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Bills paid on time, invoices collected on time

Accounts payable and receivable

Short answer

For UK companies, Finbryn runs accounts payable and receivable inside Xero, QuickBooks Online or Sage: vendor bills entered, coded and paid on your approval, customer invoices carry the VAT detail HMRC expects, overdue accounts get chased, and both ledgers are reconciled every week, contracted through Northlane Solutions Inc..

Aged receivables

Illustrative client · August 2026

GBP

One balance past 60 days, being chased
Aged receivables
CustomerCurrent1-3061+
Customer A18,400--
Customer B9,2504,100-
Customer C-6,780-
Customer D12,600--
Customer E--1,450
Total40,25010,8801,450

Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.

AP and AR built around UK invoicing rules

Running payables and receivables in the UK means working inside Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage or FreeAgent, and getting the detail on a customer invoice right the first time. If your company is VAT-registered, every invoice needs your VAT registration number, the tax point, and VAT shown separately from net value, not bundled into a round figure and fixed later. We build that into the invoicing template at onboarding, so it is correct from the first invoice out, not the fiftieth.

On the payable side, supplier bills are entered and coded to your chart of accounts, then routed for your approval before anything is paid. Nothing moves without your release unless you choose, in writing, to hand that step to us. Larger purchase orders go through a three-way match against the purchase order and the goods received note, catching a price or quantity error before the bill is approved rather than after the money has gone.

On the receivable side, invoices go out on the schedule your contracts set, and overdue customers get a consistent follow-up cadence rather than an occasional email when someone notices. Incoming payments, whether by Faster Payments, BACS or card, are matched to the right invoice as they land, and a monthly ageing report shows current, 30, 60 and 90-plus day buckets so a slow-paying customer is visible before it becomes a cash problem.

Where the £90,000 threshold matters

A company crossing the £90,000 VAT registration threshold in the previous 12 months has to register for VAT and start issuing VAT invoices correctly. If you are close to that line, we flag it early so your invoicing and bill coding are ready before registration, not scrambled together after HMRC has confirmed it.

Weekly, not monthly

Books reconciled once a month tell you what happened weeks too late. We reconcile AP and AR weekly and close the month by business day five, so a duplicate supplier payment or a missed customer receipt surfaces while there is still time to act on it, and a named pod handles the account with a recorded handover memo whenever anyone changes.

Who you contract with

Northlane Solutions Inc. is the US company you contract with, and you keep ownership of the underlying Xero, QuickBooks Online or Sage file throughout. Any VAT return built on top of this bookkeeping is prepared by our team and filed by your appointed adviser, never by us directly.

Questions

Frequently asked questions: Accounts payable and receivable

Do you file our VAT return as part of AP and AR?

No. We keep the ledgers, code the transactions and prepare the figures a VAT return needs. Filing itself goes through your appointed adviser, who is set up with HMRC to submit it.

Which accounting software do you work in for UK clients?

Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage or FreeAgent, usually paired with Dext or Hubdoc for capturing bills and receipts. Tell us your stack at onboarding and we confirm exact support before you sign up.

Can you pay UK suppliers directly?

Payment runs are queued in your accounting or payment platform for your approval. Nothing releases until you sign off, unless you choose in writing to delegate that step to us.

What happens once we cross the VAT registration threshold?

We flag it as your turnover approaches £90,000 in a rolling 12 months, then adjust invoicing so VAT numbers, tax points and VAT amounts are shown correctly from your first VAT-registered invoice.

What is not included in the AP and AR service?

The service covers entering, coding and reconciling bills and invoices, chasing overdue accounts and matching payments. It does not include setting your pricing or credit terms, negotiating with suppliers, or filing your VAT return, which stays with a credentialed signer or your own team, working from the figures we reconcile each week.

How do you hand payables and receivables back if we bring the work in-house?

You keep the live Xero, QuickBooks Online or Sage file with every bill, invoice and reconciliation intact. We add a short written note on outstanding items, approval routing and any supplier or customer arrangement worth flagging, so an in-house hire or a new provider can pick the work up without re-tracing our steps.

How is pricing structured for AP and AR work?

Pricing is set against transaction volume and the number of bank, card and payment-processor accounts you run, not a flat fee regardless of size. Cadence, approval routing and any add-on work are agreed and set out in your engagement letter before work starts, so scope does not drift partway through a month.

What access do you need to run our payables and receivables?

We need view or entry-level access to your accounting software, bank feeds and any billing tool, scoped to what the task needs rather than full administrator rights. Payment release itself stays with you unless you choose, in writing, to hand that step over, and access is removed once the engagement ends.

Next step

Talk to the team that would run your books

A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.