Effective credit management is crucial to maintaining cash flow and ensuring operational stability. This means having a firm grip on how much you borrow, how you repay debt, and how you maintain your credit score.
Credit management errors, from invoicing mistakes to overly aggressive credit control, can cripple business operations and strain relationships with clients and suppliers. In fact, according to a study of failed small businesses by US Bank, 82% of the surveyed businesses cited cash flow issues stemming from poor credit management as the primary reason for their failure.
By effectively dealing with credit management errors, you can significantly reduce financial risk and strengthen your reputation and market position.
In this article, you will learn how to identify errors in your credit management process and deal with them permanently.
Common errors in credit management
Different departments contribute to the success of credit management, making it more difficult to pinpoint errors in the process. Some of the most common mistakes in the credit management process include:
Lack of payment terms and conditions
Customers are less likely to honor their payment obligations if you don’t have clear terms and conditions. They're prone to taking advantage of the lack of clear guidelines to delay payments and sometimes dispute the quoted amount. The worst part is that you won't have any legal basis to compel them to pay you since there's no documentation to support you. Ensure you have a credit policy in place, and make customers agree to your organization's payment terms before extending any credit to them.
Outdated terms and conditions
Failing to update your terms and conditions is just as bad as not having them in the first place. The business environment is in constant flux, and outdated terms and conditions may compromise your ability to manage credit risk. Customers can exploit loopholes in your obsolete terms and conditions to delay payments.
Invoicing errors
Simple typing and grammatical errors in invoices can result in costly disputes and delayed payments. For instance, an incorrect billing address or simply omitting a single zero when quoting item prices can cause confusion and stall the payment. Ensure you avoid invoicing errors by following this checklist to create the perfect invoice, and maximize your chance of timely payments.
Inadequate credit checks
Failing to credit check new customers adequately is giving your money to customers who cannot pay you back. Ensure you credit-check all customers by reviewing their credit reports, financial statements, and baking information. That way, you can be more confident in extending credit to only reliable clients who will likely meet their payment obligations.
Missed payment deadlines
Don't let your clients get away with late payments, or they might develop unhealthy billing habits to your detriment. Also, don't take all late payment reasons at face value. Investigate further and get to the root cause before letting the client off the hook. Remember, missed payment deadlines mean cash flow shortfalls, leading to financial strain and unnecessary borrowing. You can prevent missed payment deadlines by implementing a proactive credit management process, and deterring your customers from paying late by implementing late payment fees.
Failing to monitor debtor accounts
Some customers may have stellar credit scores and near-perfect payment histories, but everything can change in a matter of days. Failing to monitor your debtors' accounts consistently leaves you vulnerable to unexpected changes and unprepared for possible defaults. With Chaser, you can do this automatically, AI-generated insights will categorize your customers, on an ongoing basis into 'Good' 'Bad', or 'Average' payers - so you can segment and focus on problem payers.
What is the impact of credit management errors on your business?
Even minor errors in your credit management process can have far-reaching implications on your business's cash flow and overall financial health. Some of the most notable impacts of these errors include...
Cash flow disruption
Errors in credit management can lead to a serious cash flow crisis, where more money is going out than coming in. This creates a deficit in your cash reserves, compromising your ability to meet short-term (and sometimes long-term) financial obligations. This not only hinders operations but also limits your growth opportunities.
Strained customer relations
Inefficiencies occasioned by credit management process errors can put you in bad books with your customers. For example, invoicing errors may lead to delays in the supply of goods or using obsolete terms can cause misunderstandings. This results in disgruntled customers and negative word-of-mouth, which can tarnish your reputation.
Increased bad debt
Failing to properly assess your customers' creditworthiness or enforce robust credit terms can lead to increased bad debt. While one unpaid debt might be negligible, these debts accumulate over time and affect your profitability. It might also force you to make hard decisions like using aggressive debt recovery methods or writing off debts.
Signs of errors in your credit management process
While errors in your credit management system might not be so apparent, the consequences hit hard. To avoid the negative impacts on your financial health, be on the lookout for the following indicators of credit control errors:
- Persistent cash flow problems: The most obvious indicator of issues with your credit management is if you consistently have cash flow issues. Unexpected shortfalls and delaying payments to suppliers mean your credit management process may have deficiencies in monitoring money coming in and going out of your business.
- Late payments: It's okay to get one or two late payments occasionally, but you're probably doing credit control incorrectly if most of your payments come in late. You likely have an issue with your credit checks or are too passive with your credit control. To monitor this, measure your organization's days sales outstanding (DSO).
- Your invoices are sent late: Sending invoices late equals automatic late payments. It's easy to put invoicing or sending invoice reminders on the back burner when you're too occupied with running other aspects of your business. However, proper credit management means having mechanisms in place to ensure timely invoicing and follow-ups.
- Inconsistency in your processes: Companies must establish consistent repayment terms and conditions and adhere to them rigorously. Inconsistency in your terms and conditions indicates that your credit management process needs streamlining. This inconsistency will likely cause confusion among clients and undermine your company's trust.
How to effectively address errors in your credit management process
Businesses must proactively deal with credit control errors or risk serious financial ramifications. There are several ways to correct errors in credit control, but the most effective ones include:
Act immediately
Businesses must act immediately to mitigate the negative effects of these errors on their credit management systems and operational stability. The more time you take to address these issues, the more they compound and affect your financial health.
Correct erroneous data
Identify any erroneous data and correct them promptly. For instance, ensure your customers’ details, payment information, and credit balances are accurate and up-to-date. In case of any errors, contact the affected parties and inform them of the errors and the steps you're taking to rectify them. To avoid erroneous data in future, reconsider your organization's customer onboarding process, and which data you should collect, and how, moving forward to avoid these issues.
Implement root cause analysis
Root cause analysis (RCA) is a cluster term for techniques, tools, and approaches to identify the underlying cause of a problem. Implement root cause analysis in your credit control error management protocols. To do so, you must:
- Gather sufficient data
- Investigate the problem
- Brainstorm potential solutions and corrective actions
- Apply these solutions
- Monitor and review regularly
Investigating the root cause of credit control errors typically involves:
Process reviews: Review your current processes to identify any hiccups and bottlenecks.
Staff interviews: Interviewing your staff may help shed light on overlooked pain points like procedural discrepancies, inadequate training, and other issues that compromise the credit management process.
System audits: Consider conducting a comprehensive audit of your internal systems to ensure their integrity and effectiveness.
Ensure proper communication
Streamline communication channels between your customers and internal teams for immediate error reporting and prompt action. Communication should be honest and transparent, with clear explanations and expectations.
How to prevent future errors in your credit management process
After rectifying errors in your credit management, your next task is to enforce preventive measures against future mistakes. Error-proofing your credit management process typically involves:
Improving subprocesses
Streamline internal subprocesses in your credit control process by implementing more robust procedures and double-checking critical documents before finalizing your operation. Consider integrating approval setups in your workflows with multiple checkpoints for maximum accuracy.
Utilizing credit management software
Simplify your credit management process using the latest software. Credit management software like Chaser gives you a bird’s eye view of your credit management, allowing you full control over your credit operations. It also reduces manual errors, automates tasks, and provides round-the-clock monitoring.
There are several benefits to using software to refine and enhance your credit management process. Some of the most notable ones are:
- Automatically send invoices to your customers and follow them up with reminders if they don't pay their invoices on time
- Records all transactions and interactions with customers to make identifying errors much simpler
- Keeps track of debts to enhance your financial planning and ensure operational stability
- Enhances customer service and experience to improve loyalty and company reputation
Using credit checks and monitoring services
Companies should also consider outsourcing their credit checks and monitoring to reputable third-party experts. In doing so, they can ensure accurate and up-to-date information on debtors and reduce the likelihood of late payments or defaulting. Customers' situations can change quickly, and you must keep tabs on them to protect your financial interests.
You can take advantage of Chaser's credit control software to refine your credit management process and guarantee your financial security and business continuity. It contains features like automated reminders to keep your customers on their toes concerning pending payments.
Case studies and examples
Huttie Group, a mechanical and electrical service provider, was struggling with unpaid invoices, and their efforts to manually call customers and send payment reminders weren't yielding results. Customers ignored calls, and the number of unpaid invoices kept piling up. Without a dedicated credit controller, the company was at the mercy of an inefficient credit management process.
Huttie Group decided to outsource their debt collection to Chaser’s debt collection team, who seamlessly transferred all unpaid invoices to their system and pursued them. An added advantage was that Huttie already used Chaser's accounts receivables automation software, simplifying the transition.
The debt collection team uncovered a serious flaw in their communication methods. Reminders sent via email simply didn't reach the intended customers. So, Chaser instead chose to send personalized messages and adopt multiple communication channels to suit individual customers. In doing so, Chaser managed to get overdue invoices paid and allowed customers to set a definite payment date. Plus, every transaction reflected in
Following this transition, Huttie Group switched to Chaser Collections and had better visibility over invoice payments and full control over their credit management. The result was happy customers and consistent cash flow.
Streamline credit control with chaser
Errors in your credit management process compound with time and could severely hamper your financial health and business stability, as well as ruin your relationship with customers. As such, it's important to be vigilant and immediately correct these errors the moment you identify them. That way, you can ensure timely payment and maintain proper, mutually beneficial customer relationships for your company's growth.
Don't forget to leverage end-to-end solutions like Chaser to streamline your credit management and eliminate common errors in your credit control processes. Start a 10-day free trial or book a demo to see firsthand how Chaser can streamline your accounts receivable process.
