Credit Control Solutions

Cash Flow is Critical!

The UK is experiencing a major increase in failures. Many companies are just walking away from their problems. 

When you lose £1,000 on a 10% profit margin you'll need to win and be paid for £10,000 of new business to just stand still!

But while you may be sitting on the fence, others are getting in more quickly to collect what little money may be available.

You can do something about it! Contact us through our website and we will react immediately to start the recovery process.

Jamieo "Making Your Cash Flow"

Help with Credit Control

Every company/business that extends credit to customers needs to be especially careful to ensure that their credit control is as effective as it can be in the current climate. With business insolvencies expected to rise by 34% this year, can you afford not to beef up your credit control function? Cash Flow has always been king, but even more so in this current economic climate.

We can help with all matters credit control, we are able to:

• Handle your credit control for you on an outsourced basis. This will significantly reduce your costs and improve cash flow at the same time.
• Provide you with advice, guidance & training to help you get the best out of your current credit control arrangements.
• Assist you at the back end of collections by offering you our unique and very cost effective debt collection service.

We have experience within the different industries and can use our knowledge to guide your business.

We are also more than happy for any prospect to talk directly with our customers about the excellent services we provide them with.

I have 22 years experience within the credit management industry and we have been trading as Credit Control Solutions for the last 8 years, so we know what we are talking about and how best to help you.

We also give out free advice, so if you have any questions about a particular situation, please do not hesitate to contact me

Further information on all of our wonderful services is on our website

Jamieo "Making Your Cash Flow"

Government Sceme to Encourage Prompt Payment is Doomed to fail

The Government’s launch of a voluntary code on payment terms to encourage the prompt payment of bills between businesses as firms across the UK battle to survive the downturn is unlikely to spark a genuine move away from late payment culture in the UK, warns commercial credit agency Graydon UK.

The voluntary code, launched this week under the leadership of Lord Mandelson, aims to prevent companies from reneging on agreed payment terms. This practice is commonplace among large corporate in the UK, with Alliance Boots and Tesco amongst the worst offenders.

The announcement follows the recent publication of research conducted by the Forum of Private Business (FPB) revealing that nearly two thirds (61 per cent) of small firms in the UK are encountering greater difficulty managing cashflow compared with the first week of November.

However, Martin Williams, Managing Director, Graydon UK, is not convinced that the proposals will turn the tide of the late payment of suppliers in the UK, particularly in instances where small firms are the victims.

Martin Williams said: “There’s no doubting the positive sentiment which lies behind the Government’s introduction of a voluntary code but it is highly unlikely that this latest move will make a tangible difference when it comes to helping small companies manage their cashflow.

“Long before the economic crisis really began to bare its teeth, many large corporate were habitually using their purchasing power to squeeze their suppliers through late payment, even though they had plenty of cash in their coffers to pay the bills when they finally chose to.

“The difference now is that as the economic situation has worsened, even large companies no longer have the readily available cash required to pay bills and are failing to pay trade invoices simply because they can’t do so. This week’s Government announcement alone won’t be sufficient to remedy this situation.”

Outsourcing your credit control is a possible answer to poor cash flow - we can help you with this.

Jamieo "Making Your Cash Flow"

The ICM works with Government to help small businesses

The government has formally launched a new campaign to help small businesses tackle the issue of cashflow, central to the campaign is a series of self-help guides developed in collaboration with the Institute of Credit Management (ICM).

Grouped under a series entitled Managing Cashflow, each of the guides provides a checklist and tips to give businesses advice at a glance.

According to Philip King, Director General of the ICM: "They cover a diverse range of subjects all with the principal objective of getting paid." He adds, "These include guides on negotiating payment terms, invoicing, chasing payments, factoring, credit insurance and what to do if a customer goes bust."

The guides, which have also received the support of major High Street Banks as part of the government's new Small Business Finance Forum, were developed under the auspices of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) working closely with specialists within the ICM. At their launch, Secretary of State for Business Peter Mandelson described the guides as part of a series of initiatives providing practical support to help businesses help themselves through these difficult times.

"Cashflow is critical to business survival," he says, "but all too often the day-to-day challenge of running a business, particularly a smaller business, can mean losing sight of some of the skills for successful cashflow management. These guides are designed to provide straightforward and speedy advice with simple checklists and top tips. We want to help smaller businesses plan for the difficult times ahead. We want to ensure that they are healthy enough to survive and come out strongly at the other side."

Philip King, Director General of the ICM, believes that the Institute is ideally placed to provide the support the government needs for small businesses: "For some 70 years now the ICM has been promoting the need for excellence in credit management and raising the awareness of its vital role in helping businesses to grow.

"We are today the established thought-leader in these matters, with a comprehensive programme of training, publications, and services that credit managers need to survive and indeed prosper in what are increasingly difficult times. Our online learning tools (icmOS), accredited qualifications, and specialist recruitment division are all examples of why the government continues to recognise our work in supporting credit managers, and the importance of good credit management per se for businesses across the UK."

The 10 guides in the series are:

1. Knowing your customer
2. Payment Terms
3. Invoicing
4. Treating suppliers fairly
5. Credit Insurance
6. Factoring and finance options
7. Chasing payment
8. When cash runs short
9. When all else fails
10. When your customer goes bust.

As well as the banks, the guides are supported by major industry bodies including the ACCA, BBA, CBI, FPB, FSB, the ICAEW, IoD and the British Chambers of Commerce.

The Managing Cashflow guides follow soon after an earlier collaboration between BERR and the ICM that saw more than 100,000 Combating the Crunch leaflets distributed to small businesses across the UK.

The guides are available online at: www.creditmanagement.org.uk/berrguides.htm

Jamieo"Making Your Cash Flow"
 

Postal Strikes - Isn't it Time we Took a Stand?

Postal strikes can seriously affect your cash flow. There have been several reported cases of businesses going bust due solely to postal strikes.

Postal strikes will impede your cash flow for 2 reasons:

• Delays in customers receiving your invoices &
• Providing your customers with an excuse not to pay you on time (cheque lost in the post etc)

Firstly, we would suggest that you always e-mail your invoices to your customers. Not only does this save you time and effort, it also saves you money. Did you know that the true cost of sending an invoice by post to your customers is actually around £1.00? The cost of e-mailing invoices is virtually zero?

If you haven't done so already why not encourage all of your customers to pay you by BACS? The benefits of receiving payment by BACS are:

• Postal strikes will not affect your cash flow.
• Your bank charges will reduce (many banks will not charge you to receive payment by BACS)
• Unlike cheques, BACS payments rarely go astray.
• You do not have to make trips to the bank to pay in cheques.

We could go on, but I think you get the picture.

Cheques are on their way out. Many retail outlets no longer accept cheques as a method of payment. If large retail outlets can refuse cheques why shouldn’t you? We would suggest that when you sign up a new customer you tell them how you wish to be paid rather than leaving it up to them to choose how to pay you. It works believe me it does. If you are to stand a good chance of being paid on time, it is important that you keep control of how you are paid. Credit Control is predominantly about control, choice, procedure and believe it or not psychology!

If the current postal strike (October 2007) is affecting you why not arrange to pick up cheques from your customers yourself, or failing that arrange for a courier to collect them for you?  This opportunity will also allow you to touch base with your customers and possibly present you with a sales opportunity as well!

For further information about how we can help you please visit our website

Jamie  O "Making Your Cash Flow"

Is Cash Flow Causing you a Problem?

• Are you a small or medium sized business experiencing cash flow problems due to customers not paying you on time?
• Do you simply not have enough time or resources to undertake your credit control yourself?
• Are you looking to improve cash flow but at a reduced cost to your business?

If so, subscribe to this blog, as we will give you handy tips and advice completely free of charge ! For further information on our solutions, please visit Credit Control Solutions, or contact me by e-mail.