Kolleno vs. Upflow: Finding the Right Accounts Receivable (AR) Solution for Your Business

Choosing the right Accounts Receivable (AR) platform is key to managing cash flow, building strong customer relationships, and unlocking new growth for your business.

When comparing options, it’s important to find a solution that fits your needs today and will grow with you as your business evolves.

Kolleno does a predictable job for small businesses with its focus on simple automation. But Upflow takes AR to the next level, offering a more advanced, scalable solution that’s perfect for businesses with more complex AR needs.

Upflow stands out with our unique approach to Financial Relationship Management (FRM). We understand that cash collection isn’t just about getting paid faster—it’s about balancing payment follow-ups with the customer experience to make the right decisions for both immediate cash flow and long-term growth.

Too often, “effective” cash collection damages future customer relationships by creating a negative experience. Upflow eliminates that risk, ensuring you collect payments without compromising future value.

Kolleno: A Good Fit for SMBs

Kolleno is a solid choice for SMBs that need basic automation to manage AR. With nearly 100 positive reviews on G2, predominantly from very small businesses, it's clear that teams with straightforward AR needs find it easy to use and effective.

However, if you’re planning for growth or have more complex AR processes, Kolleno might not offer the deep functionality, integrations, or scalability that you need.

Upflow: The Future of AR - Financial Relationship Management

Upflow is built for companies looking for more than just automation. We help businesses rethink how they handle AR by shifting the focus from simply speeding up collections to improving customer relationships and driving financial success.

With Upflow, businesses can:

• Communicate with customers more effectively by giving AR teams the right tools and context to engage positively.

• Strengthen long-term relationships by aligning AR processes with broader customer success strategies.

It’s not just about getting paid faster; it’s about building stronger connections that lead to long-term success.

Advanced Analytics and Customizable Dashboards

Upflow gives you more flexibility when it comes to reporting. Unlike Kolleno, which doesn’t offer the same level of customization, Upflow’s analytics dashboards let businesses:

• Create custom reports tailored to your financial needs.

• Track AR performance in real-time.

• Gain clearer visibility into cash flow and outstanding invoices.

This level of flexibility helps you make smarter, data-driven decisions faster.

“If there's one thing that disappoints me a bit, it's the reporting feature. It's great to have all that data available in the form of downloadable reports, but more in-built report formats would make life a lot easier. Not everyone's a whizz at data analysis, so this would be a big help.” - Kolleno user on G2.

Salesforce Integration Brings AR to the Heart of Your Customer Relationships

For businesses already using Salesforce, Upflow’s direct integration is a game-changer. This integration connects AR data with your customer records, giving you a complete financial picture in one place. It ensures that both finance and sales teams have real-time visibility into outstanding payments, making it easier to align strategies and streamline collections.

The integration also leverages insights from your customer interactions to fine-tune your approach, helping you optimize cash collection and improve payment outcomes.

While Kolleno offers integrations to other tools, Upflow’s direct sync with Salesforce provides a seamless flow of data, making it easier for teams across your business to stay aligned and make data-driven decisions quickly. This feature is especially useful for companies that rely heavily on CRM data to manage customer relationships and optimize revenue operations.

Cash Collection Collaboration: Unlimited Users Without Extra Costs

With Kolleno, you pay for each user, which can add up quickly. More than that, the extra cost could prevent you from making cash collection the business-wide focus it needs to be. After all, getting paid on time is a business issue, not just a finance one! So a whole range of people in your business should be involved - from finance, to sales and customer success.

Upflow offers unlimited team member access with no additional fees, making it easier for finance, sales, and customer success teams to work together on AR without worrying about user limits.

For Upflow merchant PlayPlay, the ability to add unlimited users regardless of their Upflow pricing package has been a real game changer in ensuring everyone’s on the same page in their cash collection efforts.

“We cannot pay for a NetSuite user access for every CS team member or sales team member. But with Upflow, we can add them so they can see their customer invoices and payments. I'd say that's the best advantage I see.” - Camille Moreaud, Revenue Operations Manager, PlayPlay.

User Experience: Easy to Pick Up and Go

When it comes to user experience, Upflow stands out as a truly intuitive platform. Many users find that it’s simple to get started with minimal training, allowing teams to hit the ground running.

As Francis Poirier from Pedlex puts it, “We just give our team a login to Upflow and after an hour or two, they figure it out by themselves.”

This ease of use is a common theme, with users often noting how quick it is for their teams to become proficient with the tool.

Emilie Hart, Finance Operations Team Lead at WorkMotion, describes the platform as “really uncomplicated,” emphasizing how easily their team adapts to Upflow.

Similarly, Evan Riesman, Controller at Passport Global, highlights that with Upflow, “Training time really didn't exist. I mean, we didn't even need it.”

On the other hand, while Kolleno is a solid solution, some users have noted that its interface and features can be a bit more challenging to navigate without additional support. One G2 user shared that while Kolleno is great, they wished it had “more detailed tutorials or an expanded help section,” as they initially struggled to grasp certain features. The help center, at times, was also “difficult to navigate.”

Upflow’s user-friendly design, paired with minimal training requirements, ensures a smooth and seamless onboarding process.

Fully Automated Cash Application and Payment Reconciliation

In the past, businesses might have chosen Kolleno for its cash application features.

However, Upflow also offers fully automated cash application, covering the entire process from start to finish.

Matching incoming payments to corresponding invoices, cash application functionality eliminates the time and effort involved in manual reconciliation and helps reduce human error, ensuring that your cash flow tracking is always accurate.

The ability to fully automate cash application is valuable because it streamlines your AR processes, freeing up your team to focus on higher-priority tasks like customer engagement. It also ensures that your financial data is always up-to-date, providing a clearer picture of your business’s cash flow and financial health.

Upflow’s automation in this area ensures a seamless workflow, allowing businesses to handle payments more efficiently.

And with this functionality, Upflow offers complete parity with Kolleno, making it an even stronger choice for businesses that need a reliable and automated AR solution.

Which Solution Is Right for Your Business?

Kolleno is a good option for small businesses with straightforward AR needs. But if you’re looking for a more advanced, scalable solution that enhances customer relationships and grows with your business, Upflow is the better choice.

(Yes, of course we were going to say that!…but hopefully you now see why we’re confident you’ll agree).

With complete cash application automation, customizable dashboards, and seamless Salesforce integration, Upflow supports businesses as they scale.

Plus, Upflow’s approach to Financial Relationship Management turns your once transactional AR processes into a tool for stronger customer relationships and healthier long-term growth.

Interested in going further? Unlike Kolleno, which doesn’t offer a free version, Upflow has a free version you can try today. Click below to get started with our Discover plan and see the difference for yourself.