#15 – From the Trenches - MSP AR Automation & Cash Flow (Nicholas Reimer)

Modernize billing, reduce DSO, and boost cash flow without adding headcount. In this From the Trenches episode, Josh Peterson talks with Nicholas Rhyme from Alternative Payments about practical ways MSPs can automate A/R, standardize ACH, and offer financing options that speed up quote-to-cash. ✅ Enjoyed this episode?  Like, subscribe, and share your biggest takeaway below.  https://beringmckinley.com/bering-mckinley-podcast-blog Guest: Nicholas Rhyme, Partnerships at Alternative Payments. If you’re still juggling checks, manual bank transfers, or “we’ll review the invoice” delays, this conversation gives you a cleaner path. Nicholas shares patterns he’s seeing across hundreds of MSPs and what the top performers do differently: set expectations at onboarding, default to automated ACH, and present clear payment options (including short-term financing) that protect margins and shorten DSO—all without turning your process into a sales pitch. 👉 Why “options win”: ACH as the default, credit cards with transparent pass-through fees, and a simple financing button for one-off spikes 👉 Quote-to-cash acceleration: send the payment experience at signature, not weeks later, and integrate with quoting tools 👉 Activation rate to processor “cost”: the hidden time drain when 40% of payments bypass your portal 👉 Policy over personality: move from a “Janet knows everyone” hero workflow to standardized collection rules 👉 Niche and ICP effects: how vertical focus often improves A/R cycles and enterprise value You’ll walk away with wording to reset legacy clients, a first-pass chaptered checklist to audit A/R friction, and next steps to reduce DSO fast. “Visit https://beringmckinley.com for more MSP resources.” 🔗 Resources & Links • Nicholas Reimer: https://alternativepayments.com  @alternativepayments   • Bering McKinley MSP Consulting: https://beringmckinley.com ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 – Welcome & topic setup 00:29 – Meet Nicholas Rhyme (Alternative Payments) 01:17 – Entrepreneurial roots & ops lessons 04:59 – Building software to fix logistics chaos 08:44 – Plain-English: what A/R automation actually does 09:45 – “V1 vs V2” payment systems and why iteration matters 18:16 – Passing credit card fees (and why ACH wins) 21:03 – Short-term financing as a client option 25:19 – Where financing shows up in the payment flow 29:10 – Quote-to-cash: trigger payments at signature 31:43 – Gold-star example: 100% automated ACH 37:18 – Two common mistakes: break/fix and checks 46:31 – Tracking DSO and next steps 🔍 Primary Keywords msp accounts receivable, msp cash flow, ach payments msp, dso reduction, msp billing automation, quote to cash msp, payment portal msp, financing options b2b 🔍 Secondary Keywords credit card fee pass through, ar automation tools, invoice payment automation, connectwise billing tips, msp operations, activation rate payments, collections policy msp, check processing drawbacks #️⃣ Hashtags #beringmckinley #bmkvisionpodcast #msp #managedservices #accountsreceivable #cashflow #ach #dsoreduction #billingautomation #quotetocash #invoicing #payments #connectwise #mspprofitability #operations #arautomation #financing #creditcardfees #smallbusinessfinance #itservices