Everyone agrees collections follow-up matters. Almost nobody has time to do it well.
Someone pulls the aging report, works down the list, digs up the original invoice, attaches it, and writes the message. Then does it again for the next customer. It's the kind of work that gets pushed to Friday, then to next week, while balances quietly get older.
This post walks through a real workflow our team built in AI Automation that handles that entire job on top of Macola data: it finds past-due invoices, generates a copy of each invoice, has AI write a personalized reminder, and emails it to the customer. Nobody has to remember to do any of it. If you want to automate past-due invoice reminders without adding a separate collections system, this is what it looks like.
The manual version of this process has more steps than it looks like from the outside:
None of those steps is hard. The problem is that every one of them depends on someone making time for it, every cycle, for every customer. When the month gets busy, follow-up is the first thing to slide, and the longer an invoice waits, the harder it is to collect.
That's exactly the kind of work a workflow should own: the same steps every time, started by a clear condition, with nothing that needs a person unless you want one.
Here's the workflow step by step. It's the first of three use cases on our Macola workflow automation page, and it's built entirely in AI Automation, with no code involved.
The workflow keeps an eye on your Macola data for invoices that have crossed a past-due threshold, and groups them into stages: 30 to 60 days, 60 to 90 days, and over 90. Nobody has to remember to run the report; the workflow picks up past-due invoices on its own.
For each invoice, the workflow runs your existing Crystal Report to produce a copy of the invoice, in the same format your customers already recognize.
Instead of a fill-in-the-blanks template, an AI step receives the invoice details, including the customer name, invoice number, sales order number, due date, amount, and days past due, along with instructions you've written for each stage. It then writes a complete email for that specific customer and invoice.
The finished email goes out with the invoice copy attached. Every run is logged step by step in the workflow's run history, so if someone asks whether a customer was contacted, the answer is one click away.
The AI doesn't decide how to treat your customers. You do. It follows instructions written in plain language, the same way you'd brief a new AR clerk. One small touch in our team's version: the wording gets firmer as an invoice gets older. The instructions look like this:
In plain terms, the instructions say:
You can make those instructions say whatever fits your business. Softer at every stage for long-standing accounts, a mention of your payment portal, a specific person to contact, a particular sign-off. Change the instructions and the next run follows them, with no rebuilding required.
The result is an email that reads like a person wrote it for that customer, while staying consistent with the policy you set.
In the workflow our team built, no one reviews the emails. That's deliberate: the whole point is that a well-written set of instructions handles the routine follow-up on its own, and your AR team spends their time on the conversations that actually need a person.
If you'd rather keep a person in the loop, AI Automation makes that easy. You can add an approval step before the email goes out, and the workflow pauses until someone approves it. You can also be selective: add a condition so only certain invoices wait for review, such as large balances or key accounts, while the rest send automatically. Many teams start with review turned on and remove it once they trust the results.
There are plenty of dedicated accounts receivable tools that send automated reminders. Many are built around the ERP and accounting platforms with the biggest install bases; one of the most visible, for example, lists native connections to NetSuite, Sage Intacct, QuickBooks, and Xero. If Macola isn't on a tool's list, that usually means exporting data into a second system and keeping the two in sync.
Running the workflow alongside Macola avoids that:
The work splits cleanly between the people who own the process and the person who builds it.
Your AR or finance team decides:
An IT staff member or power user who knows your Macola data builds it:
If you're not sure whether this should be your first automation, run it through the five questions in our checklist, Which Macola Processes Should You Automate First? Collections follow-up tends to score well: it happens the same way every time, it starts with a clear condition, and it's exactly the kind of work that slips when things get busy.
If collections follow-up is eating your team's week, talk to us about automation. We'll walk through what this workflow would look like on your Macola data, with your invoice format and your wording.
Q: How do I automate past-due invoice reminders in Macola? A: With AI Automation, a workflow watches your Macola data for invoices that are 30, 60, or 90+ days past due, generates a copy of each invoice from your Crystal Report, has AI write a personalized reminder email, and sends it to the customer with the invoice attached.
Q: Can we control what the reminder emails say? A: Yes. You write plain-language instructions, including what to mention and how to sign off, and the AI writes each email to match using that customer's name, invoice number, amount, and days past due. You can even have the wording get firmer as an invoice ages.
Q: Does someone need to approve each reminder before it sends? A: No, but you can add an approval step if you want one. You can also require approval only for certain invoices, such as large balances or key accounts, while the rest send automatically.
Q: Do we need a separate accounts receivable system? A: No. The workflow runs on your existing Macola data and uses your existing Crystal Report invoice, so there's no second system to keep in sync.
Q: Do we need a developer to set this up? A: No. AI Automation is no-code. Your AR team decides which invoices to follow up on and what the emails say, and an IT staff member or power user who knows your Macola data builds the workflow on a visual canvas.