Tips for

Faster Invoice

Collection

Companies struggle to quickly collect the money owed to them for a number of reasons, but there are a few things you can start doing today for faster invoice collection tomorrow.

39% of invoices in the

United States are

paid late.-Paystream Advisors

Let’s Get Started…

1. Send Timely Invoices

If your customer doesn’t have the

invoice it can’t get paid; the faster

you can get the invoice in their

hands, the faster they can process

payment and the more likely it is

that they will process it within

payment terms.

If you don’t ask for the money you don’t get the money...

2. Make Sure All Invoices Are…

Clear

Complete

What is the invoice for? What products and/or

services were delivered? When? Include as much

detail as possible so the customer knows exactly

what they are paying for. Ensure the layout of the

invoice is easy to read and straightforward.

Did you include everything? Did you double check

that the information was right?

3. Check the Billing Address

Sending an invoice to the wrong address or to the wrong

contact could lead to it being lost or delayed. Be sure to ask

where to mail the invoice if it’s not clear from a purchase order

or other such document.

Employees come and go; roles and responsibilities shift;

companies move… be sure to periodically check in to make

sure your contacts, physical addresses, phone numbers, and

emails are correct to avoid any complications with billing.

46% of invoices are paid late because of these administrative errors

such as incorrect contact information, mistakes on the invoices, etc.

4. Keep The Process Moving

Make sure you understand the internal approval process of your

customers. For example, do you send the invoice directly to accounts

payable or should it go to the person who made the purchase before it

is forwarded to AP for processing?

If you submit the invoice incorrectly, you are making payment harder

for the customer, putting up a barrier to payment, and giving them one

more reason to pay their other vendors before they pay you.

Make payment easy- remove all barriers.

5. Make The Due Date Obvious

Go beyond telling customers the payment

terms. Calculate the date for them and

make sure it is prominently displayed on

the invoice. This leaves out any chance

that they will confuse the due date or lose

track of when the 30 days started.

Don’t just leave it at “net 30”

6. Include a Remit To address

When you send your customer the invoice, be sure they know how they need to pay and where to send the payment.

This may seem obvious, but when it comes to getting paid you don’t want to leave anything out.

7. Provide All The Information

Without all of the information required to process payment, your customer may put off processing your invoice until they get it- and if they don’t pick up the phone and call you or vice versa, who knows when that will be. This information could include a purchase order, job order, or supporting documents (proof of delivery, approved time sheets, etc.)

This will be different for every customer; be sure to ask about their requirements before starting work.

8. Define The Consequences of Late Payment.

This practice may not be for everyone; it will be up to you to

decide if/when you want to utilize this practice in your

collections strategy. Some things to keep in mind if you do

choose to enforce consequences:

• Have your legal advisor review or provide the exact

wording.

• The fee percentage (interest rate) is regulated in some

states so be sure you know what the limits are.

“A Late Fee of x%

may be assessed on

past due balances.”

example of this might be:

Explore the 1% – 1.5% per month range. More than that could seem

excessive; less than that isn’t worth the trouble.

YES! I can’t wait to get started

Awesome!

Want to make implementing these processes just a

little bit easier? Click here.

Are you ready to put these

practices into action?

I could use a few more tips to make sure I get this right…

No Problem!

When it comes to making sure you collect the money you have earned, there is no such thing as being too knowledgeable, right?

The next slide has some additional information we think you’ll find very helpful.

There’s Plenty More Where That Came From…

Visit Our Accounts Receivable Management Resource Center where you can pick up more tips and tricks to help you become more efficient and effective in your accounts receivable management processes. Gain access to white papers, eBooks, webinars, product information, and much more.

Enter Here

AnytimeCollect.comAccounts receivable management software