The last thing a business owner wants to think about is why their clients or customers aren't paying. It should be a straightforward process - you do the work or supply the goods and they pay their bills. With a little examination of your payment process, you might be able to determine the problem with those slow or late payments. 

If B2B payments are too hard to collect, ask yourself these questions.

If you've been putting off the headache of collections, you've likely also been asking, "how can I improve my cash flow?" The two go hand-in-hand. When you're not following up on invoices that are getting older, your chances of collecting on them go down.  That means you're working for no pay and that's no good. 

Instead, use these B2B collections steps to convert aging receivables and improve cash flow.

If your business sends invoices or bills on credit or at recurring intervals, you likely have customers who pay late or not at all.  Delinquent customer accounts can affect everything from paying business expenses to destroying business relationships. Customers may be paying late due to a number of reasons, including lost invoices, expired credit cards, or the inability to pay. Instead of taking it personally, your business can follow these tips to recover the account in a professional manner. 

Here's how to manage delinquent customers in business.

When hiring someone to manage accounts receivable and collections, you're effectively putting your business in their hands. Think about it. If you need to ensure payroll and other business expenses are paid, you need working capital. The best way to gain working capital is to improve DSO (days sales outstanding) or the amount of time it takes to collect from credit sales.  And the job of collections and accounts receivable specialists is to get those sales invoices paid.

Here are the top 5 qualities of successful accounts receivable and collections specialists.

Every time your business submits an invoice, there is the risk that the invoice will not be paid.  By accounting for this in financial statements, you're able to get an accurate picture of the actual value of receivables.  When you're certain that an account is not collectible, for instance, you have the option to remove it from accounts receivable in your financial books by writing it off as bad debt.  If you're doubtful that the account will be paid but you're not quite ready to write it off, it's referred to as a doubtful account. 

Here's how to create a bad debt allowance for doubtful accounts.

When starting a SaaS company,  entrepreneurs begin with a unique idea to solve customer challenges. Customer Success ensures that the product is used successfully by those customers. This business practice ensures that customer churn is reduced and the customers become advocates for the brand.

What are SaaS Customer Success best practices?

Accounts receivable refers to the amount due from customers for sales transactions using credit, financing, or regular timed retainer payments.  When measuring and collecting A/R, your business gets a clearer view of dependable cash flow and has the data to make informed business decisions such as investments and hiring.  To collect on past due receivables effectively, the sooner you're aware of non-payment, the more likely you can recover what's owed. 

With this in mind, timing matters when collecting past-due accounts receivable.

Collecting past due debts from your customers and clients is an unfortunate part of the accounts receivable process. It's 'unfortunate' because not every customer will pay on time but it doesn't have to be contentious or ugly.  Your client will be aware of what they owe, when they owe and how to pay via your contract agreement. But even beyond that, there are steps you can take to ensure payment from your collections efforts. 

Follow these steps for successful business debt collections.

As a B2B business that supports other B2B businesses, we understand the value of strong client relationships. Much like other relationships, the value can increase over time, offering financial benefits through referrals and upselling. If handled correctly, these relationships can also be mutually beneficial to both parties.

Here's how to create strong client relationships and reap long-term benefits.

You have an amazing software idea and you're ready to make some money with it. Have you figured out your product's niche market? Have a business plan already? Are you already getting feedback from customers? These are just a few questions to consider as you take your product to market and start enjoying that recurring revenue. 

Use this checklist when you're ready to launch and grow your SaaS startup!