Outstanding invoices require timely and consistent follow-up, without this necessarily compromising your relationship with your customer. A professional approach to your accounts receivable management may include: payment monitoring, customer contact, reporting and, where necessary, referral to a debt collection agency.
The approach is tailored to your customers, your working methods and your preferred means of communication. This results in a bespoke credit management system, with a more structured follow-up process and a clear overview of your outstanding receivables.
Good accounts receivable management ensures that invoices are paid on time. This starts with setting up the processes and ends with receiving the final payment. Current invoices are thus identified, checked and reminded where necessary. These steps are repeated until payment is completed.
It is important to consider the customer relationship in every step. After all, a good relationship is more likely to stick to its payment commitment. To avoid unexpected surprises, you can set up a credit information check to check whether a potential customer is creditworthy. Curious about the possibilities?
Accounts receivable management can be captured in the following steps:
Checking creditworthiness
Checking whether a potential customer is creditworthy. Based on this information, an appropriate payment arrangement can be made, or a decision made to discontinue a collaboration.
Billing
After delivering your product or service, you can issue an invoice. Do this promptly to maintain a healthy cash flow. Services such as factoring can also support this.
Monitors
After you have invoiced, it is important that you periodically check which invoices have been paid. Thanks to this periodic check, you can identify in time when an invoice is overdue.
Remember
In the unlikely event that an invoice does not get paid, sending a friendly payment reminder is important for maintaining a good customer relationship.
Collection
Have you still not received payment after several payment reminders and a final warning? Then start an collection procedure to mitigate your risks.
Report
To keep an overview and see which debtors still require action, it is advisable to keep track of payment statuses and receivables in a report.
Customer communications
Overarching, it is important to maintain open, clear and friendly communication towards customers. Through good customer contact, you can prevent non-payment, or expedite payment.
Good execution is crucial for cash flow and customer relations. Read more about why debtor management is so important.
Outsourcing accounts receivable management can be a suitable option when following up on outstanding invoices is time-consuming, there is insufficient capacity available in-house, or the process is not carried out consistently. An external specialist can ensure structure and continuity, whilst communication with your customers remains handled with care. Read here to find out how outsourcing responds to labour market tightness.
Outsourcing may be a viable option, for example, when:
The exact details and costs depend, amongst other things, on the number of invoices, the size of your customer base and the desired level of follow-up. Are you curious about the pros and cons of the outsourcing of your debtor management read this article. There is also software available that facilitates credit management.
It is often the small steps that lead to bigger results. Within debtor management, these are things like collecting credit information, pre-arranged payment terms, setting up a proper collection procedure and timely follow-up when payment seems to be delayed.
Accounts receivable management is not just about collecting money. It is important to remember that taking a hard line on your debtor management also affects your customer relationship. By showing understanding for your customers, you build trust and loyalty, which is a strong foundation for further cooperation.
To support the whole thing, it may be valuable to investing in debtor management software. This software supports debtor management by automating repetitive operations and sending updates on status changes.
Optimising your receivables management depends on the right approach, tools and the right people. Want to know how to improve your processes further? Read more about optimising receivables management.
Should Xolv pick up your accounts receivable management, these are the first things we look at:
Debtors are customers who have yet to pay for products or services delivered. A debtor is created as soon as you issue an invoice with deferred payment. Debtor management is the process by which you ensure that these outstanding amounts are actually paid. It includes steps such as invoicing, reminders, payment monitoring and (if necessary) collection measures. A well-designed debtor management process helps to improve your cash flow and reduce the risk of non-payment.
Automating accounts receivable management means using software to make processes such as reminders, payment statuses and reports more efficient and error-free. Outsourcing accounts receivable means transferring full management, including customer contact and follow-up, to an external party. Both solutions save time, but outsourcing offers more relief, while automation maintains control within your own organisation.
Outsourcing is a good choice when you have limited time, are short-staffed, have many outstanding invoices, or require professional follow-up. Companies that want to improve their cash flow or limit risks can also benefit from external credit management.
The costs of outsourcing credit management depend on the number of invoices, the complexity of your customer base and the desired intensity of follow-up. You will usually receive a customised rate.
At Xolv, we understand that good debtor management is difficult to balance with good relationship management. We are happy to help you find the right balance for your organisation. Contact us to find out how we can contribute to your success.
We are happy to help you optimise your accounts receivable management and build lasting business relationships.
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