Business owners understand that cash is king and what having a regular cash flow means, from capital improvements to debt management. This is of course dependent on having an effective accounts receivable operation, which makes optimizing it critical to success.
An efficient A/R process means capital doesn’t go to waste, increases liquidity and helps a business be more responsive to shifting needs.
Optimizing A/R doesn’t have to be a huge lift, either. By taking a measured, deliberate approach, businesses will see significant improvements and meaningful impacts on the bottom line.
Why Improve Your A/R Process?
As discussed above, accounts receivable funds business and can help growth. There are other benefits to having a smooth operation, however.
Directly, reliable payments mean your bills get paid, payroll is met and growth efforts are funded. There are fewer hours spent chasing overdue accounts and more spent on business improvements. Indirectly, the benefits can be significant.
Short term, effective A/R operations can impact sales. Payment data may influence decisions like extending credit to customers or whether to offer discounts. Long term, it can directly impact customer relations. The longer an account goes uncollected, the less likely it is to ever be settled. Being aware of past-due accounts enables A/R to work with the customer sooner, improving the chances of payment being received.
It’s also a common customer touchpoint and an opportunity to entice future purchases. An A/R process that is thoughtful or even empathic builds brand loyalty and encourages repeat customers.
How to Improve Your A/R Process
Improving A/R operations doesn’t have to be a significant undertaking. Automating manual tasks is the easiest - and best - way to improve the process.
Done manually, things like document creation, securing signatures or payment acceptance can create bottlenecks. Automating that workflow makes for a quick, error-free process that best serves the business and customers.
Automation can’t be done, well, automatically, of course. It requires buy-in throughout the organization and new processes and workflows must be established. To fully leverage a solution, businesses should also embrace analytics and the data-driven decisions that they provide. Not using customer data leaves valuable insights on the table.
How Invoiced Can Help Improve A/R
Invoiced provides everything your business needs to automate your accounts receivable operation, in one package. From issuing bills to collecting payments to chasing and dunning, Invoiced has a solution for every step of the A/R process.
Invoiced covers a full range of capabilities you need to fully automate A/R including:
- Advanced billing
- Automated collections
- Payment acceptance
- Cash application
- Subscription billing
- Installment plans
- Payment processing
- Customer payment portal
- ERP integration
- Other invoice-to-cash needs
Invoiced is designed for any business, large or small. Whether you’re a subscription or one-off biller, it's likely Invoiced can help. See how we serve a few specific industries:
Get Started on Improving Your A/R Process
An optimized A/R operation can have wide-ranging effects on your business, helping short- and long-term growth. The most direct path to automation is with a software solution like Invoiced that makes for a quick and smooth transition.
