If you're building out the transactional layer of your finance team and can only make one hire right now, the AP versus AR question deserves more than a gut-check answer. Both functions sit in the cash cycle, and both affect working capital, but they create different problems when understaffed – and the right hire depends on where your actual exposure is, not which one feels more pressing in the moment.
Accounts Payable (AP) is outgoing cash. An AP Specialist processes vendor invoices, manages payment schedules, handles three-way matching, and keeps vendors paid accurately and on time. When it's working, vendor relationships stay intact, late-payment penalties don't pile up (typically 1.5–2% monthly), and the CFO has a reliable view of outstanding obligations.
Accounts Receivable (AR) is incoming cash. An AR Specialist handles customer invoicing, tracks what's owed, drives collections follow-up, applies cash receipts, and maintains the aging report. When it's working, cash converts faster, which matters quite a bit when working capital is tight, and payroll is three weeks out.
Revenue is coming in, but the money isn't showing up on time. Collections follow-up is inconsistent or nonexistent. The aging report has balances sitting in the 60-day column that nobody has time to work through. This is the most common scenario where AR is the more urgent hire.
DSO creep is easy to overlook until it becomes a cash problem. Companies with dedicated AR management typically run 30–45-day DSO; without it, 60–75 days is common. That gap is real working capital sitting uncollected. If DSO has been drifting upward for a couple of quarters, that's where the hire needs to go.
Late payments damage supplier trust, and in some industries, that trust is operationally significant. If vendors are following up on overdue invoices, your AP aging shows a genuine backlog, or you've been missing early-payment discount windows – typically 2% net-10 – the payables function needs dedicated attention before the relationship and cost damage compounds further.
There's also a forecasting problem that often goes unnoticed. If outstanding payables aren't captured accurately, the CFO is working from a cash position that doesn't reflect what the company actually owes. Getting AP under control is frequently a prerequisite for having any real confidence in working capital projections.
Most growing companies need both functions staffed – the question is just which gap costs more right now. AP and AR together give you a complete view of the cash cycle, and companies that cover both tend to close faster, forecast more accurately, and pull the CFO out of transactional questions more reliably.
At moderate transaction volumes, a single AP/AR Specialist can handle both sides without much difficulty. That's often the right starting point, and worth confirming before assuming two separate hires are necessary.
Through MAVI, pre-vetted AP and AR Specialists with three to five-plus years of experience can be placed in as little as five days – at 50–70% below US-market rates, no upfront fees, and a 14-day trial before any longer commitment. Book a call to hire your next AP/AR Specialist.
Yes, at moderate transaction volumes. MAVI places combined AP/AR Specialists regularly, and for many companies, at this stage, it's the right starting point before volume eventually justifies splitting the roles.
Most growing companies should sit in the 30–45 day range. Consistently above 60 days is a sign that the AR function needs dedicated ownership. A focused AR Specialist working the aging report and following up systematically can move DSO meaningfully within 60–90 days – the improvement comes from attention that wasn't being paid before, not from anything technically complicated.
Look at which has the more immediate cash consequence. Collections lagging with working capital tight – hire AR first. Vendor relationships at risk or cash forecasts that don't reflect outstanding payables – hire AP first. In some cases, one hire through MAVI can cover both sides until volume grows enough to separate them.
Three to five years is the right range for most growing companies. Experienced enough to work independently and handle exceptions without direction, but not so senior that the scope is a mismatch. That's the profile MAVI's AP/AR Specialists are built around.