Late payment due to cash flow problems caused by COVID-19 have increased. The economy is recovering, but it will take time to return to pre-pandemic levels. You will have to find ways to resolve customer late payment due to cash flow problems. Here are some ideas on how to deal with late payment due to cash flow problems.
Better to Work with Customers
It is better to work with customers with late payment problems, than turn them over to collection. If you work with a customer, you may be able to obtain payments sooner, avoid collection fees, and salvage the customer relationship. Customers will remember the vendors who helped them.
Offer Payment Plan Options
Empower your AR team to work out payment plan options with customers. They will know what works best in a given situation.
Continue releasing new orders as long as the customer is making progress on the total balance due and honoring payment promises.
Customize your email reminders to fit the payment plan, and increase personal contacts so the customer knows you are monitoring the situation.
Accept Partial Payments with Online Portal
Provide a self-service online portal and accept partial payments. Self-service portals make it easier to pay. A partial payment is better than nothing at all.
Use Relationships
Ask your team to use the relationships they’ve developed with the customer to get paid sooner and more often.
Dealing with late payment due to cash flow problems takes time. AR automation can free up your team to work with customers.
Digital Solutions
On-time payment issues are a less of a problem for companies with digital solutions. Accounts receivable and accounts payable cloud-based solutions with customer/vendor portals and digital processes keep vendors and customers connected whether they work remotely or not.
Digital solutions can reduce or eliminate late payments. They minimize the issues that can cause delays in processing payments, resulting in increased efficiency, reduced costs, and increased profits and cash flow.
With a connected accounting solution for your accounts receivable and accounts payable teams to coordinate work with customers and vendors, you can go digital and enjoy the benefits of office automation.
Lockstep, a leader in cloud-based connected accounting solutions, can help you boost productivity and optimize cash flow with:
- Digital Onboarding – Collect master data directly from your customers and vendors
- Accounting Inbox – Make it easy to divvy up work and track progress
- Smart Automation – Automate menial task with accounting integration
- Online Accounts – Give customers and vendors online access to their accounts
Lockstep is an experienced software partner that can help you increase efficiency and accelerate cash flow.
If you would like to learn more about how you can benefit from connected accounting solutions, please contact Lockstep at www.lockstep.io
