AI agent
Document Chaser
Follows up clients for missing tax documents and unsigned engagement letters, stops when they arrive, and waits for staff approval before every send.
AI Agents · Best for firms chasing lock-up
Automated debtor follow-up for firms chasing lock-up
Debtor Follow-up, by Pylon Digital, provides automated debtor follow-up for firms. It sends scheduled reminders for overdue invoices by email and SMS, stops when a client pays or queries a bill, and escalates to a named person when a reminder is not enough. Every message is approved first. It suits firms chasing lock-up.
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Is it right for you
Who it's for
Debtor Follow-up suits 10–100 person accounting, law and advisory firms whose debtors are chased irregularly, usually by the partner who did the work. The trigger is often a lock-up figure that keeps rising, or a month-end debtor list with the same names as last month.
- Accounting firms on Xero Practice Manager or Xero that chase overdue fees only when someone has time
- Law firms on Actionstep, LEAP or Clio that want consistent reminders on unpaid bills
- Partners who carry every debtor conversation and want the routine reminders handled
- Practice managers who need every contact with a debtor recorded in one place
Why do overdue fees drift?
Overdue fees drift because chasing them is awkward, irregular and usually left to the partner who did the work. Reminders go out when someone remembers, often at month end, and the cost shows up as lock-up: fees tied up in WIP and debtors instead of cash.
Debtor Follow-up turns chasing into a scheduled routine and leaves partners the conversations that need them. If you already track lock-up in partner reports, our guide to automating your weekly WIP and utilisation report shows where debtor figures fit.
How does Debtor Follow-up stay within debt collection guidance?
It stays within guidance by design: written reminders only, limited frequency, business-hours sending and a stop on any dispute. The ACCC and ASIC Debt collection guideline for collectors and creditors (April 2021, current as at September 2026) applies to creditors collecting their own debts as well as to agencies. It is written with individual debtors in mind, though the regulators note many of its principles are also relevant to business debts.
Reminders also carry no promotional content. Under the Spam Act 2003, a message with a promotional purpose is commercial and needs consent, accurate sender details and a working unsubscribe option. This is general information, not legal advice.
Where does it sit among our AI agents?
Debtor Follow-up is one of six AI agents for professional firms. Accounting firms can pair it with the Document Chaser: one chases documents before the work, the other chases fees after it.
Capabilities
What it does
You get an agent configured with your schedules, wording and escalation rules, hosted and monitored under Managed AI.
Reminder schedules
Polite reminders at set points after the due date, with separate schedules for individuals, businesses or key clients if you want them.
Wording your partners approve
Templates that state the invoice, amount, due date and how to pay, with no promotional content.
One approval queue
Every reminder waits for a named person, who can approve a day's batch, edit a message or hold a client.
Payment and query detection
When an invoice is paid or queried, the agent stops that sequence and tells the responsible person.
Escalation briefs and log
When a sequence ends unpaid, the partner gets a short brief of invoices, reminders and replies, and every contact stays in the audit log.
Guardrails
What it will never do on its own
Guardrails keep the agent polite, accurate and in its lane. Your partners sign them off before the first reminder goes out.
- Human approval before anything leaves the firm: every reminder waits for a named person
- A full audit log of every reminder, approval, reply and escalation
- Agent data stored in fully GDPR-compliant data centres
- Written reminders only: no phone calls, threats, added fees or talk of legal action
- Pauses on any dispute, hardship mention or payment-plan request and hands it to a person
- Contact limits and business-hours sending set inside the ACCC and ASIC debt collection guideline
Process
How it works
A discovery call, agreed rules, a supervised pilot, then a monthly service.
- Step 0145 minutes, free
Discovery call
We review how you chase debtors today and the systems that hold your invoices and payments.
- Step 02Agreed in writing
Rules and wording
We agree schedules, contact limits, exclusions and escalation points with your partners, then write the templates.
- Step 03Timeline in your proposal
Connect and test
We connect read-only access to invoices and payments and test every sequence on internal records.
- Step 04Timeline in your proposal
Supervised pilot
The agent works a subset of overdue invoices while partners approve each message and we tune the wording.
- Step 05Monthly, ongoing
Run
We monitor every sequence, handle system changes and adjust schedules as your credit policy changes.
Integrations
Systems we work with
The agent reads invoices and payments from the systems that already hold them, so your ledger stays the single source of truth.
- Xero
- Xero Practice Manager
- MYOB
- Actionstep
- LEAP
- Clio
- Microsoft 365
Security & data residency
Where your data goes, and who can see it
Debtor data shows who owes your firm money and why, so it is handled as confidential. Agent data is stored in fully GDPR-compliant data centres, ledger connections are read-only, and only people you name can see the queue and the log.
- Read-only ledger access
- The agent reads invoices and payments. It cannot raise, change, credit or write off an invoice.
- Where data is stored
- Agent data is stored in fully GDPR-compliant data centres. Our security and data residency page explains how we protect it.
- Model training
- Your proposal shows each AI provider's terms on model training, and we switch on the settings each provider offers to keep client data out of it.
- Privacy
- Reminders go only to the billing contact on file, and the handover documentation records what personal information it holds, where it is kept and who can see it.
Pricing
Pricing guidance
Pricing model: Setup + monthly
Setup fee plus a monthly fee, both quoted in writing after the free discovery call. The setup fee depends on the systems we connect and how many schedules and templates we configure. The monthly fee covers hosting, monitoring and changes to rules and wording. Your proposal shows whether SMS costs are included or passed through.
Illustrative example
Example: a 40-person firm with a stubborn debtor list
Talk through a similar buildIllustrative scenario: a 40-person accounting firm on Xero Practice Manager reviews debtors at month end, and partners chase their own clients when they find time. With Debtor Follow-up, approved reminders go out on schedule, paid invoices drop out, and each partner gets a brief on the few clients who need a call.
Commitments
What you can hold us to
These are the working rules behind every engagement, from the first discovery call to the monthly Run service. Ask us on the call how each one works for the system you have in mind.
Scope and price in writing first
Every build is scoped and priced in writing before work starts, so there are no open-ended hours.
A person approves what agents send
Our AI agents draft; a person at your firm approves what they send. The After-hours Receptionist answers live only from wording your firm approves in advance.
Every agent action logged
Every action an agent takes is recorded in an audit log, so you can see exactly what it did.
GDPR-compliant data centres
Client data in the systems we build and run is stored in fully GDPR-compliant data centres.
Accessible, fast websites
Websites are designed and tested against WCAG 2.2 level AA and Google’s Core Web Vitals “good” thresholds.
Built and run under one roof
A build can move straight onto a monthly Run service with us, so it is not handed over and forgotten.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Will automated reminders damage client relationships?
Not if they are polite, accurate and approved, which is how the agent works. Reminders use wording your partners sign off, state the facts without pressure and stop as soon as a client pays or replies. Sensitive clients can be excluded, and anything that needs judgement goes to a person.
Does the agent phone clients or threaten legal action?
No. Debtor Follow-up sends written reminders by email and SMS only. It never threatens legal action, mentions debt collectors or adds fees, and it does not discuss a debt with anyone except the billing contact on file. When a sequence ends unpaid, a named person in your firm decides what happens next.
How often will clients be contacted?
As often as your schedule allows, within limits we set together. The ACCC and ASIC debt collection guideline counts emails and text messages as contacts and recommends no more than three contacts a week or ten a month per debtor. We set schedules inside those numbers and send only during business hours in the client's time zone.
What happens when a client disputes an invoice?
The agent stops. Any reply that queries an invoice, mentions hardship or asks for a payment plan pauses the sequence and goes straight to the responsible partner or practice manager. The agent does not negotiate, offer discounts or agree terms; those decisions stay with your people.
Is this the same as using a debt collector?
No. Debtor Follow-up sends your firm's own reminders, in your name, to clients you still work with. It does not buy debts, collect for anyone else or take recovery action. If an account needs formal recovery, a person in your firm makes that decision and briefs whoever you use.
How much does automated debtor follow-up for firms cost?
Debtor Follow-up is priced as a setup fee plus a monthly fee, both quoted in writing after the free discovery call. The setup fee depends on the systems we connect and how many schedules and templates we configure. The monthly fee covers hosting and monitoring under Managed AI, plus changes to rules and wording.
Secure by design. Set up correctly. Fully managed.
Talk to us before you commit to anything
Start with a free 45-minute discovery call. We look at your systems and priorities, then recommend a first step with a fixed scope, or tell you if we are not the right fit.
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