Businesses and organizations are pushing through the effects of the pandemic on the economy, their industry or their customer response. At the time of writing this, there is no such thing as "after COVID-19" however experts are learning more each day. While everyone is searching for the next normal, it's important to consider how the virus has affected your client relationships and customer service.
First party collections, in which your business relies to manage delinquent and non-paying accounts, are a valuable resource to get invoices paid. Getting your invoices paid on time helps ensure working capital and sets your business up for success. In house collections specialists, therefore, are beneficial and necessary, especially in a growing business.
Owning a small or medium business can be especially frustrating when your clients are paying late or not at all. It's good to note that how you respond to these situations will affect the success of the debt collections and if you can retain the client as a customer. In this post, we will offer tips to ensuring your invoices are paid on time and we will share how and when you should send a business to collections.
Read more to learn how.
We're all months into this pandemic and doing our best to work outside the office. Whether you're working on your own business at home or working for someone else, time management can be a challenge amidst distractions like children and chores. The "new normal" is to accomplish everything that you did before even...
while...
you...
keep...
getting...
interrupted.
After some research, I've found a few time management techniques that actually work.
While many businesses are trying to return to a new normal after the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, some have opted to move to remote work for the rest of 2020. For paper-based A/R departments, this move has been especially challenging. Sending invoices and receiving checks are necessary components to maintaining working capital and cash flow but what happens when the employees responsible are no longer in the office?
When you think about your business reputation, you may be looking to customer testimonials or surveys to determine how well you're doing. Obviously, your branding and online perception is going to influence sales and ultimately your revenue. Another part of your business' reputation, however, is how you approach the financial aspects of your business.
If your business works with another business, you or your accounts receivable department likely has some idea of the efforts to collect on past due accounts. Reasons for late payments could be as simple as a misplaced invoice or as challenging as being affected by a global pandemic. Whatever the reason, positive cash flow and working capital is important to keep the lights on and your employees paid. How long will your A/R team attempt to collect on accounts before they give up? Does your accounts receivable team know when to ask for professional help?
COVID-19 cases are still increasing as the United States reopens and now the National Bureau of Economic Research has declared that the U.S. economy is indeed in recession. According to the announcement, the economy was heading into recession when the coronavirus hit and, as businesses were shutdown, any gains were erased during March and April. If you're a business owner or accounts receivable professional, you may already know that cash flow has been affected by the events of the past few months.
As entrepreneurs, we tend to look for those who most resemble ourselves for motivation and proof of success. We all need business leaders who've trudged the path before us, helping to make the path a little clearer. Brown and black entrepreneurs, as an example, face challenges such as a lack of media coverage of diverse leaders and are less likely to receive venture-capital funding. Still, there are those to push to start businesses any way, disrupting industries and the status quo.
If you regularly bill clients, you have likely had the experience of chasing down money. It's frustrating, uncomfortable and a little intimidating. Now add in a global pandemic, climbing unemployment statistics and the amount of small businesses closing shop and suddenly, asking for what's owed to you can be downright worrisome. Let's take a step back and consider a new way of dealing with outstanding or overdue invoices, shall we?
