The Logon Lowdown Issue #57

Hello

 

Welcome to issue 57. It's a bumper issue and thank you for the response to issue 56. From what I've heard you're mostly interested in Tips and Trick and I plan to deliver them to you. Sheryl and I have been spending a lot of time on the business with something like 15 new pages on our web site, which also includes a
blog, twitter (#logonaustralia), and much more. You can visit us at www.logon.com.au  we'd love to see you there.

Larry



 

— LATEST NEWS & EVENTS —
1. Strategies for Managing Overdue Accounts and Late Paying Customers
2. Tencia News
3. Tencia Tip of the Month
4. This months Tencia Specials



Strategies for Managing Overdue Accounts and Late Paying Customers May 13th, 2011 | John Zukerman ||[2]http://www.ccaonline.com.au/blog/strategies-managing-overdue-accounts-late-paying-customers/#more-173



Business owners may prefer not to think about the possibility but overdue accounts and late paying clients can present an inconvenience as well as serious cash flow problems for your business. While many companies may need to use a debt collection agency at some stage, there are some early strategies you can use to manage your overdue accounts and discourage late payment.



1. Have a Clear Policy on Payment Terms.

Ensure that your payment terms are clearly set out on all invoices. If you provide services, make sure a significant deposit is secured before beginning any work. If you provide goods, avoid shipping or providing the goods without payment as much as is acceptable for your industry.



2. Set Up a Firm Credit Policy.

If you need to provide services or goods on credit – and most businesses will need to provide credit for at least some of their goods and services — you should set up a clear credit policy. A good credit policy will include specific steps for collecting overdue payments. In setting up a credit policy, you should
be aiming to obtain payment without alienating or losing customers. Provide the goods and services with an invoice that set out the terms and conditions for payment, and penalties for late payment. Be comprehensive; also include procedures that will be followed in the case of overdue payments. Bring  your customer’s attention to these credit terms. Where appropriate, use credit ratings to assess customers before you grant credit. You should then monitor credit accounts on a regular basis.



3. Follow Up Regularly.

As part of your credit policy, you should set down time frames for following up. Where credit accounts have not been paid by the due date or invoices are overdue, follow up immediately. Schedule periodic reminders at 15, 30, 45, and 60 days with your customer relationship management or operations software Be
courteous but diplomatic when following up and speak directly to the management or owners.

Call them after sending out the reminder notice and always try to have them agree to payment. If necessary, insist on visiting their premises for a chat or offer to pick up payment yourself.



4. Send Invoices Quickly.

f you send invoices out on time, it creates a perception of urgency to the customers. If your invoices are late, it tells the customer that you are lax about timelines and will tolerate late payments.

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5. Be Cautious About Large Orders.

If a new customer is making large orders, be doubly aware and do ensure that they are able to make payment by conducting a credit check.



6. Monitor Your Accounts for Customer History.

Stay alert to problem customers by monitoring customer history. You may need to draw a line when it comes to consistently late paying customers who continue to make orders while paying very late. Cut off supplies or refuse service, or make an exception and refuse credit by demanding upfront payment for this group of customers.

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7. Know When to Escalate Matters.

Go over all the relevant details in relation to the customer’s account and use your judgment to know when it is appropriate to take the following steps.

 

Tencia News

Last week Arrow released Tencia v2011.2.0 which incorporates a new speciality module Bill of Materials / Kitting. 

 

Tencia ERP Bill of Materials Kitting includes additional background parameters which incorporate frequently used ArrowSQL general processes and other general enhancements.

 

More features available in Tencia 2011.2.0.0. including:

• Tencia Connect has been enhanced to allow deletion of Master Files, Documents and Document Lines. A business error will be raised if any record is not in a state to be deleted, for example, an invoice that has been printed and the system setting, Alter Invoices/Credit Notes After Printing, is set to No.

• Cashbook bank statement upload. A new feature has been incorporated into Process Bank Statements that provides an option to upload bank statements from the QIF standard format as output from most Australian banking websites. For a prepared bank statement in an edit status right clicking the process inbox entry will now display an Upload File option.

• The Tencia inquiry behaviour has been enhanced to minimise the number of calls to the Tencia database when entering filter selection details. 

Tencia Tip

Using the Filters.

In Tencia ERP, one of my favourite features is that of the filters, particularly the date filter. When doing a search, say in the cash book, I want to find a payment in the first week of February, with a value of approx $500. The filter will allow me to do this.

 

After bringing up the bank inquiry screen I move to Transactions and change the period range from Current to All. I would then click on the Filter Tab, fill in the criteria and click the Apply Filter Icon. This will bring in all the data that fits that criteria. WATCH THE VIDEO (HD Recommended)

 

This Months Logon Specials

Cost Effective K.P.I Management Reports

 

Upgrading to Tencia offers numerous business advantages and efficiencies.....
Just one more of these is access to a wide variety of Key Performance Indicator (K.P.I) or Business Intelligence (B.I) Reports that enable you to easily analyse your business.



All reports have been developed by using the Tencia Report Designer, you do not have to purchase other “report design products”, and this saves you both time and money. No longer do you have to pay expensive development costs to get extensive summarized management reporting from your system....

 

We have provided a link to [4]www.arrowtoolbox.com.au[5]  where you can review more than 60 reports that give you a concise ,easy to analyse, summarised snapshots of how your business is performing. (Both Reports and Graphs are available). All reports are loaded directly onto the Tencia Menus, run from
within Tencia as a standard report, and allows you to apply your own security based on your existing policies.