Firstly, check the credit scores of any new clients who you’ll be trading on credit with. You can either sign up to a credit check provider, or use your itsettled membership to check credit scores. If a new customer has a low credit score, give them shorter and stricter payment terms.
If you’re struggling with cashflow management, you should be forecasting your cashflow as frequently as possible. By doing this, you’ll have a good feeling for what’s coming in and out of your bank account, and can account for any slower periods.
Improve your cashflow by offering discounts to those who pay their invoices early. This way, your customers will be more inclined to pay you sooner. At the same time, if you can, pay your invoices quicker to those who offer discounts. Not only will this save you money, but it will boost your relationship with those clients.
However, you also want to use payment terms to your advantage - don’t pay early if there isn’t a discount. Maximise the money in your account for as long as possible.
Arrange a line of credit with your bank before you need to borrow anything. Trying to get money in quickly can be a nightmare - so if you want to borrow some money, make sure you plan it out in advance. Loan providers will be (rightly) wary of anyone who wants a quick fix of money. Look at your cashflow forecast and if you think there will be some quiet periods, consider applying for a loan earlier rather than later.
If you’re still using cheques, switch to using electronic payments for all your transactions. This way, you’ll maximise the time the money spends in your account, as you can pay on the due date whilst avoiding any late fees. You can either use a payment portal or something like a QR payment software.
itsettled is the best way to maximise your cashflow today. We help you to recover payment from good payers, bad payers, and non-payers.
Upload invoices directly to itsettled or connect with your accountancy software. Designed by experts, our credit management software will then get to work collecting the money you’re owed.
We hope you enjoyed this itsettled article and feel empowered to make the right financial decisions for your business with our itsettled explainers and guides. If you need help with invoice queries or late payment, we’re happy to help! If you have any questions, or would like to see us cover a new topic, simply email us at members@itsettled.co.uk.
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