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.

new late payer website, free trial

DUE2PAY is a web site aimed at bringing common sense back to the problem of late invoice payments, by tackling debt recovery in a new way. Late invoice payment is now regarded as an acceptable practice for late payers and an addition to business debt collection . In some cases the practice is an effort save a business from closing, for other companies the philosophy is to dot it as and acceptable to fund an already profitable business. Consider www.due2pay.co.uk as an early warning system, an alarm which if triggered can save you a lot of money for a fraction of the cost of the interest you are paying in funding your customers' businesses. Or a fraction of the cost of phone calls to chase payment and of solicitor's letters.
The Forum of Private Business in the UK says that late payments of invoices are having a serious impact on 70% of firms, with nearly 60% reporting that the situation had worsened over the past year. It is apparent that this scenario of late payment is being used as a form of free credit for businesses. Delaying payment to many customers funds a business and reduces bank borrowings. Any surplus cash held by a customer will in turn earn interest. Depending on the size of firm, late payments can have a major impact with a third of firms losing between £1,000 and £5,000 a year as a result and 15% losing between £5,000 and £50,000. On a daily basis we are hearing of companies forcing firms to accept mandatory discounts, longer payment times, and payment delays.
You can use www.due2pay.co.uk along side a company credit check. In fact it can work well alongside other traditional methods such as business debt collection and company recovery of debts through outside agencies which take a more hands on approach. UK government introduced the right to charge interest on late payments but this rarely happens in practice. www.due2pay.co.uk has two interesting powerful strings to its bow.
1) Where the website sends an email and fax to a customer asking them to pay an invoice within 14 days. If it remains unpaid, then the supplier is revealed on the site as a late payer. A nice addition which shows it is not all one sided is that the late payer is given the opportunity to 'dispute an invoice' and potential suppliers can enter into discussions with them and also the aggrieved supplier.
2) The 'Watch List'. Put a company on your Watch List and when it is listed as a late payer you will be informed by email.Large companies are using various methods to keep more money in their accounts. For example increasing the time it takes to settle suppliers' bills from 30 days to 75 days and imposing a 2.5% ' settlement' charge on payments. Cutting payments to suppliers by two per cent, despite one company almost doubling its annual profits.
The FPB says that it wants to see the Government 'leading by example' by committing to paying its suppliers on time, as well as introducing a code of conduct for itself and big companies. Chief Executive of the FPB, Phil Orford, said: 'Protecting cash flow, which is the lifeblood of any small business, has become even more important because of the credit crunch. We would like to see non-statutory measures implemented to enable businesses to hold late-payers to account without fear of losing customers and contracts.' Join www.due2pay.co.uk now and take advantage of the free trial

read on if you have invoices owing ...............

Things are undoubtedly tough for business with the retail sector suffering and major banks are tightening their belts as their customers fall behind with their repayments.
This has led to larger companies getting more aggressive and

1) forcing extended credit terms on suppliers
2) demanding discounts on already agreed prices
3) demanding settlement discounts for just paying on time
4) Imposing retrospective rebates for goods already delivered.
5) Using late payment as an easy way of funding their own cash flows.

These are extremely worrying developments for the whole business community.

It is now more important than ever for small businesses to protect themselves and ensure invoices are paid on time.This will help them avoid potential cash flow problems, which, if not addressed quickly could result in the ultimate closure of their business.
The internet based service helping vivtims of late payments launched by DUE2PAY LIMITED has been specifically designed to help these companies recover their overdue invoices, without the need to go to court, also to share information on companies identified as late payers by fellow members, giving them the opportunity to make more informed decisions in dealing with a particular company.

Quote 'DUE2PAY has some unique features which are worth their weight in Gold'
Try it now with their free 60 day trial. The monthly payments of £15 are excellent value.

Late payment of invoices is a hot potato now and has always been around. http://www.due2pay.co.uk/ has been set up to tackle the problem of late payment and Debt Recovery by levelling the playing field where at the moment it is stacked in favour of the customer. The difference today is that ruthless management fired by profitability has been replaced by the distinct need to use a supplier’s money in order to fund operating costs and wages. Many new start ups are by people who are enthusiasts in their chosen field, design, engineering, gardening, wood working. These businesses are at the mercy of today’s business environment. Many of them don't realise the effect of giving a company an extra few months of credit. Only when the supplier goes to thebank themselves for credit to find out what it costs to borrow £10,000 for a month will they realise why they themselves have cashflow problems and need to resort to Business Debt collection. A well known statistic is going round that 1 in 10 businesses are in danger of collapse due to cash flow problems. SMEs need to be alert to those that will take advantage, they also need to hand over the handling of finances to their staff who deal with it on a daily basis. They need to ask their staff to be on the ball on their behalf. A Company Credit Check is always an important starter but companies should not ignore their own gut feelings