As the publishers of Anytime Collect accounts receivable management software, we’ve written countless articles explaining the need for and the benefits of credit collection software. But even we know that real results experienced by real companies are the best way to truly illustrate how accounts receivable automation can help you increase cash flow. Take, for example, the recent case study published about an HVAC equipment distributor who reduced days sales outstanding by 30% and all but eliminated bad debt after putting accounts receivable on auto-pilot.
The Problem: This distributor was experiencing a problem many companies will recognize, cumbersome manual processes that led to high DSO and a significant amount of cash tied up in outstanding receivables.
In short, the company was relying on the basic features in their ERP system to manage invoice collection. This was a tedious and time consuming process that involved a combination of their ERP system, aging reports, and other manual processes. With so much time being spent on administrative tasks, looking for information, and rekeying data, collectors had little time to devote on proactively contacting customers about invoices.
Our invoice collection strategy was very reactive and collection calls were usually concentrated on invoices that were already past due, not on invoices that could potentially be collected within terms by contacting customer,” said the company Business Manager. “We were always scrambling to catch up on overdue invoices. We knew it was not the most effective way to manage the process, but we didn’t have the time or staff to do it any differently.”
In spite of the NET 30 terms outlined in their contracts, the company’s average days sales outstanding (DSO) was 60 days, meaning customers were taking twice as long to pay as the agreed upon terms! With late payments slowing cash flow; over $4 million tied up in outstanding receivables; and the pressure to pay their own suppliers on 30 day terms; senior management decided it was time to re-think the way they handled collections.
The solution: Anytime Collect extends the basic A/R features in the company’s ERP system to centralize information and streamline the entire accounts receivable management process. With Anytime Collect the company can send automated email reminders and statements, quickly prioritize tasks, automatically archive customer email communications, track performance metrics, and more.
“I researched available tools and software but found very few options that offered the integration we needed and were designed specifically for b2b businesses, not collection agencies. Our IT administrator and I agreed that Anytime Collect was the most user friendly application we could find and we were very impressed with the level of functionality we got for the price.”
The Results: Since implementing Anytime Collect, the company has seen significant results, here’s what the customer had to say about each of the changes they saw:
Reductions in DSO & Bad Debt
Since implementing the system in the fall of 2013, the company has taken DSO from 40 days to 42 days, a 30% improvement meaning the company is collecting invoices over two weeks faster! They also experienced a drastic reduction in bad debt write-offs.
“This year as our fiscal year closes, our bad debt write offs will consist only of debt over two years old, all of which was incurred prior to the implementation of Anytime Collect. I am thrilled with the results we’ve seen and how easy the system is to use. I would highly recommend Anytime Collect to anyone looking to improve their invoice collection process, and working with the e2b team has been incredible.”
Faster & More Accurate Reporting
“Anytime Collect gives me the information I need to prioritize my activities and quickly create reports to ensure that every invoice is followed up on in a timely manner. “
Increased Productivity
“What had previously taken a person a full morning to print, fold, stuff and stamp can now be accomplished in just a few minutes! The ability to attach communications and documents to the email is also a huge time saver!”
“The automation in Anytime Collect has given our collectors exactly what they needed – more time,” said Capps. “it’s amazing to see all that can be accomplished now that the many time-consuming repetitive steps in the collection process are being taken care of automatically.”
Improved Internal and External Communications:
“One of the most important aspects to any accounts receivables strategy has to be communication and we simply did not have the time to devote to consistent communications before – now we do with Anytime Collect.”
“Now instead of writing notes in the margins of aging reports, we can keep notes on who we talked with, the nature of the conversation, and outcomes of the call right in the system. Not only has this made us more productive by eliminating re-keying, it’s easy to send information to sales so we no longer need to waste time giving e-mail updates.”
Ready to learn more? Access the full case study (and many others) along with accounts receivable best practices, collection email templates, call scripts, product demonstrations, and more in our Resource Guide - click below to get started.
