At a glance
| Input | Answers to 15 questions (7 optional) |
| Output | A PDF report, 4 sections |
| First run | Under 10 minutes |
| Requires | A Claude account with skills and code execution turned on |
| Based on | Upflow's Cash Collection Book, Chapters 1 through 9 |
| Benchmarks | DSO placed against SaaS medians and your industry, if you supply it |
Quickstart
- Turn on code execution in Claude. Users with Free, Pro, and Max accounts can find it under Settings → Capabilities. Team accounts have it on by default. Enterprise accounts need an owner to switch it on.
- Download the skill folder. Upload the file as it is, without unzipping it: go to Customize → Skills, click +, then “Create skill”, then “Upload a skill”.
- Toggle the skill on.
- Start a chat and type: Create my collections strategy.
- Claude opens a form. Answer 8 required questions and as many of the 7 optional ones as you want.
- Submit. The form copies your answers to your clipboard. Paste them into the chat as your next message.
- Claude scores you and builds the PDF in one pass.
What the form contains
Eight questions are required:
- What the business is optimizing for right now
- Monthly invoice volume
- Whether AR data sits in one system or several
- Whether you segment accounts
- Where late payments and disputes originate
- Whether you have a defined reminder and escalation timeline
- Whether customers pay through a branded self-service portal
- How much cash sits unapplied at any time
Seven are optional and sharpen the read: DSO, industry, collection channels, whether collections is cross-functional or finance-only, where disputes get logged, which payment methods you accept, and whether you steer customers toward faster-clearing ones.
The report
Diagnosis. Your current stage on the 5-stage cash collection maturity framework, with a stepper showing where you sit. Then a finding per chapter the form covered, each one tied to the specific answer that produced it. If you gave a DSO, it’s charted against the SaaS top quartile, median and bottom quartile, plus your industry benchmark. The section closes by naming your single biggest gap.
Strategy. A phased plan, not a list. Phase 1 fixes visibility and upstream causes, Phase 2 builds the collection process and payment experience, Phase 3 layers in what’s missing. Only the phases that apply to you appear. Each recommendation is a first step you could take on Monday, sized to your stage, and cites the chapter it comes from.
What else is in the book. Short reads on the chapters your answers didn’t cover in depth, so you know what you haven’t been scored on.
How your stage is decided
There are five stages in a sequential fashion.
| Stage | What it measures |
|---|---|
| 1. Measuring real-time AR data | Whether you know who's paid, in real time, with visibility shared beyond finance |
| 2. Setting up a systematic process | Segmentation, a documented timeline, disputes captured centrally, cash application under control |
| 3. Enabling new payment methods | Moving from waiting on the customer to pull payments and a branded portal |
| 4. Optimizing the payment method mix | Steering volume toward faster and cheaper methods rather than accepting whatever arrives |
| 5. Supervised autonomy | Not scored. Nothing in the form measures automation maturity, so the report describes it as what comes next |
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Fix |
|---|---|
| The skill didn't fire | Your message has to be close to "Create my collections strategy." A general question about DSO or dunning is answered normally instead. |
| The form won't send my answers | It can't send them. On submit it copies them to your clipboard. Paste them into the chat yourself. |
| Nothing copied to the clipboard | The form falls back to a text box holding the same answers. Copy from there. |
| The answer came back as chat text, not a PDF | Code execution and file creation is off. Turn it on and run it again. |
| No DSO chart in the report | You left DSO blank. The report skips the chart rather than inventing a number. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can’t find what you’re looking for?
Ask AI
No. The skill is free and runs on its own inside Claude.
No. It works from 15 answers. Nothing connects, nothing uploads.
The form takes a few minutes to load. The report builds in one pass after you paste your answers back.
Leave it blank. You’ll get your stage and your strategy, minus the benchmark chart.
Yes. Re-running it a quarter after you’ve worked through Phase 1 is the intended use.
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