AI credit control is software that decides when, how and in what tone to chase each unpaid invoice, within rules you set, in place of one reminder schedule for every customer. In Ireland it works under the same rules as a person chasing: statutory late payment interest only on business invoices, never on consumers, and legal steps left to you. It's most useful once you have more overdue accounts than you can follow up individually, and it still needs you to set the rules and handle disputes.
In this article
The short version
- AI credit control chooses timing, channel and tone per invoice within your rules.
- Disputes, customers in difficulty and legal steps still need a person.
- Statutory interest applies only to business and public body invoices, not consumers.
- Adfin's collection agents come with Enhanced credit control at 0.3% per paid invoice.
- Ask any provider what the software decides without your approval.
What AI credit control does differently
The reminders built into accounting software and business bank accounts work on a schedule. The days are fixed in advance, by you or by the software, and the same sequence goes to every customer with an unpaid invoice. QuickBooks Online in Ireland, for example, sends up to three automatic reminders per invoice, each timed up to 90 days before or after the due date. Revolut Business invoices send reminders seven days before the due date, on the day and three days after. Xero lets you set reminders before or after the due date at whatever frequency you choose.
A schedule treats a customer who always pays two days late the same as one who hasn't answered in a month. You can build more detailed schedules by hand, with different templates for different customers, but keeping them up to date becomes its own job as your customer list grows.
AI credit control changes who makes the per-customer choices. Instead of one sequence, the software decides for each invoice when the next message should go, which channel to use (email, SMS or WhatsApp, depending on the tool) and how firm the wording should be. It does that inside limits you set: which customers it can contact, how often, and when it should stop and hand back to you.
The term covers a wide range of products, and what's labelled AI in one tool may be a set of rules in another. To tell which you're looking at, ask what the software decides on its own, what it needs your approval for, and whether you can see and change every rule it follows.
Reminder schedules and AI chasing side by side
| Reminder schedule | AI credit control | |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | Fixed days you set, the same for each customer | Chosen per invoice within limits you approve |
| Channel | Whatever the template is set to | Can vary by customer, among the channels the tool supports |
| Wording | Templates you write | Tone adjusted per customer within rules you approve |
| Late payment interest | Worked out and added by you, unless the tool calculates it | Can be added automatically to business invoices, with waivers |
| Your role | Write the sequence, then follow up the exceptions | Set and review the rules, then handle disputes and escalations |
| Best fit | A small number of invoices, mostly paid after one reminder | More overdue accounts than you can follow up one by one |
What stays with you
Software can send messages and keep track of who owes what, but it can't decide what your customer relationships are worth. Some decisions belong with you whichever tool you use.
If a customer disputes an invoice, saying the work wasn't done or the amount is wrong, more reminders won't help. Chasing on that account should pause until you've sorted it out.
Whether to charge interest at all is also your call. ISME's survey of SME owners for Q1 2026 found that 82% don't charge interest on late payments and 13% are afraid to in case they lose the customer. Automation doesn't remove that judgement. A tool that applies interest by default should let you set a grace period and waive it for particular customers, so you decide where the line is.
Customers in genuine difficulty need a conversation, and an automated message can't judge that. Neither can it decide when an account goes to a solicitor. A 7-day demand letter before legal proceedings is usual practice, though not always a legal requirement, and the court you'd use depends on the amount: the District Court for claims up to €15,000, the Circuit Court up to €75,000 and the High Court above that. Unpaid invoices can't go through Small Claims, since debts are excluded from it.
Finally, you're responsible for the rules themselves. If an AI tool chases a customer you'd agreed to leave alone, it's usually because a rule wasn't set, so review the rules when you start and again after the first few weeks.
Irish rules any chasing tool has to follow
The European Communities (Late Payment in Commercial Transactions) Regulations 2012 (S.I. 580 of 2012) give businesses a right to interest and compensation when another business or a public body pays late. They don't cover consumers, meaning individuals buying outside their trade, business or profession. Any tool that adds interest automatically needs to know which of your customers are businesses and which aren't.
Statutory interest is the European Central Bank's main refinancing rate plus 8%, which is 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026, reset each 1 January and 1 July. It runs from the day after the payment date until the invoice is paid, and you don't have to send a reminder before you're entitled to it.
Fixed compensation sits on top: €40 for an invoice up to €1,000, €70 for one over €1,000 and up to €10,000, and €100 above €10,000. Where no payment date was agreed, payment is due 30 days after the later of receiving the invoice or delivery, and a tool should treat that as the payment date.
How Adfin's collection agents work
Adfin's credit control comes in two levels, Essential and Enhanced. Essential is free under fair use and gives you unlimited reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp, Xero or QuickBooks sync, statements and an aged debtors view, where each debtor can have an owner and next steps.
Enhanced credit control costs 0.3% per paid invoice, and only when it's used. With it, Adfin's collection agents choose the timing, channel and tone of each reminder, inside rules the business approves. Enhanced also adds statutory late payment interest to overdue invoices between businesses automatically, with grace periods and waivers for individual customers, and sends emails from your own address.
Payment links go out by email, SMS or WhatsApp, and customers can pay by SEPA direct debit, card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or bank transfer. Payments taken through Adfin are marked paid in Xero or QuickBooks automatically.
How to decide whether you need it
If you send a modest number of invoices and most are paid after one reminder, a schedule is probably enough. The reminders in Xero, QuickBooks or your business bank account, or a free reminder tool, are likely to cover it, and you can handle the few late payers yourself.
If you have a steady stream of overdue business invoices, different kinds of customer and no one whose job is chasing, AI credit control starts to make sense. The work it takes on is the per-customer judgement you'd otherwise make many times a month.
If most of your customers are consumers, statutory interest is off the table, so the case rests on timing and channel alone. Check whether the tool's choices are ones you'd want made automatically for individuals.
If an account is large or sensitive, you may prefer to keep it manual. Check that the tool lets you exclude particular customers, so those accounts stay with you.
Questions to ask any AI credit control provider
- What does the software decide on its own, and what needs my approval first?
- Can I see every rule it follows, and change it per customer?
- Which channels can it use, and does it send from my own email address?
- How does it tell business customers from consumers before adding interest?
- Can I set grace periods and waive interest for particular customers?
- What happens when a customer disputes an invoice or asks for more time?
- How is it priced: a monthly fee, a band based on your revenue, or a percentage of paid invoices?
Common questions
What is AI credit control? It's software that chooses when, how and in what tone to chase each unpaid invoice, within rules you set, in place of the same reminder schedule for every customer. You still handle disputes and legal steps.
Can AI add late payment interest to invoices in Ireland? Software can add statutory interest automatically to invoices between businesses, or to public bodies, under S.I. 580 of 2012. Statutory interest doesn't apply to consumers.
Will AI credit control replace my credit controller? It can take on routine chasing, but disputes, customers in difficulty and legal steps still need a person. The aim is that whoever handles credit control spends their time on those.
Is it safe to let software chase my customers? How safe it is depends on the rules you set, so choose a tool where you approve the rules, can exclude particular customers and can see what's been sent.
What does Adfin's AI credit control cost? Enhanced credit control, which includes Adfin's collection agents, costs 0.3% per paid invoice, only when it's used. Essential credit control with unlimited reminders is free under fair use.
Does AI credit control work with Xero and QuickBooks? Check which accounting software a tool syncs with before you sign up. Adfin is a certified Xero app and a certified QuickBooks app with two-way sync.
Sources
- Irish Statute Book - S.I. No. 580 of 2012, European Communities (Late Payment in Commercial Transactions) Regulations 2012 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2012/si/580/made/en/print
- Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment - Late payment interest rate (accurate as of November 2026) https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/what-we-do/supports-for-smes/late-payments/late-payment-interest-rate-
- ISME - Prompt Payments Report Q1 2026 (accurate as of November 2026) https://isme.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Q1-2026-Prompt-Payments.pdf
- Citizens Information - Court proceedings for recovering debts (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money-and-tax/personal-finance/debt/court-procedures/
- Courts Service - About small claims (accurate as of November 2026) https://courts.ie/guides/about-small-claim
- QuickBooks - Send invoice reminders, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-ie/help-article/invoicing/send-invoice-reminders-automatically-manually/L84cQjpxo_IE_en_IE
