One team for money out and money in
Most small and mid-sized companies do not have an AP problem or an AR problem. They have a coverage problem. One person codes the bills, cuts the checks, sends the invoices and chases the past due balances, and that same person is also the office manager. Vendors get paid late, customers get billed late, and nobody looks at the aging until the month is already closed.
We take both sides of the cycle. Bills arrive in one inbox, get coded to your chart of accounts, route to the right approver and get paid on a schedule you set. Invoices go out within one business day of the trigger event, payments get applied the day they land, and every past due account follows a written follow-up sequence instead of an occasional phone call when someone remembers.
You keep approval authority and you keep control of the bank. We do the preparation, the matching, the documentation and the follow-up. Every payment run, every credit memo and every write-off reaches you with support attached and a name on it.
What we run on the AP side
From a vendor's first Form W-9 through the 1099-NEC prepared in January.
Invoice capture and coding
Bills arrive by email, mail scan or vendor portal and land in Bill.com, QuickBooks Online or a shared AP inbox. We code every invoice to the correct GL account, class, job, location and department, then attach the source document to the entry so it can be traced later without digging through someone's email.
Learn moreThree-way match
For inventory, materials and subcontractor spend we match the invoice to the purchase order and the receiving document before anything is queued for payment. Quantity and price variances are held and returned to your buyer with the exception noted, rather than paid and cleaned up two months later.
Approval routing
We build the workflow to your limits. For example, a shop supply invoice under $500 can clear on one approval, while a $25,000 subcontractor draw routes to the project manager and then to you. Every approval is captured in the system with a name and a time stamp, so the audit trail exists whether or not anyone asks for it.
Learn morePayment runs
We prepare the run on your cadence, weekly or twice monthly, with a cash requirements report showing what is due now, what can wait, and where an early pay discount is worth taking. You release it. ACH, check, virtual card and wire all run through Bill.com or your bank.
Vendor onboarding, W-9s and 1099s
No vendor is set up without a completed Form W-9, verified remittance details and a duplicate check against your existing master file. We chase missing W-9s during the year, track reportable payments by box as they happen, and hand your CPA a reconciled 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC list in January.
Learn moreStatement reconciliation and fraud screening
Vendor statements are reconciled monthly to catch missed credits and invoices that never reached you. Every run is screened for repeated invoice numbers, identical amounts to one vendor inside a short window, round dollar anomalies and new bank detail change requests.
Learn moreWhat we run on the AR side
Billing that goes out on time, and a collections process that runs on a written schedule rather than on whoever remembers.
- Invoicing and billing schedulesWe build invoices from your contracts, work orders, time records or shipment data and send them on a fixed schedule. Recurring monthly billing, progress billing on percentage of completion, milestone billing, and time and materials are all handled. Sales tax is applied using the rates and rules kept current in your invoicing system.
- Cash applicationACH, check, lockbox, credit card and merchant deposits are applied daily against open invoices. Short pays and unidentified deposits go onto a research list with a named owner and a due date, instead of sitting in a suspense account until someone cleans it up at month-end.
- Collections cadenceEvery past due account follows a written sequence. A statement at seven days past due, a personal email at fifteen, a phone call at thirty, a formal demand at sixty, and an escalation recommendation at ninety. You approve the language and the escalation point before a single message goes out.
- Aging review and DSOYou get an aging by customer every week showing movement since the last review, promises to pay, disputed balances and a recommended action on each account over thirty days. We track days sales outstanding month over month, so a slide in collections shows up while it is still fixable.
- Credit memos and dunningCredit memos are prepared with the reason coded and routed for approval before they touch the ledger. Automated dunning runs out of QuickBooks Online, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct or Bill.com with the tone and the stop rules you set, so a good customer in an open billing dispute does not receive a robot letter.
What a normal cycle looks like
Both sides run on a published calendar, so you always know what happens and when.
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Daily
Bills captured and coded. US bank and credit card feeds pulled. Incoming customer payments applied. New vendor and customer setups processed with documentation attached. Vendor and customer inquiries answered the same business day.
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Weekly
The cash requirements report and the proposed payment run go to you for release. The AR aging goes out with collection notes and promises to pay. Held invoices, matching exceptions and unapplied cash are listed with an owner on each line.
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Monthly
Vendor statements reconciled. AP and AR subledgers tied to the general ledger. Accruals and cutoff reviewed so expenses land in the right period. Credit memo and write-off activity summarized. Aging and DSO reported against the prior month.
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Quarterly and year end
Vendor and customer masters cleaned of duplicates and inactive records. Missing Forms W-9 chased. Reportable totals reconciled and 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC files prepared for filing. Bad debt recommendations documented for your approval.
Segregation of duties and approval limits
Outsourcing AP and AR should tighten your controls, not loosen them. This is the default structure we set up before we process a single transaction.
- We prepare, you approveNo one on our team has authority to approve or release a payment. We assemble the run and you release it under your own credentials.
- Recording is separate from paymentThe person who codes an invoice is not the person who builds the payment run, and neither one holds your banking login.
- Written approval limitsThresholds are documented by dollar amount, department and expense type up front. The matrix lives in the system, not in someone's memory.
- Vendor master changes take two peopleAdding a vendor or changing remittance bank details requires a documented request, a callback to a known number already on file, and a second reviewer. An emailed bank change request is never actioned on the email alone.
- Duplicate and anomaly screening on every runRepeated invoice numbers, matching amounts to the same vendor in a short window, round dollar invoices and vendor addresses that match employee records are all flagged before release.
- Cash application is reconciled, not assumedPayments applied to AR are tied back to the bank feed daily. Unapplied and partially applied cash is reported, never cleared with a plug entry.
- Credit memos and write-offs need a named approverNothing reduces a customer balance without a coded reason and your sign-off, and every approval is listed in the monthly package.
- A complete audit trailEach invoice, approval, payment and adjustment keeps its source document and time stamp in the system, so your CPA or an auditor can follow any transaction end to end without calling us first.
Platforms we work in
We work inside your systems at the permission level you assign. If you have not settled on a stack yet, we will recommend one that fits your volume and stay with you through the setup.
| Function | Platforms |
|---|---|
| General ledger | QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct |
| AP automation and payments | Bill.com, Ramp, Melio, bank ACH files, check printing, positive pay |
| Card spend and expenses | Ramp, Expensify, QuickBooks Online receipt capture, US bank and credit card feeds |
| Invoicing and collections | QuickBooks Online, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Bill.com, Stripe, Square |
| Payroll data flowing into AP | Gusto, ADP, Paychex |
| Reporting basis | US GAAP, accrual or cash basis, both views maintained where you need them |
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Common questions
Do you need access to our bank accounts?
No. We work inside your accounting and payment platforms at the permission level you assign, and we can be limited to preparer roles only. You keep the banking credentials and you release every payment. Where you prefer, the entire process can run through Bill.com with no direct bank access on our side at all.
How long does onboarding take if we are behind on AP?
Plan on two to four weeks for a typical transition. Week one covers access, chart of accounts review, vendor master cleanup and the approval matrix. Week two runs in parallel with your current process. By week three or four we are preparing the cycle and you are approving it. A large unprocessed backlog adds time, and we will say so during scoping rather than after you sign.
Can you work alongside our CPA?
Yes, and we expect to. Your CPA receives a reconciled AP and AR subledger, aging detail, and a 1099 ready vendor list in the format they ask for. We also take overflow AP and AR work directly for CPA firms that need capacity during busy season.
What does this cost compared to hiring in-house?
A full-time AP or AR clerk costs far more than the salary line once you add payroll taxes, benefits, software seats, training, and coverage for vacations and turnover. Most clients run their back office for 40 to 60 percent less than a comparable in-house team, and they get a team rather than one person. We quote a flat monthly fee based on your transaction volume after a short scoping call.
How do you handle sales tax on customer invoices?
We bill sales tax according to the taxability rules and nexus positions you or your tax advisor have established, keep rates current in your invoicing system, and produce the taxable and exempt sales detail your preparer needs for state and local filings. When your activity in a new state starts to look like it may create nexus, we flag it so your advisor can review the position.
Who talks to our vendors and customers?
Your choice. We can be the first point of contact using an email alias on your own domain, or stay behind the scenes and feed your team the answer. Either way, vendor and customer inquiries get a response the same business day, and disputes are logged with an owner and a due date.
Do you record on accrual basis or cash basis?
Whichever basis your books are kept on, under US GAAP where that applies. We maintain proper cutoff at month-end so expenses and revenue land in the period they belong to. If you report cash basis for tax and accrual basis for management, we maintain both views rather than converting once a year.
Get a free consultation and a no-cost quote
Tell us your monthly bill and invoice volume and we will scope the work, recommend a controls structure, and quote a flat monthly fee. Call (209) 456-5966 or email info@yfgconsultants.com to set up a free consultation.