Walk into month end already knowing.
It is the last Friday before month end. The controller knows which receipts are still unapplied and why. The account leads know which clients to call and which to leave alone. The finance lead has one page for Monday’s management meeting with two decisions on it, and every figure ties to the aging report. Nobody rebuilds the month from the bank feed on the 30th.
That is a fully powered finance team: the same people, with the preparation done before anyone asks and every judgment left with the person who owns it. We call that 10X what your team can do.
One week, five procedures.
A receivables week is five connected procedures. Each one says what the assistant prepares, what gets checked and which role finishes the job. Here they run through one week at an invented 60-person professional-services firm.
- Provisional matching.The assistant proposes a match for each receipt. The billing coordinator posts.
- Refreshing aging.The assistant rebuilds the brackets. The billing coordinator confirms they tie.
- Preparing follow-ups.The assistant drafts and holds. The account lead or billing coordinator sends.
- Assembling exceptions.The assistant gathers the evidence. The controller decides.
- Drafting the weekly summary.The assistant drafts. The finance lead approves and presents.
The work crosses teams. Account leads hold the client notes behind most exceptions, and their names sit on the firmer follow-ups.
Match each receipt, provisionally.
Ten invoices were open during the week. Five receipts arrived between Monday 21 and Thursday 24 September, totalling $16,100.
Illustrative example with invented data. Receipts log with proposed matches, 21 to 24 September.
| Received | From | Amount | Proposed match | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Sep | Client B | $6,850 | 1038 ($2,750) and 1040 ($4,100) | Clean match |
| 22 Sep | Client A | $1,000 | 1042 ($1,200) | Short by $200 |
| 23 Sep | Wire, payer not on file | $5,600 | 1044 (Client D) or 1045 (Client F) | Ambiguous. Hold proposed |
| 24 Sep | Client G | $2,300 | 1047 ($2,300) | Clean match |
| 24 Sep | Client J | $350 | No open invoice | Unmatched. Hold proposed |
The assistant proposes; it posts nothing. The firm’s rule: the billing coordinator applies a receipt to the invoice its remittance names, even when short, and the difference becomes an exception. On Thursday the billing coordinator checked the proposals and posted $10,150: the Client B and Client G receipts in full and Client A’s $1,000 against 1042. The other two receipts, $5,950 between them, stayed unapplied for the controller.
Refresh the aging and make it tie.
Friday morning the assistant rebuilds aging as of 25 September and compares it with last Friday’s. The first check is arithmetic: last week’s $33,600 open, plus $8,900 invoiced to Client H on 1051, minus $10,150 applied, gives $32,350. If it does not tie, nothing downstream runs until the billing coordinator finds the difference.
The comparison shows what moved. Invoice 1036 crossed into 31 to 60 days. Invoice 1031, at 58 days with a promised date of 11 September missed, enters 61 to 90 days on Monday 28 September.
Prepare the follow-ups and hold the wrong ones.
The firm sets the tone by bracket: a short reminder from the billing coordinator up to 30 days, a request for a payment date to 60, and past 60 days or after a missed promise, a direct note from the account lead.
The assistant drafted two follow-ups and held four invoices back, each with its reason. Invoice 1042 waits until the cause of the $200 is known. Invoices 1044 and 1045 wait because one may already be paid by the $5,600 wire. Invoice 1035 is disputed and not chased. Overdue-invoice follow-up preparation sets out the rules.
Illustrative example with invented data. Draft for the account lead to review and send.
To: [Client C payables contact] Cc: [Finance lead]
Subject: Invoice 1031, $6,400: payment date
Hello [Name],
When we spoke on 4 September you expected Invoice 1031
($6,400, due 29 July) to be paid by 11 September. It has
not reached us yet. Could you confirm a payment date this
week? If anything on the invoice is holding it up, tell me
and I will sort it out with our billing team.
[Account lead]Put the exceptions in front of the controller.
The wire needs a person. It carries no invoice reference and a payer name on no customer record. Two clients each have an invoice open for exactly $5,600, both due 20 September. The assistant does not pick one. It lays out the evidence and proposes how to find out.
Illustrative example with invented data. Exception list for the controller, 25 September.
| Item | Evidence | Proposed next step | Decides |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1042, Client A: $200 open | Memo names 1042. No agreed discount in notes. | Billing coordinator asks: short payment, expected discount or payment in transit? | Controller |
| $5,600 wire, 23 Sep | Fits 1044 and 1045. No reference. | Hold. Billing coordinator asks the bank; both account leads check with their clients. | Controller |
| $350, Client J | “Retainer top-up”. No open invoice or retainer terms. | Client J’s account lead confirms whether a retainer was agreed. | Controller |
| 1035, Client E: $3,800 disputed | Note of 2 Sep: client queries phase-two hours. | Not chased. Account lead reports on the dispute. | Controller, on any credit |
No duplicates were found. The list also says what it could not assess: the bank feed ends on 24 September, and a second payment from Client A could still be on its way. Receivables exception review describes the full list.
The page management reads on Monday.
The summary takes its figures from the aging report and the receipts log, and its owners from the exception list. The finance lead edits and approves it.
Illustrative example with invented data. Complete weekly summary, drafted for the finance lead.
Weekly receivables summary: week of 21 September 2026
- For
- Finance lead, for the management meeting on Monday 28 September. Receipts 21 to 24 September; aging as of 25 September.
- What came in
- Five receipts, $16,100. Applied by the billing coordinator: $10,150, to 1038 and 1040 (Client B), 1047 (Client G) and $1,000 of 1042 (Client A). Held unapplied: $5,950 in two receipts, both with the controller.
- Aging by bracket
- Current $8,900 (last week $13,500). 1 to 30 days $11,400 ($9,900). 31 to 60 days $12,050 ($10,200). 61 to 90 days and over 90: none. Total open $32,350 ($33,600). Overdue $23,450, of which $3,800 is disputed.
- Movements
- Paid: 1038, 1040, 1047. Reduced: 1042, from $1,200 to $200. Issued: 1051, Client H, $8,900. Moved bracket: 1036 into 31 to 60 days; 1044 and 1045 into 1 to 30 days. Tie-out: $33,600 + $8,900 − $10,150 = $32,350.
- Exceptions open
- Four. 1042, $200: billing coordinator asking Client A. $5,600 wire: billing coordinator with the bank. $350 from Client J: Client J’s account lead. 1035, $3,800 disputed: Client E’s account lead. The controller decides each.
- Follow-ups due
- 1031, Client C, $6,400: from the account lead, finance lead copied. 1036, Client G, $1,850: from the billing coordinator, account lead copied. Held: 1042, 1044, 1045. Not chased: 1035.
- Before month end
- 1031 enters 61 to 90 days on 28 September. Once the controller decides where the wire belongs and the billing coordinator applies it to 1044 or 1045, 1 to 30 days falls to $5,800.
- Decisions for management
- Two. 1. Whether new work for Client C continues while 1031 is unpaid. 2. Whether Client E’s account lead may propose a resolution on 1035, including a credit, which the controller would then issue.
Every figure traces to the aging report as of 25 September and the receipts log for 21 to 24 September. The summary changes no records and sends nothing.
The weekly receivables summary capability sets out what the page must contain.
Start with one week of your own.
Start from the outcome: a month end with no surprises. Map the work that crosses teams, here the account leads’ notes and the controller’s decisions. Land each procedure on the role that does it, then prove it on real weeks. The first 90 days of an AI adoption plan shows how one pilot grows into a plan, and what we test before we call an AI workflow ready covers the cases it must pass first.
It runs on the platform your team already pays for: ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini. Your rules set the brackets, the tone and the holds. Your people post, credit and send. The finance and accounting page shows more of the function’s work.
Bring last month’s aging report and the exceptions that took longest to clear.