We are fortunate to sit down with business owners and financial managers throughout the country, and often we are asked to share our expertise when discussing methods of streamlining cash flow.
Often they are nervous about implementing a preferred payment method due to the fact that their client may not agree and this may cost them the client.
Many businesses spend hours (and lots of money) chasing their client’s for payment of goods received and/or services rendered.
Others are receiving their money but at a time that suits the client, not the business!
When payment is received it may be in a means not suited to the business cash flow or often incurs unnecessary costs (e.g. cash deposit fees).
Some businesses even say “At least we get paid…” or “we have no problem with cash flow, our client’s pay us… eventually”.
Does this sound familiar?
So then, how does one go about streamlining their cash flow?
Depending on your industry, fees can be collected in a number of ways, some of which may or may not apply to your business:
- Have you considered taking a deposit upfront and balance on delivery?
- Have you considered offering your client the convenience of splitting payment over a few months or in phases? Ensuring your business has a steady income over the contract period and your customer receives timeous service delivery.
- Have you given the client the option to pay by credit card? This may sometimes be a more costly exercise as the banks usually require that you process large volumes in order to offer better prices. We also suggest taking the increasing incedences of credit card fraud into consideration before making a decision.
- Have you considered asking for an EFT payment instead of cash? Cutting cost on cash deposit fees but also ensuring the security of your business with less cash on site.
- Have you considered implementing a debit order collection service? Have you stopped to consider the benefits?
In an economy where collecting an invoice can mean the difference between having a business and going out of business, should you as a business owner not be considering a more streamlined approach?
We encourage you to contact us, should you wish to discuss streamlining your cash flow.