Tips for getting late payments paid earlier or on time
Don’t listen to the excuses
You may already know most of them, “Can you resend the invoice”, “it’s passed for payment” and ‘the cheque is in the post’. Get invoices paid directly into your account. Your customer can't them use the excuse that the cheque may be lost or that it is waiting for signature. You can also now list a late payer on sites which offer company credit check services, websites which are cheap and cost effective.
Work at it
Don’t think that businesses will pay you on time. You need to build relationships with people who hold the purse strings in companies which are slow in paying. Phone them, talk to them, smile on the phone to them, get them on your side. Be like a rat up a drain pipe and pester them in a nice way. Before you know it you will be the first to be paid. A phone call in advance of the payment date confirming that you will receive payment puts your contact on the spot and he might not want to let you down. Paying direct into your bank is good, meet with your customers and press them into this
Ask for interest and ask for prompt payment
It is possible and legal to ask for interest on late paid invoices.
Encourage prompt payment, if your pricing allows , hard in today’s climate, offer a prompt payment discount and link it in with Bacs electronic payment. You will see a positive cash flow with money going into your account quickly. Not waiting for money to clear means that you can use it immediately and don’t have to rely on costly loans.
Do as you ask
Don’t get a bad reputation yourself as a bad payer news travels fast so pay your suppliers on time.
Is a business a bad risk ?
Check them out through debt recovery companies or associations they may be in, check out Companies House which can provide reports on line to you. Prevent risk by doing a credit risk check on all new potential customers. risk by performing a credit check on all new customers. Beware of companies which give may give referees which provide a big proportion of their supplies, ask what percentage they are responsible for. That supplier may be paid on time every month because not to do so could influence deliveries. Business debt collection is hard, one needs to be tough to make it work.
Internal Cost of Late Payment
Some companies are paying for dedicated staff to chase late payment others are not so fortunate. On average the internal cost for those not able to afford dedicated staff can be up to 20 lost working days per year.
Friday 24 July 2009
Monday 20 July 2009
Ways to recover late business debt payment
More and more businesses are finding that they are spending more on debt recovery collection than ever before. The cost of funding staff to chase late payment is spiralling. Those companies which don't chase late payment find themselves getting deeper into debt and possibly closing when they failed to pick up on the fact that a customer was on it's last legs
Work at it
Don’t think that businesses will pay you on time. You need to build relationships with people who hold the purse strings in companies which are slow in paying. Phone them, talk to them, smile on the phone to them, get them on your side. Be like a rat up a drain pipe and pester them in a nice way. Before you know it you will be the first to be paid. A phone call in advance of the payment date confirming that you will receive payment puts your contact on the spot and he might not want to let you down. Paying direct into your bank is good, meet with your customers and press them into this
Is a business a bad risk ?
Check them out through any associations they may be in, check out Companies House which can provide reports on line to you. Prevent risk by doing a credit risk check on all new potential customers. risk by performing a credit check on all new customers. Beware of companies which give may give referees which provide a big proportion of their supplies, ask what percentage they are responsible for. That supplier may be paid on time every month because not to do so could influence deliveries.
Ask for interest and ask for prompt payment
It is possible and legal to ask for interest on late paid invoices.
Encourage prompt payment, if your pricing allows , hard in today’s climate, offer a prompt payment discount and link it in with Bacs electronic payment. Threaten to put the matter in the hands of professional debt collection agencies. You will see a positive cash flow with money going into your account quickly. Not waiting for money to clear means that you can use it immediately and don’t have to rely on costly loans.
Do as you ask
Don’t get a bad reputation yourself as a bad payer news travels fast so pay your suppliers on time.
Don’t listen to the excuses
You already know most of them, “Can you resend the invoice”, “it’s passed for payment” and ‘the cheque is in the post’. Get invoices paid directly into your account. Your customer can not themn use the excuse that the cheque may be lost or that it is waiting for signature.
Work at it
Don’t think that businesses will pay you on time. You need to build relationships with people who hold the purse strings in companies which are slow in paying. Phone them, talk to them, smile on the phone to them, get them on your side. Be like a rat up a drain pipe and pester them in a nice way. Before you know it you will be the first to be paid. A phone call in advance of the payment date confirming that you will receive payment puts your contact on the spot and he might not want to let you down. Paying direct into your bank is good, meet with your customers and press them into this
Is a business a bad risk ?
Check them out through any associations they may be in, check out Companies House which can provide reports on line to you. Prevent risk by doing a credit risk check on all new potential customers. risk by performing a credit check on all new customers. Beware of companies which give may give referees which provide a big proportion of their supplies, ask what percentage they are responsible for. That supplier may be paid on time every month because not to do so could influence deliveries.
Ask for interest and ask for prompt payment
It is possible and legal to ask for interest on late paid invoices.
Encourage prompt payment, if your pricing allows , hard in today’s climate, offer a prompt payment discount and link it in with Bacs electronic payment. Threaten to put the matter in the hands of professional debt collection agencies. You will see a positive cash flow with money going into your account quickly. Not waiting for money to clear means that you can use it immediately and don’t have to rely on costly loans.
Do as you ask
Don’t get a bad reputation yourself as a bad payer news travels fast so pay your suppliers on time.
Don’t listen to the excuses
You already know most of them, “Can you resend the invoice”, “it’s passed for payment” and ‘the cheque is in the post’. Get invoices paid directly into your account. Your customer can not themn use the excuse that the cheque may be lost or that it is waiting for signature.
Sunday 12 July 2009
a better way to control late payment
It has long been said that UK companies have a reputation of being the worst of the European late payers. Legislation to reduce payment delays and add interest to overdue invoices has been in place for a long time with little sign that it is being adopted.
Industry late payment figures have shocked industry observers who fear that late payment is likely to get worse with the rise in interest rates and the economy taking a downturn, factors that make retaining cash for as long as possible even more attractive. This level of late payment comes despite legislation phased in since 1998 that was designed to encourage better payment practice by allowing firms to claim interest on Invoices that were not paid on time.
A major factor for UK companies taking longer to pay invoices was the increase in interest rates. In times of high interest rates it was natural to look on suppliers as a cheap form of loan. Extending payment for 1 month means that you do not have to borrow and pay interest to a bank to fund that loan for 1 month. With banks tightening their belts it is harder to get loans and coupled with a reduction in interest rates the delaying of payment still continues as a method of managing cash flow.
With DUE2PAY a company can list a late payer and other members have sight of this information. Find more out here.
Where late payment is traditionally one sided in favour of the late payer, DUE2PAY redresses the balance by giving the late payer the opportunity to flag up a reason for late payment of a specific invoice or invoices. All members have sight of this information and all members can contact the late payer or other members. Court action or solicitor’s letters do not offer this service. Debt recovery has now been taken to a new level with DUE2PAY.
The UK culture of late payment damages business, employment and international trade.The two main factors agreed by many to be the greatest challenge to business growth is restricted financial lending and late payment. The two go hand in hand. Banks will not lend money so where else can a business be funded ? For many it is the unfortunate supplier and it is the less vigilant or commercially aware supplier which suffers.
This is the point at which companies have to be aware of the other tools available to them. For new accounts a company credit check is essential, whilst these are historical they provide useful information. The use of other methods such as due2pay.co.uk , business debt collection and solicitor’s letters may seem extreme but are essential in this day and age. DUE2PAY’s approach to late payment takes the company credit check to a much needed area. Companies have been wanting a central register of late payers for a long time.
Industry late payment figures have shocked industry observers who fear that late payment is likely to get worse with the rise in interest rates and the economy taking a downturn, factors that make retaining cash for as long as possible even more attractive. This level of late payment comes despite legislation phased in since 1998 that was designed to encourage better payment practice by allowing firms to claim interest on Invoices that were not paid on time.
A major factor for UK companies taking longer to pay invoices was the increase in interest rates. In times of high interest rates it was natural to look on suppliers as a cheap form of loan. Extending payment for 1 month means that you do not have to borrow and pay interest to a bank to fund that loan for 1 month. With banks tightening their belts it is harder to get loans and coupled with a reduction in interest rates the delaying of payment still continues as a method of managing cash flow.
With DUE2PAY a company can list a late payer and other members have sight of this information. Find more out here.
Where late payment is traditionally one sided in favour of the late payer, DUE2PAY redresses the balance by giving the late payer the opportunity to flag up a reason for late payment of a specific invoice or invoices. All members have sight of this information and all members can contact the late payer or other members. Court action or solicitor’s letters do not offer this service. Debt recovery has now been taken to a new level with DUE2PAY.
The UK culture of late payment damages business, employment and international trade.The two main factors agreed by many to be the greatest challenge to business growth is restricted financial lending and late payment. The two go hand in hand. Banks will not lend money so where else can a business be funded ? For many it is the unfortunate supplier and it is the less vigilant or commercially aware supplier which suffers.
This is the point at which companies have to be aware of the other tools available to them. For new accounts a company credit check is essential, whilst these are historical they provide useful information. The use of other methods such as due2pay.co.uk , business debt collection and solicitor’s letters may seem extreme but are essential in this day and age. DUE2PAY’s approach to late payment takes the company credit check to a much needed area. Companies have been wanting a central register of late payers for a long time.
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