Situation
A fast-moving media and SaaS billing environment needed stronger AR discipline without slowing down customer operations. The business ran high-volume B2B subscription billing across multiple digital content and subscription product lines, with 500+ invoices processed monthly through a combination of NetSuite, Salesforce, and Stripe.
The Challenge
DSO was elevated and trending in the wrong direction. Collections activity was reactive — the team followed up on past-due invoices when they noticed them, not on a structured cadence. There was no consistent segmentation of the AR aging by risk or balance size, no automated reminder workflow for B2B accounts, and no escalation path that customer success, finance, and leadership could all follow. Invoice accuracy issues were creating disputes that delayed payment further.
Work Performed
- Audited the full AR aging and segmented by customer, product line, balance size, and collection risk tier.
- Configured automated B2B payment reminders in NetSuite with tiered messaging cadence by days outstanding.
- Tightened invoice review routines across 500+ monthly SaaS invoices to reduce billing disputes.
- Designed and documented a repeatable escalation path so customer success, finance, and leadership each had a defined trigger for stepping in.
- Built a weekly collections status report that gave the team a consistent view of movement and outstanding follow-ups.
- Worked with the billing team to correct recurring invoice accuracy issues tied to subscription configuration.
What Happened
The core problem was not the AR team — it was the absence of structure. Collections was happening, but not consistently, not at the right cadence, and not with clear ownership of each step in the escalation path.
The fix was operational, not technical. Better segmentation of the aging told the team where to focus. Automated reminders handled the high-volume routine follow-up. A documented escalation path gave everyone — finance, customer success, and leadership — clarity on when and how to step in.
Invoice accuracy work ran in parallel because disputed invoices were a significant driver of delayed payment. Cleaning up the billing configuration reduced disputes and, in turn, reduced collection friction.
By the end of the quarter, DSO was down 22% and the team was running a consistent weekly cadence rather than chasing the aging report at month end.
Anonymized previous-experience example based on work performed in-role. Names and identifying details have been removed.