The lifeblood of every business is of course sales, but without cash in the bank, there is no business.
Often, we talk to business owners who think they need to raise finance because they have a lack of cashflow, when their aged debtors (customers who owe money) run into the thousands!
Business owners are great at building the relationship with clients and discussing sales. However, when it comes to the prickly subject of overdue invoices, the business owners often bury their heads in the sand.
My advice is always for them to take themselves out of the equation.
How do I start a process to get clients to pay me on time?
Firstly, set up a robust credit control process.
I recommend this to be done either of the two ways:
- Employ the services of someone to complete this task. A good example is of course an external bookkeeper, of course I would
say that! But honestly this is the best way in my opinion. This should really pay for itself. Someone external ringing and reminding your clients
that payments are overdue and when can they be expected, is still today the most effective way of reducing debtors, in my opinion.
This also takes the business owner out of the scenario and the business relationship remains intact. - Purchase and subscribe to a software that will automate your credit control process. This is of course a cheaper option and there are still some free credit control software around. I recommend a software called Knowit. As software goes this is a bit more expensive than most but is a premium piece of kit.
Most of the times just by simply notify your clients that you will be chasing debt if it becomes overdue is enough to ensure that payments are made in a timely mannerand remain so.
What’s the best credit control package to use?
Selecting the best credit control package depends on several factors specific to your business needs and requirements.
For me the best credit control package is Knowit. It is proactive in chasing debt, but also enables the user to prevent bad debt by notifications and alerts from Companies House as well the ability to run credit checks on new or potential clients, and finally if the credit control process is exhausted, the platform is linked to a sister debt recovery business to obtain a quote. All of this on one platform.
We can offer the credit control package Knowit at £49.99 plus vat per month. Support and training is included.
Where can I get help of getting clients to pay on time?
If you would like to find out more on how Tandem Business Solutions can assist in getting your customers to pay on time, then you are in the best place on our website
To book a discovery call then click on the button at the top of this website or email me at stewart@tandem-solutions.co.uk