Receiving payments from customers is an important part of any business. But it can also be a hassle. Trying to keep track of who owes you money, chasing down payments, and dealing with late payments can all be time-consuming and frustrating. We'll walk you through the best ways to get paid quickly and easily.
The strength of your accounts receivable team depends on the strengths of the individual team members. Ideally a company would be able to hire multiple employees to handle the different areas of accounts receivable: billing, credit, and collections. But the reality is that many companies only have the bandwidth to hire one or two general A/R specialists.
As the recent events throughout the pandemic have all too clearly illustrated, businesses can never be too prepared for the unexpected — because the unexpected can and will happen. Natural disasters, municipal, state, or national emergencies, cyber attacks, and global pandemics are just a few examples of catastrophes that can result in a loss of product and revenue, induce layoffs, and in a worst case scenario, completely debilitate a business.
Whether you’re a natural extrovert or the thought of talking to strangers makes you break into a sweat, industry conferences can be advantageous to your career. Not only do they present great opportunities to learn cutting edge ideas in your industry, they help you meet more people in your field. Expanding your network leads to better business opportunities.
In the past decade alone, technology has changed the heavy duty aftermarket industry landscape. With big-box companies like Amazon getting into the game, small to midsize businesses need to do everything they can to compete and attract new fleet business, while still maintaining their existing customers.
Just as any business has its slow and busy seasons, seasonality can also affect accounts receivable -- in workflow and cash flow. The best way to be ready for the highs and lows is to forecast properly and take action to help business ride out the dips and valleys. Rather than be caught unaware of possible payment lags, the best policy is to stay informed and proactive.
Developing strong vendor relationships is crucial to the health of your business and can have a big impact on its success. Vendors benefit businesses in many ways by providing knowledge and expertise, and by supplementing your business offerings. Partnering with vendors to fill in the gaps in the supply chain keeps costs down and business processes running more efficiently. This can be invaluable in the face of disruptions. Vendors also help companies remain on the cutting edge and improve overall quality. As such, it’s important to build and maintain strong vendor relationships.
At Interstate Billing Service, we take the security of clients and customers seriously. Fraud prevention is an industry-wide concern impacting businesses worldwide. There are many areas of vulnerability which require extra vigilance. Here are just a few items of concern and suggestions for best practice worth passing along.
Fraud is all too common, and it should come as no surprise that small businesses are at risk. It’s also not surprising that the biggest area of fraud in small businesses occurs in accounts receivable departments. Because of the high number of opportunities for fraud in accounting, small businesses must put measures in place to prevent fraud. Being proactive against fraud is not just vigilant, it’s absolutely necessary to protect your business, profits, and reputation.
Establishing yourself or your company as an industry leader can benefit both your business and your industry. In addition to increasing your professional value, establishing thought leadership can expand your business network, positively influence brand recognition, generate quality leads, and attract valuable business opportunities.
