5 Ways to Accelerate Your Receivables for your Business
It’s everyone’s problem. Accounts receivable requires constant monitoring. As satisfying as it can be to dispatch a group of invoices, you know that it’s going to take some work to bring in payment for at least some of them.
By using QuickBooks’ tools and complying with accounting best practices, you’ll be more confident during the invoicing stage that what you’re owed will actually be in your bank account in a reasonable amount of time. Here the 5 ways:
- Let customers pay invoices electronically.
You’re likely to get paid faster if you let customers pay electronically when they receive an invoice. You should enable your QuickBooks system to receive payments electronically.
A few years ago, this was a good idea. These days, when people have stopped carrying checkbooks and are accustomed to using their credit / debit cards, mobile devices to pay for merchandise, it has become almost required that you have a system that will help you take advantage of the technology. If you don’t have one, you may probably be losing some business.
Not set-up with the QuickBooks configuration or a merchant account yet? Let us know and we can help you get started with the Intuit Payment Network.
- Keep a close watch on your A/R reports.
Part of being proactive with your accounts receivable is being vigilant and informed. Create and customize A/R reports regularly that will show you the relevant data for performance.
We can help you creating more complex financial reports periodically, like Statement of Cash Flows to identify your resource and efforts channeled for your business operation.
3. Send accurate invoices the first time.
Did you know that customers can wait until payment is almost due to dispute the charges in an incorrect billing? This means that they’ll probably get another 15 or 30 days (or whatever their terms are) to pay the amended bill.
So whoever is responsible for creating invoices needs to be checking and re-checking them. If it’s logistically possible, have them verified by a second employee.
- Send Statements / Add Finance Charges
Invoices are generally the preferred way to bill your customers, but you should consider sending statements, when customers have outstanding balances past a certain date.
You might also want to be assessing finance charges. The revenue you bring in from finance charges will probably be negligible. But sometimes, just knowing that a late payment will be more costly may prompt your customers to settle up in a timely fashion.
- Offer discounts for early payment and assess finance / charges.
Offering discounts is a balancing act. You’ll be getting less money for your sale – even 2 percent multiplied by many customers can add up – but it may make sense financially for you to take a small hit in return for being able to be paid sooner than later.
We hope this helps a bit. Let us know if you need any assistance in this or in any of your Accounting, Bookkeeping and QuickBooks needs.
Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you,
Ben Derebie, MBA, CMA
Accounting & Business Solutions, LLC.
