It's no secret that accountants are some of the busiest people on the planet. They're responsible for ensuring that their clients are compliant with ever-changing regulations, preparing and filing tax returns, and now more than ever - trying to find time to focus on boosting revenue.
One area where many accountants could be making significant savings is in credit control. But this doesn't have to be a daunting task - automating your accounts receivable process can help save you time and hassle.
As we'll go into more detail later in the article, TaxAssist Norwich was able to recover more than £20,000 of unpaid debts in just 30 minutes using Chaser's advanced credit control and accounts receivable software. And, by automating their accounts receivable process, they were able to save 13+ hours a month on staffing time.
In this article, you'll learn more about how automating your credit control can help you save time, money and improve your client relationships, as seen with TaxAssist.
So, let's dive in!
What exactly is credit control?
Credit control is the process of managing a company's money owed by customers (receivables) and ensuring that payments are made in a timely manner.
It's an important task for any business, but it can be time-consuming - especially if you're still using manual methods.
That's where automation comes in. Automating your credit control can help you save time and money, while also freeing up your team to focus on other tasks.
If you're an accountant, then you know that time is precious. There are only so many hours in the day, and it can be difficult to get everything done. That's why automating your credit control is such a good idea. By automating this process, you can save yourself a lot of time and hassle.
What are the benefits of effective credit control?
There are many benefits to automating your credit control, including:
- Improved cash flow: By automating your credit control, you can ensure that invoice payment reminders are sent out automatically and payments are received promptly. This improved cash flow will give you more working capital to grow your business and ensure that your business survives. In the UK alone, 50,000 businesses have no choice but to close down each year due to cash flow problems caused by late payments and bad debt.
- Reduced administrative burden: Automating your credit control will reduce the administrative burden on your accounting staff. They will no longer need to chase up late payments or send out reminder letters and emails.
- Increased efficiency: An automated credit control system will help to streamline your accounts receivable process, making it more efficient and effective.
- Improved customer relationships: By automating your credit control, you can improve your customer relationships by ensuring that your customers get all the information they need to make prompt payments and avoid any charges from overdue invoices. This will improve your customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Free up time for other tasks: Automating your credit control will free up time for you and your team to focus on other tasks, such as marketing and sales. This will help you to grow your business and achieve your goals.
Why do accountants struggle with credit control?
One often thinks of credit control as something that is not directly related to generating revenue. As a result, it's often a task that's not prioritised by businesses, including accountancies.
However, this isn't true! Credit control is actually very important, and it can have a big impact on your bottom line. Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business, and if you're not managing it properly, you could find yourself in serious financial difficulty.
Another reason why credit control can be difficult for accountants is that it's a very time-consuming task. This is because it involves a lot of manual work, such as sending out invoices and chasing up payments.
Accounting itself is a complex and time-consuming process, so it's no surprise that accountants are always looking for ways to save time and free up skilled staff to work on other tasks.
However, there is a solution.
One way that accountants can save time is by automating their credit control process. This means using software to manage invoices and payments, chasing up late payments, and so on.
Chaser's software is focused on personalisation and the human touch. This means that you can still provide your clients with great service, even if you're not physically in the office.
So, how can Chaser help you with your credit control?
All the benefits of automation, still with the personal touch!
If you're an accountant, then you know that time is money. And if you can save time on tasks that are repetitive and admin-heavy, then you can free up your time to focus on more important things. That's where automation comes in.
Chaser is the perfect example of an automated credit control solution. The software is designed to help save you time (and money) by automating the tasks that you don't have time to do yourself.
What's more, Chaser's software is focused on personalisation and human touch. Instead of a bland, robotic approach, the software is designed to work to mimic your brand tone of voice. All emails will seem to be coming from your personal account and our editable templates allow you to make each email as unique as your business.
It's a common misconception that all automated reminder systems have to be clunky and overly robotic, and therefore easy to ignore. This does not have to be the case.
Chaser puts the personalisation back into accounts receivable automation so that you can focus on other important tasks, all while maintaining that critical human touch.
And the benefits don't stop there!
With Chaser's Payment Portals, you can give your customers the option to pay online with a few clicks. This means that you don't have to chase them for payment and can focus on other parts of your business.
The most effective approach to credit control is an omnichannel one, which is why Chaser offers SMS reminders alongside emails. SMS has a 98% open rate, so you can be sure that your reminder will be seen and acted upon.
If you're an accountant who is interested in saving time and hassle, then automating your credit control process is the way to go. Chaser's automation software offers a personalized and human-touch approach that will save you time and money.
How have we helped other accounting businesses?
This isn't the first time Chaser's helped businesses save time and money.
TaxAssist Accountants is one of Chaser's customers and they had an issue with making sure that they received regular payments from their customers and wanted a way to chase late payments without endangering the client relationships. After implementing Chaser, they were able to automate their credit control process and make significant savings on the number of staff hours put towards chasing late payments. Not only that, but they also saw a significant increase in cash flow and a decrease in late payments going forward.
Chaser helped them automate their accounts receivable process, which saved them 13 hours a month in staffing time. That's the equivalent of having an extra member of staff for 156 hours each year.
Not only that, but it also improved their cash flow and freed up time to focus on other areas of their business.
TaxAssist were able to recover more than £20,000 of unpaid debts in just 30 minutes using Chaser's advanced credit control and accounts receivable software.
Here's what they said
"Overall, partnering with Chaser allowed TaxAssist to save the equivalent of 3-weeks in staff hours that would normally be spent chasing late payments. This time could then be put towards growing the business and providing their customers with the excellent customer service and assistance that has become TaxAssist's hallmark."
A wider range of benefits
But it's not just the time-saving that Chaser's clients love. They also appreciate the other benefits that come with using the automated system.
The three top reasons accountancy firms choose Chaser include:
- Increased cash flow - perhaps the most obvious benefit of automating your accounts receivable process is that it can help to increase your business' cash flow. By chasing payments automatically and efficiently, you're more likely to receive payments on time - which gives your business a much-needed injection of cash.
- Reduced admin burden - as mentioned, automating your accounts receivable process means that you no longer have to spend hours chasing payments each month. This reduced admin burden also frees up staff to focus on other tasks and projects. This is particularly important to accountancy firms where staff are often already stretched thin and are more valuable in applying their skill set in other areas.
- Improved relationships with customers - when customers are constantly being chased for payment, it's not surprising if they start to resent your business. However, by using an automated system like Chaser, you can ensure that all your customer interactions are polite, professional and personalized - which helps to build and maintain strong relationships.
If you're an accountant who is looking to save time and money, then automating your credit control is a great option. Chaser's automation software is focused on personalisation and human touch, which means that you'll get the best results for your business. With Chaser, you can get started with a free 14-day trial, so what are you waiting for?
