How VAT IT Compliance Reduced Overdue Balances by 44%

About VAT IT Compliance

For over two decades, VAT Compliance has helped multinational corporations and foreign businesses navigate the complexities of VAT recovery and tax compliance. With a global footprint across nearly 50 countries, VAT Compliance has built a reputation as a trusted partner for corporations operating across the world.

However, as the company scaled, its finance team struggled to keep up with the increasing volume of transactions and collections. It lacked automation, real-time financial tracking, and structured follow-ups. This meant that overdue invoices accumulated, reporting remained fragmented, and the team spent excessive time chasing payments manually. 

VAT Compliance needed an AI-powered solution that could transform its financial operations and integrate seamlessly with Sage. That’s where Kolleno came in.

The Challenges

As VAT IT Compliance grew, so did the complexity of its accounts receivable. The finance team battled inefficiencies—manual processes, disconnected systems, and limited visibility. Tracking overdue balances became a challenge, as did chasing payments and maintaining accurate reports.

“Something needed to change”, says Jonathan Long, Head of Finance, VAT Compliance. “We knew there must be a better way to manage our accounts receivables process—but we just weren’t sure how.”

1. Overwhelming Manual Workload

VAT IT Compliance handled invoices from nearly 50 countries. But without automation, collections were a tedious, manual grind. The collections team had to manually track outstanding payments, draft follow-up emails, and reconcile accounts one by one. 

This approach was time-consuming and unsustainable. It left the team with little capacity to proactively manage collections and reduce overdue balances.

2. Lack of Integration with Sage

VAT IT Compliance used Sage as its primary accounting system, but its collections process wasn’t integrated with it. Payments had to be entered manually, tracked separately, and reconciled by hand. Without real-time syncing, records were outdated and inconsistent. The team was constantly playing catch-up, struggling to see the full picture of cash flow and outstanding invoices.

3. Inefficient Task Management & Follow-Ups

Since collections were managed via spreadsheets and email reminders, there was no structured system for prioritizing overdue accounts. The team had to manually decide which clients to follow up with first, increasing the risk of missed follow-ups and inconsistent communication. This reactive approach led to delayed payments and an increasing backlog of outstanding invoices.

4. Limited Financial Visibility & Reporting

AR data was spread across multiple sources, meaning the finance team lacked a centralized dashboard to track collections performance. Reporting was done manually. The team had to pull data from different systems and compile spreadsheets—a process that was time-intensive and prone to human error. Without real-time insights, it was challenging to forecast cash flow, analyze overdue balances, and optimize collections strategies.

These challenges slowed down collections, increased administrative workload, and made financial decision-making more difficult. VAT IT Compliance needed to regain control. It needed a smarter, automated accounts receivable solution that could streamline collections, integrate with Sage, and provide real-time financial insights.

The Solution

Why Kolleno Accounts Receivable Management?

VAT Compliance needed more than just another collections tool—they required a comprehensive platform that could automate their entire accounts receivable process while integrating seamlessly with their existing systems. 

The company needed a solution that could handle the following requirements:

• Seamless integration with Sage

• Intelligent task management to ensure proper workload distribution

• Automated reporting, minimizing manual effort

• A centralized dashboardto gain instant visibility into AR performance

After evaluating several solutions, they discovered Kolleno.

“Kolleno stood out because it not only integrated perfectly with Sage but also offered the automation and analytics we desperately needed”, says Jonathan.

Seamless Sage Integration

Kolleno’s seamless integration with Sage was transformative for VAT IT Compliance. Customer data, invoices, and payments flowed effortlessly between the two systems—always up to date, always accurate.

No more manual data transfers. No more errors. Payments processed in Kolleno were instantly reflected in Sage, creating a single, reliable source of truth.

But it wasn’t just about syncing payments. Kolleno’s custom fields and mappings ensured the system adapted to VAT IT Compliance’s unique needs. Standard or specialized data—everything aligned. The result? A fully connected ecosystem that made accounts receivable faster, smarter, and far more efficient.

Intelligent Task Management

Kolleno’s collections task management follow-ups and resource allocation. The platform automatically created and assigned tasks based on predefined rules. This ensured that team members always knew which accounts needed attention and when.

“Task management was huge for us,” explains Simphiwe Thabethe, an Accounts Receivable Specialist at VAT IT Compliance. “Instead of spending the first hour of each day figuring out which customers to contact, Kolleno automatically prioritizes our workload based on aging balances, invoice amounts, and customer history.”

The system intelligently distributed tasks among team members, ensuring balanced workloads and preventing accounts from falling through the cracks. Smart reminders alerted staff about upcoming tasks, payment promises, and follow-up requirements, creating a structured approach to collections that was previously impossible. If a customer ever raises a dispute, Kolleno automatically notifies the team. 

Kolleno’s task management system adapted in real-time. As it learned which communication strategies were most effective for different customer segments, it automatically adjusted task priorities and suggested optimal outreach methods.

“Kolleno gives us direction on how to structure our day. We no longer need to waste time on mundane repetitive tasks. Instead, we can focus on strategic, high-value activities,” notes Jonathan. “This has increased our overall productivity while ensuring consistent follow-up with every customer.”

Automated Reporting

VAT Compliance gained unprecedented visibility into their financial operations through Kolleno’s robust reporting and analytics capabilities. 

With real-time dashboards and purpose-built reports, VAT Compliance could now track critical metrics including aging receivables, collection rates, and payment trends across their extensive client base. The platform provided detailed insights into debtors, invoices, promises to pay, and customer payment behavior—all accessible within a unified reporting system.

“Before Kolleno, we were making decisions based on incomplete information pulled from various spreadsheets. Now we have a complete picture of our accounts receivable performance across all our business segments”, explains Johnathan. 

The reporting system provided management-ready reports that could be automatically scheduled and distributed to key stakeholders. Everyone from accounts receivable specialists to executive leadership had access to the financial insights they needed. These reports enabled VAT Compliance to identify collection bottlenecks, optimize their dunning strategies, and measure the effectiveness of different communication approaches.

Kolleno’s analytics and reporting tools also provided valuable predictive insights, helping VAT Compliance anticipate payment patterns and proactively address potential issues before they impacted cash flow. This forward-looking capability proved especially valuable as the company continued to scale its services globally.

Centralized Dashboard

Kolleno provided a centralized dashboard, allowing VAT Compliance’s collections team to monitor and manage their accounts receivable operations from a single source of truth. The platform consolidated all critical metrics and collection activities into a comprehensive view, eliminating the need to navigate between multiple systems for information.

“Kolleno provides a bird’s eye view of our financial position at any point in time. We can easily analyse key data points and pinpoint issues in our collections process,” explains Jonathan Long. 

Managers could instantly spot trends, prioritize high-risk accounts, and allocate resources efficiently. Team members could instantly prioritize their activities based on clear visualizations of overdue balances and aging brackets. What’s more, customizable widgets allow each user to configure their view according to their specific role and responsibilities.

The dashboard became the central hub for all collections activities, significantly improving operational efficiency by reducing the time spent gathering and analyzing information from disparate sources. Emelda Chani, Accounts Receivable Specialist at VAT Compliance, noted, “Our collections team can practically live out of Kolleno. Everything we need is at our fingertips.”

The Onboarding Experience

The onboarding experience was seamless and efficient. The process was smooth, guided by Kolleno’s dedicated implementation team who worked closely with VAT Compliance’s finance department. 

“The onboarding process exceeded our expectations,” explained Jonathan. “We were concerned about introducing yet another system, but the Kolleno team guided us through every step.” The platform’s intuitive interface required minimal training, allowing team members to get up to speed quickly. 

Within just days of going live, VAT Compliance started to see the benefits of their new automated system.

The Impact

Kolleno reinvented VAT Compliance’s collections performance. Within just five months of implementation, the impact was clear:

• 44% reduction in overdue balance in the first 3 months
• 12 hours of work saved each week in the first month
• 90% of payments collected on time in the first 5 months

But statistics alone don’t tell the full story. Collections went from a daily struggle to a seamless, automated process. Payments rolled in on time. The team finally had control.

Before Kolleno, the collections team was drowning in manual processes. Team members spent countless hours drafting communications, tracking payments, and manually updating records. The fragmented system environment made it nearly impossible to prioritize high-risk accounts effectively, leading to inconsistent follow-ups and missed opportunities for collection.

“Kolleno’s consistent communication and reminders have significantly improved payment consistency,” highlights Simphiwe Thabethe, Accounts Receivable Specialist at VAT IT Compliance. “We’re achieving greater results with less effort than before.”

With Kolleno, automated tasks now handle routine follow-ups, freeing the team to focus on building stronger customer relationships. Instead of spending time on administrative work, collectors can engage in meaningful conversations with customers, understand their payment challenges, and develop personalized solutions.

Kolleno’s dashboard gave managers instant insight. What once took hours now takes seconds—helping them make smarter, faster decisions. The integration with Sage eliminated data silos once and for all, with changes in one system reflected instantly in the other.

Perhaps most importantly, the company experienced a cultural shift in how collections were viewed. What was once seen as a necessary but tedious back-office function has evolved into a strategic advantage that improves cash flow while enhancing customer relationships. With Kolleno, the team works smarter, faster, and with more confidence.

Ready to Transform Your Collections Process?

Struggling with overdue invoices? See how Kolleno can help. Book a demo today.

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