or remit-to addresses during the switch, and set exit checks for each stage.
Start with the numbers: what's unapplied, what's overdue and where your team's hours go.
Facts on this page checked on 22 October 2026.
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