Quickbooks Online (QBO) is one of the most popular cloud-based accounting solutions on the market, and it’s easy to see why. For small and medium enterprises (SMEs), having effective accounting software that allows you to streamline the invoicing and taxation process is essential.
Intuit, the company behind Quickbooks Online, also offers Quickbooks Online as a convenient remote access solution. You can log into QBO through any web browser, making it easy to manage your accounts from anywhere.
However, as good as QBO is as an accounting solution, there’s always room for improvement.
Combining QBO with Chaser allows you to add the benefits of streamlined and effective accounting software to one of the best credit control solutions on the market.
Chaser is the three-time winner of the Cloud App of the Year Award and was a finalist in the Intuit App Showdown in 2018.
Using Chaser cuts down on the amount of time SMEs spend chasing outstanding invoices by more than 15 hours per week. Customers using Chaser to manage their accounts receivables get paid, on average 16 days faster and see a more than 25 per cent reduction in days sales outstanding.
So, if you, like many other SMEs, make use of QBO and are struggling with unpaid invoices, read on to find out how a Chaser integration can help you.
Why effective credit control is so important
Struggling with cash flow because of late payments is a common issue for SMEs and, unfortunately, it’s a problem that’s getting worse. According to research conducted by Market Finance, 43 per cent of invoices issued in the UK in 2019 were paid late.
These late invoices had a total value of £34 billion, leaving UK SMEs with a hole in their accounts to the tune of £34,286.
The time between invoice and payment is also increasing, from 12 days in 2018 to 23 days in 2019.
Late payments have a significant impact on SMEs ability to do business. According to research by Close Brothers, 29.6 percent of SMEs surveyed said that late payments impacted their ability to trade while 65.2 percent reported that late invoices made cash flow difficult to manage.
Late payment of invoice can also have a significant cost associate with it. Survey data shows that 39 per cent of businesses are spending at least four hours a week chasing late payments.
The survey also showed that 32 percent of businesses paid their own suppliers late because of cash flow issues caused by outstanding invoices.
There are also the intangible costs associated with late payment of invoices. A survey by the small business commission found that 63% of small business owners suffer from stress, anxiety or depression caused by late payments.
How Chaser lets you implement effective credit control
Implementing effective credit control doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. Combining Chaser with Quickbooks Online is as simple as downloading the Chaser extension from the Chaser website.
Adding Chaser to your Quickbooks account gives you access to the benefits of greater control over your business finances, such as an average cash flow boost of $22,000 per $500,000 turnover and time saving of over 15 hours per week on credit control.
That works out at an extra 780 hours per year that you can put back into your business!
Along with these great benefits, Chaser lets you:
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Automate your payment reminders
Rather than spending your valuable time chasing unpaid invoices, adding Chaser to your Quickbooks account allows you to send automated invoice reminders.
Your invoice reminders can be set to send scheduled times to alert your customer to an upcoming invoice or to remind them that payment is overdue.
Automating your credit control with Chaser saves you, on average, around 15 hours per week on credit control management and helps you get paid, on average, 16 days sooner.
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Keep the human touch
Automated reminders are easy to ignore; people are not. Using Chaser lets you take advantage of all the benefits of credit control automation, while still keeping that human touch.
You can set your reminders for various invoices to send at different times, even for the same customer. This prevents the bulk sending that is a dead giveaway of an automated process.
Our email templates can be changed to reflect your personal style or the specific relationship you have with individual customers. Invoice reminders can be set to come from your regular email address and include your standard email signature.
Once your customer has paid, you can keep building that positive relationship with them by adding an automated thank you message.
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Maximise your payment options
Every invoice reminder you send through Chaser contains a link to a customer-specific payment portal.
Our payment portals contain all the information your customer needs to make prompt payment, such as their invoice details, how much they owe, the payment terms, and how long the invoice has been outstanding.
Chaser payment portals can be customised with multiple payment options, including Stripe and PayPal, alongside the usual credit and debit card payment solutions.
Using our payment portals encourages your customers to pay you on time by putting all due and paid invoices in one, easy to access, place.
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Actionable data-driven insights
Chaser’s dashboard gives you a wealth of data to draw that helps you streamline your credit control process.
Being able to understand your customers’ payment behaviours through our interactive debtor reports helps you choose the right time, the right channel, and the right language for your payment reminders.
The Chaser dashboard also gives you access to a full audit trail accessible from anywhere. Using the Chaser dashboard lets you quickly access critical information and answer queries without delay.
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Access to Chaser Collections
We always listen to our customers’ feedback, so we know that the vast majority of SME owners would rather write off bad debt than engage with a traditional debt collector.
Small business owners don’t have time to spend on lengthy case handovers. They also don’t want to risk the relationships and repeat business they’ve worked so hard to build on aggressive debt collectors harassing their clients.
Chaser does debt collection differently. We act as mediators between you and your client, working to find the best possible solution for everyone. We use our mantra of ‘polite persistence’ to get you the money you are owed without risking your reputation or the relationships you’ve built.
Since escalation to Chaser Collections can be done through our dashboard, it only takes two clicks, and we already have all the information, so no lengthy handover.
Our pricing model is totally transparent. You’ll get a no-obligation quote upfront, and you’ll only pay for the services you use. Even better, we operate our collections service on a no-win/no-fee basis.
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Speed up payments
Collecting customer payments on time is no easy feat for businesses selling their goods or services on payment terms, and with the difficulties faced by the economy since 2020, getting paid on time is becoming more and more challenging for businesses.
In addition to sending automated payment reminders, Chaser users can send all of their customers access to a dedicated Payment Portal. This gives Chaser users and their customers full visibility over all paid and due invoices, as well as easy access to relevant, downloadable documentation in one central location.
Through offering multiple payment options to suit your customers’ needs in one location, including instant card payments and international bank transfers, customers increase their chances of prompt invoice payments.
So, if you, like many other SMEs, make use of Quickbooks Online and are struggling with unpaid invoices, read on to find out how a Chaser integration can help you.
