Outsourced accounts receivable · B2B credit control · UK & international
Receivables, handled properly.
Relationship-led credit control and accounts receivable for UK service businesses billing overseas clients, and overseas businesses with customers in the UK.
Start with a short introductory conversation. No ledger or customer details needed.
- UK based
- B2B receivables
- International client communication
- Multi-currency
- Relationships protected
- Founder-led service
Illustrative example
Where overdue invoices actually get stuck
| Invoice | Amount | Overdue | What's wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| INV-4756 | $18,412 | 94 days | Sent to an approver who left in March |
| INV-5410 | €7,155 | 61 days | Reference format their portal rejects |
| INV-5686 | AED 1,950 | 47 days | Approved, wire returned, nobody told you |
| INV-5877 | £4,552 | 38 days | Genuinely late |
Only one of those four is a chasing problem.
An approver who has moved on, a reference an AP portal will not accept, a returned transfer nobody flagged, a purchase order never raised: any of these can hold up payment on work you have already delivered. Overdue B2B invoices are far more often the result of a process failure than an unwillingness to pay, which is why steady, informed follow-up recovers more than pressure ever does.
What Penny & Paper does
Firm on the invoice. Considered with the client.
Penny & Paper is a UK-based outsourced accounts receivable and credit control service for B2B businesses, with particular experience supporting service businesses that invoice customers internationally. You have already delivered the work; we make sure the commercial follow-through is handled with the same care, from routine credit control to overdue international accounts.
Who we work with
We work primarily with established agencies, consultancies and professional service businesses with recurring B2B invoices. The important factor is the complexity and volume of your receivables rather than the size of your business. Marketing and creative agencies, consultancies, technology and other B2B service companies are a natural fit.
A particular strength in cross-border work
International invoicing is where careful receivables work matters most, and it is where Penny & Paper is especially well positioned. Overseas billing is not a requirement, though: a UK company invoicing UK customers is just as welcome where the receivables warrant dedicated attention.
Founder-led, by design
Penny & Paper is run by Sebastian Prendiville, who handles every client ledger personally. A limited number of clients means each ledger is worked properly rather than processed. Meet the founder.
Services & pricing
A clear service schedule.
Hand over day-to-day credit control on a fixed monthly fee, start with a one-off review, or agree a specific receivables project. Multi-currency is standard, not an add-on. Fees are agreed in writing before any work begins.
Focused Credit Control
For smaller ledgers that need consistent follow-up without outsourcing the entire receivables function. Focused Credit Control is designed for up to 15 overdue invoices across up to 10 customer accounts.
- Up to 15 overdue invoices
- Up to 10 customer accounts
- One dedicated credit-control working session each week
- Professional customer follow-up in your approved tone
- Weekday monitoring of payment replies and queries
- An agreed chasing and escalation process
- Friday progress update, every week
- Clear next actions on every outstanding item
- International and multi-currency support where required
Managed Receivables
Managed Receivables starts from £950 per month, for larger or more involved ledgers requiring more frequent credit-control support and coordination. The final monthly fee depends on invoice volume, customer and account volume, ledger complexity and working frequency.
- Several dedicated receivables working sessions each week
- Ongoing customer follow-up
- Payment-query investigation
- Purchase order issues
- AP and finance-portal issues
- Approval-path investigation
- Coordination with your finance team
- Escalation management, always with your approval
- Regular ledger monitoring
- Friday reporting, with clear ownership and next actions
- International and multi-currency support
Overdue Invoice Review
A focused review for businesses that want clarity on a small group of overdue invoices before committing to ongoing support. The Overdue Invoice Review covers up to 10 overdue invoices. It is a diagnostic, not a collection service.
- Review of each outstanding invoice
- Identification of the apparent blocker on each one
- Outstanding payment queries noted
- Missing PO, documentation or approval issues where apparent
- Who owns the next action, identified
- A recommended next step for each invoice
- Written invoice-by-invoice findings
- A prioritised action plan
For larger ledgers or more complex receivables issues, Penny & Paper can undertake a broader review of outstanding balances, customer queries and collection processes.
Receivables projects
For older balances, complex payment issues or a specifically agreed receivables backlog, scope and pricing are agreed individually. Kept separate from monthly support so the two never overlap.
- An agreed invoice list, fixed at the start
- Approval and payment-issue investigation
- Communication with the customer's finance team
- Remittance and payment follow-up
Prefer to talk it through first? Book a 20-minute introductory call.
Commercial terms
- Billing
- Monthly fees are invoiced in advance.
- Initial term
- Three months on monthly support, then rolling with 30 days' notice from either side.
- Your money
- Customers pay directly into your own bank account. Penny & Paper never handles client funds.
- Your decisions
- Payment plans, concessions, credit notes and escalations always need your approval first.
- Projects
- Receivables projects are scoped and priced in writing before any work starts.
- VAT
- Penny & Paper is not currently VAT registered, so the prices shown are the amounts payable.
International
International is not an add-on.
Your clients can be international, and your credit control can still feel personal. GBP, USD, EUR, AED and other client currencies can all sit inside the same engagement. The work is about understanding the approval path, payment process and allocation behind each invoice, not charging extra because the customer pays in another currency.
UK company, international customer
For UK consultancies, agencies and professional service firms whose client base does not stop at the border, follow-up stays measured, commercially aware and consistent with the reputation you have built.
International company, UK customer
If you are a service business in Europe, the Gulf or North America with customers in the UK, Penny & Paper can act as your UK-side receivables partner: UK business hours, UK payment conventions and customer communication, with clear reporting back to your finance team wherever it sits.
Penny & Paper does not provide foreign exchange services and does not receive customer payments. Funds are always paid directly to your business.
UK accounts · managed follow-up
North America · time-zone aware
European clients · multi-currency
Gulf clients · UK-side partner
How the working relationship runs
Clear ownership, every step.
Contact in your name
Customers are contacted in a tone and chasing ladder agreed with you at onboarding, and, where arranged, from your own domain and process.
You keep the decisions
Payment plans, concessions, credit notes and escalations always need your sign-off before anything is agreed with a customer.
Payments stay with you
Customers continue to pay directly into your bank account. Penny & Paper does not handle client funds.
A steady rhythm
The ledger is worked in dedicated sessions each week, with a written Friday update covering progress, blockers and the decisions needed from you.
Availability
Client queries are answered within one working day, Monday to Friday. Anything urgent is flagged the same day.
Your information
Access is limited to what the work requires, under a written confidentiality agreement. Penny & Paper is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ZC161572).
Fictional example
What a Friday update looks like
| Item | Status | Next step | Needed from you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payment received · £23,400 | Confirmed received | Closed from follow-up | Nothing |
| INV-2210 · $9,800 | Approver changed | New approver confirmed, on their payment run for 25 September | Nothing |
| INV-2187 · €4,150 | PO mismatch | Reissue the invoice quoting their purchase order reference | Approve the reissue |
| INV-2154 · £6,200 | Two chasers, no reply | Escalate to their finance director with a summary of contact to date | Your OK to escalate |
Progress, blockers and the decisions you need to make, in one clear update every Friday.
Approach
Persistent without becoming abrasive.
The aim is not simply to chase invoices. It is to create a better payment rhythm while keeping good commercial relationships intact. Successful receivables management combines persistence with commercial judgement.
Ledger review
We establish what is outstanding, what has already happened and which relationships need particular care.
Clear contact
Professional follow-up in a tone appropriate to your business and the client relationship.
Resolution
We keep momentum until there is payment, a committed payment date or a clear next commercial action.
Better control
Patterns are fed back into the process so fewer invoices become problems in the first place.
Outsourced receivables · explained
Where outsourced credit control fits.
What is outsourced accounts receivable?
Outsourced accounts receivable means an external specialist takes responsibility for agreed invoice follow-up, payment queries, customer finance communication and receivables reporting, while payments continue to go directly to your business. You keep the customer relationship and the final decisions; the day-to-day follow-through is handled for you on a fixed monthly fee.
What is B2B credit control?
B2B credit control is the disciplined follow-up of business-to-business invoices from the point they are due until they are paid. In practice that means confirming the invoice reached the right approver, resolving purchase order and AP-portal issues, answering payment queries, agreeing payment dates and escalating only when needed, all in a tone that protects the commercial relationship.
When does outsourcing credit control make sense?
It tends to make sense when overdue balances are creeping up, when founders or finance teams are spending too long chasing, when follow-up has become inconsistent, when customers are international, when purchase order or AP-portal issues keep stalling payment, or when a finance team is simply too small to dedicate someone to receivables.
Can international accounts receivable be outsourced?
Yes. Penny & Paper is positioned for UK businesses invoicing customers overseas, and for overseas service businesses with customers in the UK. Multiple currencies can sit within one engagement, and the focus stays on the approval path and payment process behind each invoice rather than the currency it is billed in.
How does Penny & Paper protect customer relationships?
Follow-up runs in a tone and chasing ladder agreed with you, escalation only happens with your approval, and payment plans, concessions and credit notes are always your decision. Because the service is founder-led, the same person handles your ledger and your customers throughout, so communication stays consistent and considered.
How is this different from a debt collection agency?
Penny & Paper is an outsourced receivables and credit control service, not a debt collection agency, a legal enforcement business or a factoring company. The work is ongoing, relationship-conscious follow-up of live commercial invoices, carried out in your name, rather than adversarial recovery of written-off debt.
Who you'll be working with
One person. Your ledger. Handled properly.
"The best credit control should strengthen the commercial discipline of a business without changing the way its clients feel about working with it."
I'm Sebastian Prendiville, the founder of Penny & Paper. Clients work directly with me: I handle your ledger, speak to your customers and report back to you personally.
My background is in commercial finance. In my current in-house role I run the finance function for a UK service business with clients across the US and Europe, where international receivables are a core responsibility: invoice approval, client finance-team communication, multi-currency receipts and payment tracking. Before that I spent three years in finance and operations at a large vehicle rental group, managing purchase ledger across the UK and Ireland and, earlier, running a branch with a team of eight.
Receivables done well is a mix of process, persistence and knowing when a conversation matters more than a reminder email. That is the balance I bring to every client. Penny & Paper runs alongside my in-house role, so I take on a limited number of clients and run each ledger personally.
Tell us what you need
Tell us where the ledger is getting stuck.
Your name, an email address and a few lines on what is happening are enough. No lengthy brief required, and please do not include customer names, invoice details or confidential ledger data at this stage.
Privacy notice
How we handle your information.
Last updated September 2026.
Who we are
Penny & Paper is the trading name of Sebastian Prendiville, a sole trader based in Shrewsbury, England. Sebastian Prendiville, trading as Penny & Paper, is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office as a data controller, registration reference ZC161572. Contact: hello@pennyandpaper.co.uk.
What we collect through this website
If you use the enquiry form we collect your name, your work email address and whatever you choose to tell us about your receivables. Please do not include customer names, invoice details or other personal data about third parties in your enquiry. If you email us directly we hold that correspondence.
Why we use it
To reply to your enquiry, arrange an introductory conversation and, if you decide to work with us, to prepare a proposal. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interest in responding to enquiries about our services and, where a contract follows, the steps needed to enter into it. We do not use your details for marketing and we do not sell or share them.
Who processes it
The enquiry form is provided and hosted by Netlify, which processes submissions on our behalf. Email is handled by our email provider. Both act under their own data processing terms.
How long we keep it
Enquiries that do not lead to an engagement are deleted within twelve months of our last contact. Information relating to a client engagement is kept for the duration of the engagement and for the period required by law afterwards.
Client work
When we run receivables for a client we handle personal data belonging to that client's customers as a data processor, under a written engagement letter and confidentiality agreement. How that data is handled is set out in those documents rather than in this notice.
Your rights
You can ask us to confirm what information we hold about you, to correct it or to delete it, and you can object to our processing. Email hello@pennyandpaper.co.uk. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
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