Imagine a world where you could have the power to take control over your AR collections process. You would be able to manage new accounts, set up payment plans, and send invoices in a matter of minutes. This is precisely what an automated collection management system can do for you by automating all these processes and many more. Although not all are considered equal, let’s consider how you can pick the best one for your company.

Before you can control your AR collections process, you must first evaluate how your current practices are working. But doing this is harder than it seems to be!

You need to take a step back and consider the entire lending process from the beginning: what is your lending policy? What is your method for collecting payments (or not)? What are the steps in this process? How does it work when things go smoothly, and where does it break down when they don’t? Do you have a dedicated team responsible for appropriately identifying delinquent loans and reporting them? How are bad debts reported throughout the organization?

Evaluate your collection practices to see if they are helping or hurting. If a collection practice prevents you from assessing your entire inventory, it’s not doing much good. If it costs more than it ought to, it might be time to make some cuts.

Evaluate your collection practices to see if they are legal and ethical—and try to keep an eye on both aspects of this evaluation at once! You can do plenty of things that aren’t technically illegal as long as they’re legal within the bounds of acceptable human decency.

It’s always best practice for companies to follow all laws and look like good citizens, even if there isn’t anything legally wrong with what you’re doing. Many legal disputes cost businesses thousands of dollars before the actual trial stage because people won’t think twice about suing them if they don’t think anyone else would. Long-term, this can save both time and money!

Reduce payment friction by offering more payment options. Making it simple for customers to pay in person is essential, but you should also consider making it simple for them to pay online. Most customers start their checkout process with this payment method because it is the most common. You should offer an alternative like PayPal because they might not have a credit card.

If they are still on their mobile device and prefer paying with cash or check (yes, people still do that), then let them know this is also an option. You’ll do better in terms of customer satisfaction and repeat business the more options you give your customers.

Building a solid relationship with the AP team is critical. As a PM, you will be responsible for ensuring that your AR collection process is accurate, efficient, and at scale. This project might be difficult if you don’t have the right alliance. Understanding what needs to be collected and why is crucial, so all parties must frequently communicate to stay on the same page.

You will also need to gain their trust to know they can rely on you and vice versa for everyone to perform their jobs effectively without disrupting business operations or incorrectly billing clients due to information gaps or inaccurate reports. This could result from overlooking specific details while implementing new processes across multiple departments within organizations; communication will ensure that everyone understands exactly what data needs to be collected, what it’s used for, and how long they need access.

Regardless if those departments are internal teams (such as Finance & Accounting) or external vendors/partners who provide services such as customer support via phone calls/chat conversations instead of emails alone like most companies do today.”

You probably manage your collections process in a few different ways if your organization is like most others. You may use manual processes, spreadsheets, and databases to keep track of this data.

This can often result in confusion and miscommunication when there need to be changes made or reports run on the data. Sounds familiar. It’s time to enlist the aid of technology. An automated collections solution will allow you to track your assets better and provide constant visibility into what is happening.

Additionally, it makes it simple for staff members across your organization to access the data they require when they require it, thanks to dashboards or detailed reports that are dynamically updated per each employee’s position within the company (i.e., Finance vs. Accounting).

The importance of communication in the collection process cannot be underestimated. Communicating effectively with your customers will help you work through any issues they have, so everyone on your team must understand how important this is. Consult someone knowledgeable about how to do this if you don’t (such as our experts). They can give you tips on communicating with customers throughout the collection process.

Communicating early and often allows both parties (i.e., yourself and the customer) a chance to gain control over the situation by providing them with information about when payments are due, who needs what information from whom at what time, etc., so that there aren’t any surprises or confusion down the road

Automation is the key to efficiency in any business process, and collections are no exception. By automating your collections process flow, you can gain control over your AR process and ensure that every step runs smoothly.

The benefits of automation are:

When it comes to collections, there are plenty of moving components. You have to consider your lending practices, collection practices, and processes employed by the company. Next, make a decision about the adjustments you can make to ease payment friction and strengthen your relationship with the AP team.

If you don’t already have a reliable strategy for handling collections—or if that plan is outdated—As your company expands, you might find yourself unable to meet its demands. Companies like yours must evaluate their current data management strategy yearly (and more frequently if necessary).

The collection process is a complex, time-consuming one. There are many variables to consider, and you have to be able to anticipate the unexpected. At Gather, we know that your collections team is dedicated and passionate about what they do, but sometimes it can feel like the process is out of their control. That’s why we’re always looking for ways to make things easier on our clients—and one of those ways is by sharing some tips with them so they can regain control over their collections process!