Improving Accounts Receivable Collections (Part 1 of 6): You Probably Have an A/R Collections Problem and You Don’t Even Know It
Over the next several weeks, we’re pleased to host a series of blogs authored by e2b teknologies aimed at improving your ability to collect accounts receivable. In addition, on April 10, e2b will be hosting a free live webinar entitled “6 Steps to Developing a World Class Business Credit Policy & Collections Action Plan.
If you offer credit terms then you probably have an accounts receivable collections problem and you don’t even realize the negative impact that it’s having on your bottom line and your cash flow.
Most companies sell on 30 day credit terms, but if you analyze your average days-to-pay (ADP) or days sales outstanding (DSO) you’ll probably be shocked to find that customers are taking a lot longer to pay their bills. In fact, most companies take between 45-60 days to collect on invoices.
There are many reasons why you need to pay attention to this problem. First, the longer an invoice goes unpaid – the less likely it is that you will get paid. Industry research shows that only 30% of invoices older than 6 months are collectible!
You spend a lot of money on selling and every write-off has a direct and negative effect on your bottom line. Further, if you can reduce days sale outstanding by even a small amount you will save thousands of dollars annually in financing costs and you’ll free up a lot of cash to invest in your business. Wouldn’t it be nice to have some extra money to hire more staff or to purchase or upgrade your equipment?
ERP publishers have some great accounting and ERP products but none of them make it easy for your accounts receivable personnel to improve collections (we know – we use it too). Many of our customers use memos to track communications with customers regarding late payments and others rely solely on printed aging reports and highlighters to manage the collections process. Typically you don’t even focus your time and energy on collecting until you have a cash flow problem or you have accounts that are grossly past due with huge balances. Sound familiar?
We provide an affordable accounts receivable credit and collections management product that integrates seamlessly with your accounting software to automate this process. Imagine that you could send out dozens of past due notices to your customers with just a few mouse clicks; have all of their invoice history, account aging, and contact information available at your fingertips; and be able to focus your limited time on those accounts and invoices that need your attention the most. That’s a huge value – especially if you only have a part-time accounts receivable clerk and they don’t have formalized training in collections.
If you sell on credit terms you really need to take a hard look at this product. It’s very affordable, easy to use, and it will save you thousands of dollars annually!
We provide an ROI Calculator on our website to help you determine how much you can reduce your outstanding accounts receivable and what your estimated cost savings will be. Give it a try by visiting the Anytime Collect site and see how much money you can save.
A short overview demo and a longer video (available in two parts) is available on our YouTube channel. Take just three minutes to see for yourself what Anytime Collect can do for your company.
Our goal is to help you succeed through new technologies that make sense for your business. Anytime Collect will help you automate how you manage one of your largest assets – your accounts receivable.
Live Webinar
6 Steps to Developing a World Class Business Credit Policy & Collections Action Plan
Accounts receivable is typically the largest or second largest asset for most businesses yet most companies do nothing to improve their credit and collections processes. This presentation will outlines six easy steps to developing a world class credit policy and collections action plan to help you gain significant advantages in your business to reduce days sales outstanding (DSO), improve cash flow, and reduce bad debt write-offs through best practices and automation.
Other Free Materials From e2b
- Free Whitepaper: 17 Things You Should Be Doing Right Now To Reduce Outstanding Accounts Receivable
- On-Demand Webinar: How One Company Reduced Their DSO by 40% With Credit Collections Software
- Free Report: Revenue Cycle Management – Increasing Control Over the Order-to-Cash Process
About e2b
e2b anytime apps, a business unit of e2b teknologies, develops software-as-a-service (SaaS), cloud-based business software including Anytime Collect, Anytime Commerce B2B e-commerce, Anytime 500 add-ons for Sage 500 ERP, Anytime Supply Chain, Anytime Docs, and Anytime Assets inventory and asset tracking. Anytime Collect accounts receivable credit and collections management software integrates with popular accounting software to streamline and automate B2B accounts receivable collections activities resulting in significant reductions in outstanding receivables and improved cash forecasting.
