We talk a lot about accounts receivable automation here on the blog, but that’s only the first step in improving your credit management and invoice collection strategies. The next step comes in the form of predictive accounts receivable analytics. A modern tool for reporting allows businesses to quickly capture data and use it to make changes and adjustments for a fully optimized accounts receivable management process and improved AR performance.
For example, consider a repeat customer who requires a lot of reminders about invoices coming due. If you recognize (via analytics) that consistent email reminders are not effective with this customer, you may decide to handle this particular account differently than the rest to collect the invoice faster. Maybe calling the customer to remind them about an invoice rather than emailing will prove to be more effective. All of this can be determined when you have insight into collector activity and customer payment behaviors.
Accounts receivable analytics is all about visibility. With the right dashboard for receivables management and accounts receivable reporting tools, users can drill down into a specific account and a specific invoice to see exactly what is happening or look at trends across the entire accounts receivable department. One you have all of this information you can make choices about how to move forward or how to change your credit policy or collection strategies to improve metrics- all with the click of just a few buttons. Without automation getting that information is incredibly difficult, if not impossible and requires a significant investment of time that most companies simply do not have.
Beyond improving your accounts receivable metrics, analytics can help you improve customer service. Users can use the data the systems collect to conduct a root-cause analysis to see where the weak spots are, why invoices get disputed, and why customers pay late to identify where you can improve customer service.
Process automation and accounts receivable analytics opens the door to many possibilities for those companies who implement it, such as:
- Delivering accounts receivable performance metrics in a simple, visual format. These reports and charts can be sent to executives, managers, and sales to keep everyone in the loop and working toward the same goal.
- Speed up report creation and present the results in a way that is much easier to read than a series of spreadsheets and aging reports.
- Gives the accounts receivable department the tools and insight they need to be more effective in all that they do for increased cash flow and healthier customer relationships.
Learn more about improving performance and cash flow with automation and accounts receivable analytics in our resource library where you can watch videos, read educational white papers, access product information, and more. Making the change from manual processed and reporting can be scary, but there’s nothing to fear.
