Within your accounting department, there are responsibilities that can help or hamper your business' bottom line. Today we'll examine a relationship that is closely tied and could be the answer to negative cash flow. While your sales team greatly affects operations, it's the collections of those accounts that really determines the success of your business. When your accounts receivable team is not able to collect and are consistently writing off bad debt, it may be time to turn to your credit manager for answers.

A credit manager's job can affect collections and it's important to understand how.

Cash Flow is the flow of cash or cash-equivalent into and out of the organization, as a measure of a business' liquidity and overall performance, within a certain period of time.

The catch-22 of running a creative, digital marketing or ad agency is that it takes money to make money. While it would seem that bringing on more clients would increase cash flow, the challenge is having enough employees available to handle the client work. And if a client quits your agency, will you be laying off those employees? These are only a few of the thoughts that plague the mind of an agency owner when they're trying to get to sleep at night. Cash is king and must be available to keep the lights on, the employees happy and your clients on board for the long haul.

Tackle these four things to solve the cash flow problem of marketing and ad agencies. 

When growing a business, organized finances, documented processes and the perfect staff can contribute to positive feedback and referrals from  clients. Even when everything is going right, there will be that one particular client who seemingly steals your joy.  Whether they're being difficult or too demanding (hello scope creep), it's imperative to set boundaries on the B2B relationship.  When they don't pay their invoices, it could be even more frustrating. 

When you're doing everything right in your business, what do you do with that one client who refuses to pay?

Working capital and cash flow is imperative to any successful business. Accounts receivable management can help ensure access to cash through a consistent credit, invoicing and collections process. Business-to-business, or B2B, collections is different from consumer collections and the procedures for collection must be handled differently as well.

An effective B2B collections process will elicit more working capital and improve cash flow. Here's how...

Running a business when you can't predict monthly income can stress out any business owner. Some months, new clients seem to drop from the sky and other months, there's an actual sound of crickets chirping. A feast or famine lifestyle isn't healthy for anyone but there is a way to not only survive, but thrive. A little organization and a some steady work habits can help keep your budget on track.

Here's a freelance survival guide to thriving during the feast or famine cycle of income.

The simplest way to be successful in business is to manage money well. Cash flow should be steady and expenses should prove to be investments into the company's success. While the best way to improve cash flow is to collect accounts receivable balances faster, it may appear that client payments simply aren't arriving fast enough. Are the clients at fault or does accounts receivable need to reexamine their billing strategy?

Here are five proven commercial collection strategies to accelerate cash flow.

One of the best ways to get your invoices paid on time is to offer many ways for your clients to pay.  Innovative payment technology is available and can help reduce staff, time or other resources needed to track down payments.  Inspired by the B2C market, corporate payment technologies are leaning toward self-service, but also looking for ways to reduce the chances of payment fraud. Your accounts receivable department will thank you for making their jobs easier, including reducing the time spent waiting for checks to arrive.  

Here are current B2B payment trends and what to expect in the future.

If you're reading this, you may be wondering why the title suggests you should hire a commercial collection agency right now. Let's start by considering the reasons why you shouldn't:

1. Your accounting is organized and handled with dedicated staff 
2. Your clients always pay their invoices on time
3. You've never considered taking a client to court over an unpaid debt

Feel free to click away if you've said "yes" to all three. Otherwise, read on.

Here's why you should hire a commercial collection agency right now.

A 2017 study reveals that 41% of small businesses surveyed reported cash flow challenges within the past year. Over half of those same businesses said the impact of the cash flow challenges was consequential to their business. Unfortunately, this news isn't that surprising. Freelancers and small business owners frequently struggle with poor cash flow or management. The good news is that these challenges are quite common and can be remedied through a closer look at company financials.

Here are some common cash flow challenges faced by small businesses and suggestions on fixing them.