Research
Research and architectural arguments
Long-form pieces on first-party invoice collection, AI voice compliance architecture, and the economics of AR follow-up. Each piece grounds claims in public sources or clearly hedges as observation. Where we do not yet have representative-sample data, we say so.
Published 2026-05-08
The recovery curve — why day-3 first-party calling outperforms day-90 agency referral
An architectural argument grounded in industry-published recovery data, with implications for how SMBs should structure their AR follow-up sequence.
Industry data published by the commercial collection sector shows recovery rates on overdue invoices collapse fast — typically 40-60 percent recovery in the first 90 days, dropping to 25-30 percent in the 90-180 day window, and rarely exceeding 15 percent past the one-year mark. …
Published 2026-05-08
The compliance architecture problem in AI voice — why prompt-instructed compliance is one adversarial input away from class action
After the FCC's February 2024 Declaratory Ruling, AI voice calls fall squarely under TCPA's strict-liability framing. Most vendors handle compliance inside the LLM prompt. Here is why that architecture is structurally unsafe — and what the alternative looks like.
The FCC's February 2024 Declaratory Ruling confirmed that AI-generated voice calls are "artificial or prerecorded voice" under TCPA. Strict-liability framing means $500 per call inadvertent, up to $1500 per call willful, with class actions as the dominant enforcement vehicle. Mos…
Published 2026-05-08
The true cost of slow AR: a financial framework for service business owners
Most owners see the outstanding balance. Few calculate the carrying cost, the write-off probability, and the management-time drain — together these can quietly consume 2–4% of annual revenue.
High DSO costs more than the outstanding balance. Every dollar of receivables tied up in slow payment carries an opportunity cost of roughly 6–10% annualized (your cost of capital), a write-off risk that compounds exponentially with age — industry data shows recovery rates fall f…
Published 2026-05-08
Why small businesses systematically under-follow-up on overdue invoices — a behavioral economics analysis
Avoidance, sunk-cost framing, and relationship preservation instincts predictably cause owners to wait too long. The data on what the delay costs, and the architectural fix.
Survey data from accounting software providers consistently shows that the median small-business owner sends fewer than two follow-ups on an overdue invoice before writing it off mentally — despite the invoice remaining legally collectible for years. The root cause is not ignoran…
Published 2026-05-08
DSO benchmarks by industry — what's normal and what signals a collection problem
A sector-by-sector look at Days Sales Outstanding benchmarks, the variables that drive industry differences, and a practical framework for diagnosing your own AR health.
Days Sales Outstanding varies by an order of magnitude across industries — retail and quick-service businesses often run under 20 days because they collect at point of sale; construction, healthcare, and government contracting routinely see 60–90+ day DSOs because billing cycles …