Credit control for professional services firms, without straining the client relationship.
You may still be serving the client, delivering the next phase or discussing new work while an older invoice sits unpaid. That makes chasing it awkward. Steinfin handles the agreed follow-up professionally, in your firm's name, while you keep the relationship and every commercial decision.
Client relationshipCurrent project, account management and future work carry on throughout
Service delivered
Invoice
Client approval
Approved
PO required
Scope query
Milestone question
Budget holder approval
Promise
No response
Next action
Payment
Relationship and receivables
The person best placed to win the next project should not be running payment follow-up.
Partners, directors, account managers and project leads sometimes need to give context. They should not have to own routine reminders, promise tracking, AP follow-up, query tracking and next-action admin. Steinfin handles that operational layer.
Commercial relationship
Project
Delivery
Account management
Future work
Owned by your account lead
Connected only when context or a decision is needed
AR process
Invoice
Approval
Follow-up
Promise
Payment
Run by Steinfin
Good AR here is not about being aggressive. It is consistent follow-up, clear ownership, the right tone, good timing and knowing when a commercial answer is needed.
Why invoices stall
The client can love the work and still pay late.
A late invoice rarely means a damaged relationship. It usually means the invoice is stuck somewhere on the client's side. The useful question is not "why haven't they paid?" but why the invoice has not moved.
It never reached accounts payable
A PO is missing
The budget holder has not approved it
The invoice reference is wrong
Billing details are questioned
Scope needs clarifying
The client's payment run has not come round
Their finance team is simply behind
Project and milestone billing
Each milestone can be at a different stage.
Firms bill upfront, monthly, by milestone, on completion, on retainer or for extra scope. AR needs to know what was billed, when it fell due, what approval remains, whether the client has raised a question and what happens next.
Steinfin follows up the invoices. Project delivery stays with you.
Approval chains and POs
Find where approval is sitting, and who can move it.
An invoice may pass through a project owner, a department head or budget holder, procurement and accounts payable. Not every client works this way. Follow-up has to find where the invoice is, who can move it and what is missing.
Service deliveredWork not yet confirmed
Budget ownerSign-off pending
Procurement and POPO missing or used up
Accounts payableNot in the next payment run
PaymentReceived
When the PO is the problem
A PO is missing, its value is used up, the wrong one was quoted, a new project needs a new one, or the client will not process anything without it. Steinfin identifies the blocker, records it, routes it, tracks it and follows up. It does not create or change your agreements, pricing or scope.
Invoice, examplePast due
Amount
£5,400$6,750€6,300C$9,200
Client said
PO required before processing
Needed from you
Confirm the correct PO
Next action
Resume AP follow-up
Account lead, finance and Steinfin
Financial information needs commercial context.
Your account lead knows who decides, whether the relationship is sensitive, whether there is a disagreement and whether new work is being discussed. Finance knows status, terms, aging and amounts. Steinfin runs the follow-up using both.
Account or client lead
Relationship context
Finance
Financial and commercial authority
Steinfin
AR workflow and follow-up
Your client
Approval, AP and payment
Aging report
Client A61-90 days£12,600$15,750€14,750C$21,400
Client B31-60 days£4,850$6,050€5,650C$8,250
Client C90+ days£9,200$11,500€10,750C$15,650
Context and next action
Client APromise FridayMonth-end run confirmed by AP
Client BPO missingProcurement raising a new PO
Client CScope queryAccount Director input needed
Fictional clients and amounts. An aging report cannot show that a partner asked to pause follow-up, a payment is already in process or a query needs the project lead. The context view can.
Payment promises
The month-end promise, tracked.
"We will include it in the month-end payment run" needs to become a tracked commitment, not a line in someone's inbox. Steinfin records it and checks. If payment does not arrive, follow-up continues.
Promise, exampleMonth-end run
Client
Harrowgate Advisory Group
Invoice
INV-4102
Amount
£7,800$9,750€9,150C$13,250
Next action
Confirm receipt after month end
Scope and billing queries
When the answer has to come from your side.
Questions about scope, hours, milestones, deliverables, rates, expenses, completion, POs or billing periods are recorded, routed and followed up. Steinfin never decides the commercial answer.
Client input requiredWith you
Client
Linden Holdings Ltd
Invoice
INV-2048
Issue
Client queries the project scope
Needed
Account Director confirmation
Next action
Resume payment follow-up after your response
Sensitive accounts
Some clients get their own rules.
Strategic, long-standing clients, those buying more work, in renewal or mid-project may need a different approach. You choose the rule for each, and Steinfin follows it.
In your firm's name, example
Hello Priya, I hope the launch went well. Invoice INV-4102 for the design phase is now past its due date. Could you let me know whether it is scheduled, or whether anything is needed from us to help it through?
Accounts, on behalf of your firm
Normal follow-upStandard reminders and calls, in your tone
Softer toneLighter wording and a slower cadence
Specific contactOnly the named person you choose
Your approval firstBefore any escalation or firmer step
PausedWhile you handle something with the client
You own the conversationSteinfin tracks it, you talk to them
Types of firm
Different firms, similar sticking points.
Consulting and advisory
Milestone and project approval, senior stakeholders, high-value invoices
Specialist B2B services
Recurring service fees, client sign-off and senior stakeholders
Engineering and technical services
Documentation, project sign-off and approval chains
IT and digital services
Monthly and project billing, change requests and procurement processes
Run a marketing, creative or digital agency? Retainers, scope changes and pass-through costs are covered on the marketing agencies page.
Steinfin manages
Monitoring outstanding invoices
Prioritising overdue accounts
Following up the agreed client contacts
Tracking promises and missed promises
Identifying billing and scope queries
Routing issues to the right person at your firm
Keeping a next action on every account
Regular reporting
Stays with you
Fee reductions and rate changes
Scope decisions
Accepting a dispute
Credits, waivers and write-offs
Settlements
Steinfin does not interpret your contracts or decide fee entitlement.
Consistent follow-up around terms, due dates and promisesCredit control
Following through to payment, promise or decisionCash collection
Clients paying several invoices together or without a remittanceCash application
Old invoices, stale promises and contacts that have moved onAR cleanup
Your systems
Keep your accounting system and your project tools.
Steinfin works alongside Xero, QuickBooks and Sage, through authorised access you grant from your own account, or regular exports. We never ask for your password. Your CRM, project and time-tracking tools stay as they are; Steinfin does not connect to them.
Reporting
Regular reporting by client.
Each update shows invoice and account status, the latest response, promises, open queries, next actions and anything that needs your input. On Starter, that is a weekly report.
A good fit
Who Steinfin suits.
B2B consultancies and professional services firms
Meaningful invoice values on payment terms
Project, milestone or retainer billing
Relationship-sensitive clients
Senior people pulled into chasing
Approval and PO blockers
Finance stretched across billing and month end
Probably not the right fit
Mostly paid upfront
Very few B2B invoices
Fully automated, low-value billing
Consumer collections or legal enforcement only
Pricing
No separate pricing for firms.
The monthly retainer scales with client count, invoice volume, complexity, communication and query workload, and reporting needs. Plans start from £299$399€349C$499 a month.
Can Steinfin manage accounts receivable for professional services firms?
Yes. Steinfin runs day-to-day AR for consultancies, advisory, technical and IT services firms: follow-up with the agreed client contacts, promise and query tracking, and regular reporting, in your firm's name.
Can Steinfin chase invoices without damaging client relationships?
That is how the service is set up. Tone, contacts, timing and escalation points are agreed with you first, sensitive clients can have their own rules, and follow-up stays polite, specific and consistent.
Can Steinfin work with our account directors or partners?
Yes. Account leads keep the relationship and give context when it is needed. Steinfin runs the routine follow-up and brings anything that needs their view back to them, with the history attached.
Can Steinfin track client payment promises?
Yes. A promise such as "it will be in the month-end payment run" is recorded with the invoice, amount, date and contact, then checked. If payment does not arrive, follow-up continues.
Can Steinfin handle invoices waiting on PO approval?
Yes. We find out what the client needs, whether a new PO, a corrected reference or budget-holder approval, route it to the right person and follow it up. Steinfin does not change agreements or pricing.
What happens when a client disputes scope or fees?
Steinfin records the question, brings it to you or the right account lead with the context, and resumes payment follow-up once you have resolved it. The commercial answer is always yours.
Who decides whether a fee reduction or credit is accepted?
You do. Steinfin never agrees fee reductions, changes rates or scope, issues credits, waives invoices or agrees settlements without your explicit authority.
Can Steinfin follow up project and milestone invoices?
Yes. We follow up each milestone or project invoice with the right client contact and track where approval is sitting. We do not manage your project delivery.
Can Steinfin help clean up old receivables?
Yes, as part of the Scale plan. AR cleanup works through old invoices, stale promises, old scope queries, out-of-date contacts and unallocated payments, and gives each item a status and a next step.
Do we need to change our accounting or project tools?
Yes. Steinfin works alongside Xero, QuickBooks and Sage, through authorised access you grant from your own account, or regular exports. Your CRM and project tools stay as they are; we do not connect to them.
Do we need another full-time credit controller?
Not necessarily. Many firms do not need another hire so much as someone to own the process consistently. Steinfin takes on the agreed AR work for one monthly fee while your firm keeps control.
How much does outsourced AR cost for a professional services firm?
The same plans apply to every industry: a monthly retainer that scales with your ledger, including client count, invoice volume, how complex the invoices are and how much query and communication work is involved. The pricing page shows current plans in your currency.
Keep the client work moving, and the invoices too.
See where your firm's receivables are stuck. It starts with a free AR health check.
