Most invoice chasing software will tell you it does everything you need. The reality is that most tools either charge more than a small finance team can justify, or they’re too basic to actually save you much time. Finding the right balance takes a bit of work.
This article explains what features actually matter if you’re a business with one or two people handling finance, what to ignore, and how to think about pricing models so you don’t get caught out as your business grows.
The features that actually matter
There are a handful of features that do real work in a small finance team. Everything else is nice to have at best, and a reason to charge you more at worst.
Emails scheduled automatically from your inbox
Notes and tasks on customer accounts
Keep emails sounding human
Customer segmentation into different workflows
Payment policies
Advanced AR analytics
Debt collection add-on
Emails scheduled automatically from your inbox
This is the core job. You set up a sequence - a reminder three days before due, one on the day, another a week after - and the software sends them without you touching it. If a tool can’t do this reliably and flexibly, nothing else it offers matters.
The thing to check here is how much control you get over timing and content. Some tools give you a rigid sequence with limited options to adjust. Others let you build exactly the schedule that fits how your customers actually pay.
Notes and tasks on customer accounts
Automated reminders handle most of your overdue invoices. But some customers need a personal call, or have explained they’re waiting on a purchase order, or have promised to pay on a specific date. You need somewhere to record that and set yourself a reminder to follow up.
Without this, you end up maintaining a separate spreadsheet alongside your chasing software, which defeats the point. The best tools keep everything in one place: the reminder history, your notes, and your next action.
Keep emails sounding human
If you’re sending the same reminder to the same customer every month, they’ll start ignoring it. Good invoice chasing software subtly varies the wording of each email so repeated reminders don’t sound mechanical - customers notice the difference, even if they can’t articulate why.
This is one area where AI genuinely earns its place. Rather than generating emails from scratch, it makes small adjustments to tone and phrasing that keep things feeling personal at scale.
Customer segmentation into different workflows
Not all customers should receive the same sequence. A longstanding client who occasionally pays late deserves a softer tone than a new customer who is 45 days overdue on their first invoice. A high-value account might warrant a phone call before any automated email goes out.
The ability to put different customers into different workflows - with different timing, different tone, and different escalation paths - is what turns a basic reminder tool into something that actually protects customer relationships while still getting you paid. It’s worth having, but it’s not the first thing to look for.
Payment policies
The ability to automatically apply late payment fees or offer structured payment plans can be genuinely useful, particularly if you have customers who regularly push terms. It’s not something every business needs day-to-day, but if late payment charges are part of how you operate, it’s worth checking whether the tool supports it natively rather than requiring a manual workaround.
Advanced AR analytics and dashboards
DSO tracking, billing cohort analysis, cash flow forecasting by customer segment. These are genuinely useful if you have a dedicated credit controller or a CFO who wants to report on receivables performance. If you’re a business owner or part-time bookkeeper doing this alongside ten other things, you’ll look at these dashboards once and never open them again. They’re a reason some tools cost significantly more. Don’t pay for them if you won’t use them.
Debt collection integration
Some tools offer a pathway to a collections agency if reminders fail. For most small businesses, the number of invoices that reach this stage is small enough that you can handle it yourself when it happens. It’s not worth paying a premium for it as a built-in feature.
How to think about pricing
The dominant pricing model in invoice chasing software charges you based on your annual turnover or ARR. To give some examples, Chaser starts at £199 per month for businesses under £4 million turnover, then jumps to £599 once you cross that threshold. Upflow also charges you based on your revenue volume. We’ve taken a closer look at their pricing models here.
The problem with this model is that your software bill grows as your business grows, even if you’re using the product in exactly the same way. A business that doubles its revenue from £3 million to £6 million would see their Chaser bill triple overnight from £199 to £599.
For businesses that are growing, a fixed monthly price that doesn’t change with turnover is significantly easier to budget for and often considerably cheaper.
The other thing to check is user limits. Some tools restrict the number of users on their entry-level plan, which becomes a problem if you want your accountant, a second finance person, or an account manager to have access. User limits at the lower tier often mean you end up doing more work yourself rather than being able to delegate.
Where Trove fits
Trove is built for businesses up to around £30 million ARR with one or two people handling finance. It has a fixed monthly price that doesn’t change with your turnover, no user limits, and the three features above - automated scheduling, notes and tasks, and keeping emails sounding human - are all core to how it works.
Setup typically takes under an hour for businesses already on Xero, FreeAgent or Stripe. There’s a 30-day free trial with full access and no credit card required.
Start a free trial or book a demo if you’d like to see it first.
