Summary
- Which SMBs benefit from credit control software. An overview of the types of businesses that often need a solution and the rough thresholds when automation makes sense.
- The shortlist of credit control tools. Four affordable options for a UK small business using Xero, Quickbooks, Stripe or Sage: Statey, Satago, Credit Hound, Trove. Jump to the tools
- What credit control for SMBs costs. Entry prices start from £8 for just automating statements up to £50 for chasing, late fees and payment plans.
- What good looks like. Start chasing before the due date, keep it consistent, group customers by payment behaviour, and track DSO.
If you want a broader overview of the whole market, start with credit control software.
When does a small business need a credit control tool
It’s often the following businesses that are particularly prone to overdue invoices:
- Service businesses (e.g. agencies, consultancies). These businesses often invoice for their services in arrears rather than taking payment in advance.
- Construction businesses. Payment is usually made by bank transfer and most of the business spends a chunk of time away from their desks.
- Scaling businesses. If you are going through a growth streak, you will be fully focused on new business. Keeping up with invoicing is one of the first things to go.
With that said, any business can start thinking about credit control automation if they are experiencing any of the following:
- You spend more than 1 hour a week chasing invoices.
- You have 10 or more overdue invoices (and this number is increasing).
- You are manually calculating and applying late payment fees.
Xero’s own reminders are the free baseline most of these businesses are chasing from already: five reminders per invoice, no per-customer schedules, and they send from Xero rather than your own address. If any of these sound familiar, that’s usually the baseline you’ve outgrown, and automating credit control is going to help.
Best credit control tools for small UK businesses
Statey starts at £8 a month and does one job. Credit Hound, Satago and Trove all start between £45 and £50 and chase properly. The deciding factor is usually which accounting system you’re on, not price.
| Tool | Best for businesses… | Accounting integrations | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statey | Who are price conscious and happy to automate statements only | Xero | From £8/month |
| Credit Hound | Using Sage | Sage, Infor SunSystems, Xero | From £45/month |
| Satago | Using credit-risk data alongside chasing | Sage, Xero, FreeAgent, QuickBooks | From £45/month |
| Trove | Chasing unpaid invoices and applying late fees where needed | Xero, Quickbooks, FreeAgent, Stripe | From £50/month |
If you’re a finance team comparing mid-market and enterprise platforms like Chaser, Kolleno and Upflow instead, our credit control software compared guide covers those.
Detailed overview of SMB credit control tools
The best tool for your business will depend on what you are solving for. Here’s each credit control tool with a summary of their key features and who they are best for.
Trove
- Price: £50 / month
- Xero rating: 5/5 and a Xero 2026 Growth App
- Key features: Late fee calculations, personalised emailing and statements, email bounce monitoring.
Trove is the most well-rounded tool in terms of features for chasing down unpaid invoices. It is designed for small businesses looking to automate the whole process, from sending chaser emails to automatically applying late fees where needed. It is also one of the most user friendly as shown by their selection as a Xero 2026 Growth App.
Satago
- Price: £45 / month
- Xero rating: 4.9/5
- Key features: credit checks and risk scoring.
Satago is the only tool that offers serious credit insights as part of the product. If you often check customers manually before agreeing to work with them, Satago can automate that process for you and monitor risks in your customer base going forwards.
Credit Hound
- Price: £45 / month
- Xero rating: Not in the app store
- Key features: Sage integration
Credit Hound is a Sage-ecosystem product and that’s the main case for it. If you’re on Sage 50 or Sage 200 it fits the way your ledger already works. Other tools on the list like Trove and Statey do not have this advantage.
Statey
- Price: £8 / month
- Xero rating: 4.6/5
- Key features: affordable way to automate statements
Statey does one thing: automated Xero statements. If that’s all you need, the £8 price point is by far the cheapest option on the list. One watch out though - it does not include sending from your own domain, so emails from a @stateyapp email address. Statey alternatives for Xero users covers Statey limitations in more detail.
Where to go next
This page covers the basics. For more detail on the SMB side of the market, here’s where to go next:
- Affordable credit control software - Statey, Satago, ezyCollect and Trove compared
- Affordable credit control software pricing - what each of those actually costs
- Statey alternatives: Xero statement add-ons compared - for businesses that mainly need statements automated
- Satago alternatives: the best tools for chasing, credit checks and invoice financing - for splitting Satago’s three jobs out into dedicated tools
- Tracking overdue invoices across a team in Xero - for a shared view when more than one person chases
- Affordable dunning software - pricing across the wider dunning market
- AI credit control software for small businesses - what AI actually adds to chasing, and how much you need
For the wider market, including enterprise-grade platforms, see the full credit control software guide.
Trove is credit control software for UK small businesses. It connects to Xero, FreeAgent, NetSuite and Stripe, and takes about five minutes to set up.
