Cash or charge? This inquiry is a familiar question when making purchases, and that simple question gets to the heart of the difference between the two main methods of accounting at large to small businesses, whether a company should use cash vs accrual accounting to manage their finances. There's nothing necessarily wrong with using either method for your bookkeeping, and plenty of business owners use one or the other just fine. Depending on the size, scope, or type of business you have, you may prefer to use either type of accounting method for an accurate picture of your company's cash flow.

What's the Difference Between Cash and Accrual Based Accounting?

As you might have suspected from our opening question, your choice of which method of accounting you prefer depends on how you record expenses and income.

Cash Basis Accounting

Under cash basis accounting systems, your bookkeeping reflects the actual amount of money you have at any given point because you only record transactions when they happen.

When a customer pays you for a product or service, that transaction only gets documented when the money hits your bank account. Likewise, business expenses are recorded when cash flows out, not when charged to a credit card.

Accrual Basis Accounting

Unlike cash basis method accounting, Accrual accounting records credit card payments and revenue even during the period of time when the money isn't technically in hand yet. All accounts receivable and accounts payable are treated as assets and liabilities despite the fact that the actual movement of cash hasn't happened yet.

Which One Is Better?

Really, it depends on the size of the organization. Small business owners generally prefer the cash basis of accounting because hey can record revenue immediately. As per the IRS, cash basis accounting can only be done by businesses with no more than $5 Million in sales per year.

This option isn't to say that a small business couldn't use accrual basis accounting, but in most small business accounting situations, it's not necessary. However, businesses can only be professionally audited if they use accrual basis accounting.

Large businesses that have more than $5 Million in yearly revenue must, as per the IRS, use accrual accounting. Because financial statements under accrual accounting reflect when transactions were made rather than when money came in, the company (and, by extension, the IRS) has a clearer picture of their financial health and profitability.

When engaging in tax planning, collecting financial documents at year-end or at the end of each reporting period, the business can better forecast revenue.

Disadvantages of Cash Basis Accounting

Even though a business making less than $5 Million per year doesn't have to engage in accrual basis accounting, they may still want to do so because it offers some distinct advantages over cash basis accounting. Downsides of cash basis accounting include:

Financial Statements Aren't Current

How much income do you have? Just add up cash receipts, right? Well, let's say you sent an invoice in December, but the customer doesn't pay until January. That sale couldn't be counted on your year-end tax return under the cash basis method because you didn't have the money yet in December.

The same goes for charitable giving. If you gave a certain amount to charity in December, but the check didn't clear until the following year, you wouldn't be able to document those tax deductions on the previous year's return, and you'll have to pay taxes you wouldn't otherwise.

It's Not Compatible with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)

GAAP determines whether you can get credit in many situations. Lenders do not like to see financial reporting with the cash basis method. If your business needs a loan, it can be difficult to obtain with cash basis accounting.

Your Business Lives Day to Day

Because cash basis accounting is so focused on short-term time periods, you can't really get a large picture of how your business is doing financially. You may not have the ability to predict when to hire and fire, when to purchase new equipment, or whether you'll be able to continue paying rent on your building.

Advantages of Cash Basis Accounting

To be fair, cash basis accounting works well for many people, and if you're a freelancer or own a small business, it could work well for you. The benefits of cash basis accounting include:

Potentially Favorable Taxable Income Timetable

While you may not be able to make all of the tax deductions and do all of the reporting you'd like, cash basis accounting does make filing income taxes easier. And while you may not be able to report revenue by year-end exactly, that could keep you from having to pay taxes on some revenue you would have to otherwise.

Many businesses start out on a cash basis and switch to an accrual basis later for tax purposes.

It's Simple

With cash basis accounting, there are no accounts payable or accounts receivable. Keeping track of payments may not be time-sensitive for you, and when a transaction doesn't put money in your bank account by year-end, you may not care.

Disadvantages of Accrual Basis Accounting

Just because accrual basis accounting is what large businesses use doesn't mean it's right for your small business. It does have its downsides, including:

It's Complicated

Because a company's income statement shows revenue, expenses, gains, and losses and doesn't differentiate between cash and credit payments, it takes expert bookkeeping to keep future cash and current cash properly documented.

Accrual accounting requires more paperwork and expense regarding the number of personnel, their hours, and the type of accounting software and workstations needed.

It's Inaccurate in the Short-Term

Just as cash basis accounting isn't accurate in the long term, accrual basis accounting has the opposite problem. Knowing where a business stands in terms of liquid, usable cash can be difficult to impossible because accounts payable may be assets, but they don't represent cash in hand.

Advantages of Accrual Basis Accounting

The positives of accrual accounting outweigh the negatives for many small businesses, and of course, large companies don't have a choice. Some of the advantages include:

Accurate Picture of Finances

Even though the short-term view may be skewed, the long-term view is the one that most often counts. Companies that want a clear idea of their profitability and cash flow use accrual basis methods. This approach lets businesses plan farther into the future in terms of staff numbers, product changes, and expansion into new markets.

It's Compatible with GAAP

With accrual basis accounting, your business is far more likely to get loans. Lenders want to see the totality of your company's profitability, and that's only possible when accounts receivable and accounts payable are taken into account.

It's Required

This stipulation may not sound like a plus but think of it this way: If your business adopted accrual basis accounting during its growing phases, once it becomes a large business, there's no change that needs to occur. Your business would be ready to make the transition without revamping its bookkeeping and accounting practices.

What About C-Corporations?

Ah yes, it seems like there are always exceptions, aren't there? The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changed the rules slightly to allow more companies to use the cash basis method.

C-corporations, as well as companies in partnerships with C-corporations, are allowed to use the cash basis accounting method as long as they pass the "gross receipts test" within the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) §448.

If the corporation or partnership averages its gross receipts for the prior three years and finds that they do not exceed $25 Million, then they qualify.

It must be said that "tax shelters" are still not allowed to use cash basis accounting regardless of average gross receipts. Tax shelters are enterprises that have to register with the government if it sells an interest in itself (excluding C-corporations), syndicates, and tax shelters that fall under IRC §6662(d)(2)(C)(ii).

What About Hybrid Accounting?

You can choose which part of your bookkeeping uses a cash basis and which uses an accrual basis (assuming you're a small business, of course). You could use an accrual basis for your inventory and a cash basis for income, for example.

If you choose this route, it's best to set up your accounting method with a CPA. You want to ensure you can keep track of your cash flow accurately, and it can be not very clear to have some cash documented only when it arrives in your bank account while documenting your inventory on a credit basis.

What If I Want My Business To Switch?

No problem! If your business has broken into separate pieces that no longer have any stake in or partnership with each other and you're now small enough to do cash basis accounting, then do it.

You can reduce your costs and make tax filing and financial documenting easier. If your business is getting big enough to where it makes sense and you can afford the accounting staff, then move to accrual accounting.

What you can't do is switch methods in the middle of a tax year. The IRS requires businesses to use the same approach to report income for an entire year, so you'll have to wait until year-end to make the change.

Visit HappyAR to learn more about how we help our clients supercharge their AR collections process and results.

Intuit QuickBooks has been the standard accounting software for nearly 20 years and has enabled small businesses to largely automate their bookkeeping and invoicing processes with unbelievable levels of functionality. It has also transformed the collections process thanks to the sheer amount of data QuickBooks can access.

If you’re a business owner, chances are you have paid good money for QuickBooks and gotten a return on your investment several times over, whether you rely on QuickBooks Online or desktop version.

But of course, it can’t be as simple as “purchasing QuickBooks.” Different industries need industry-specific features, and rather than burden every purchaser of QuickBooks with a high price tag and unnecessary capabilities, QuickBooks now offers several tiers of functionality depending on a specific company’s needs:

• QuickBooks Pro Plus
• QuickBooks Enterprise
• QuickBooks Accountant
• QuickBooks Premier (the one we’re discussing today)

Your particular company may not need all of the bells and whistles of every package, but as we delve into QuickBooks Premier Plus, you’ll be able to determine whether QuickBooks Premier Plus is a worthy investment.

Wait, Isn’t It QuickBooks Desktop Premier?

Well… sort of. Intuit is moving QuickBooks as a whole into a subscription model, and to differentiate Premier from past versions (though the interface will remain the same), they’re phasing out the “desktop” naming convention and switching it to Premier Plus. However, you may still see the software referred to as QuickBooks Desktop Premier Plus.

It’s still possible to purchase desktop versions of the software through Amazon and other retailers, but Intuit will no longer support older versions of their accounting software. This lack of support means no more security patches or live support, for example.

If you’re using older versions of QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sales (POS), QuickBooks Desktop Accountant, QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, and Desktop Pro and Premier, you will have support for these programs as long as they’re from 2019 or newer — at least, for a little while longer.

QuickBooks Premier Plus Isn’t a One-Time Purchase?

Exactly. Technically you will not own your QuickBooks Premier Plus software. Actually, you won’t be able to “own” any QuickBooks Desktop version. The cost is $549.99 per year with an annual subscription for a single user. Additional users cost extra with a cap of 5 users.

If you have any add-ons with your QuickBooks software or older versions such as Premier 2018 (General Contractor, General Business, Manufacturing & Wholesale, Professional Services, Nonprofit, and Retail) or Desktop Point of Sale (POS) 12.0, you’ll have to upgrade. All QuickBooks Desktop software will require an annual subscription from 2022 on.

There’s also no guarantee that older versions of your QuickBooks software will continue to be compatible with new programs, whether you run Microsoft or Apple operating systems. Now, this isn’t just a move to make more money; it actually does make some sense from several standpoints.

First, security updates and integration with modern software are tough to maintain, and it’s easier to create new versions to keep pace with advancing tech. Also, many companies upgrade regularly anyway, and since the previous Desktop Premier cost $649.99 to purchase outright, the annual subscription model may end up saving some businesses a little money.

Which is Better, QuickBooks Premier Plus, or QuickBooks Desktop Pro Plus?

The additional fee of Premier Plus isn’t insubstantial, considering Premier Plus’s subscription of nearly $550 and Pro Plus’s cost of $350. There is a lot of overlap in features, too. Both versions offer:

• Income and expense tracking
• Invoicing
• Reporting
• Estimate sending
• Sales tax tracking
• Bills and accounts payable management
• Time tracking
• Inventory tracking
• List Limits
• Paying 1099 Contractors
• Unlimited Customer Support
• Data Backups and Upgrades

They also both allow purchasers to add on enhanced payroll functionality.

Where QuickBooks Pro Plus and QuickBooks Premier Plus differ is in the number of users. Pro Plus allows a maximum of 3 user permissions while Premier Plus provides for 5, and Premier Plus offers forecasting and industry-specific features.

So if your company doesn’t require these extra features, then Pro Plus will suit you just fine. System requirements are more stringent than they were in the past, needing at least 8GB of ram to function and preferring 16GB for optimal performance. You will also need a 64-bit operating system.

If remote access is of paramount importance, or you need remote receipt and barcode scanning, you can pair QuickBooks to the QuickBooks Desktop Mobile App. Most of the desktop software functionality is still present, though it is optimized slightly in favor of Apple operating systems.

New Features for 2022

No matter which version of QuickBooks Desktop you purchase, there are some new features you should be aware of:

E-Commerce Integration: Tracking revenue is easier now because Webgility integrates with QuickBooks. If you sell on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, or any other online retailer, QuickBooks will instantly track those sales.

Improved Bill Payment and Approval: You can pay bills in QuickBooks via credit card, bank transaction, or debit card. In regards to accounts payable, you can create customizable approval workflows for your invoices.

Automated Bill Entries: This feature allows you to import bills from the mobile app or bills sent through email.

Document Uploading: The mobile app lets you upload documents to attach to transactions.

Batch Contacts: This feature lets you add more than one customer contact to your batch emails.

Instant Deposit: Even on weekends and holidays!

Payment Links: If you don’t need to send an invoice, you can send a payment link to a customer instead.

What Is the Forecasting Feature?

QuickBooks Premier Plus’s forecasting allows users to create forecasts of the company’s revenue and expenses.

The software can automatically predict over a set period, say a quarter, a month, a year, whatever you choose, and let you manage inventory items through inventory reports, plan around growth or reduction, and keep a close eye on cash flow. This feature makes it easier to:

Set Sales Targets: Because QuickBooks can be an “all-in-one” solution for much of the back end of your business, the information it has lets you know if your sales targets are accurate and achievable.

For example, because QuickBooks knows how many purchase orders or e-commerce orders you’ve received over a specific time period, it can extrapolate based on a variety of factors whether an increase or decrease in sales is likely and what must change in order to increase sales.

Improve Strategy: Based on the real-time financial data QuickBooks accesses, you can see whether you need to increase or decrease billing rates, if invoices are being paid on time, and if your on-the-job costs, such as transportation or utilities, could be reduced in price by shopping around.

You can make judgments about whether to expand into new markets or bolster your current product lines or if you need to hire new staff.

Get More Funding: Lenders and investors like seeing growth. It makes them feel like their money is being well spent. If you can use your forecasts to show that you have positive growth, you’re more likely to be able to raise additional capital.

What are the Industry Specific Features of Premier Plus?

Not every business needs every feature, so the functionality of the Premier Plus version of QuickBooks gives different businesses some capabilities that align with their specific usage:

Professional Services: For professions who require special training, such as doctors, engineers, or artists. One screen allows users to see all clients and unbilled time and expenses at once. Allows for different billing rates and metrics to see which jobs are most profitable.

General Contractors: Can organize vendors and construction site tasks. Generates “job by vendor” reports to see which vendor hasn’t been paid yet.

Manufacturing and Wholesale: Enhanced functionality for monitoring inventory levels and creating inventory reports. Sets ideal times for reordering supplies and raw materials. It will also monitor vendors to see which ones have the highest or lowest prices.

Nonprofit: Creates end-of-year donation reports and a “Statement of Functions Expenses” (Form 990) for reporting to donors, the board, and the IRS. Also tracks major donors and their giving.

Retail: Features a Sales Summary Form for accurate sales transactions. It also tracks inventory, pinpoints ideal reorder times, and compares profit/loss.

General Business: Keeps track of stock for simple inventory reordering through the inventory center. Provides fast access balance sheets and tracks financial data easily. Categorizes client data clearly, showing billing information such as time and job completion percentage, job phase, and material usage.

QuickBooks Premier gives users a reversing journal entry option as well as more than 150 industry-specific reports.

What Other Advantages Make Premier Plus a Better Choice?

An extra $200 for Premier Plus is a no-brainer if you need the added functionality. Some functions even seem like they are the same between Premier Plus and Pro Plus, but they aren’t as similar as they seem.

Inventory and Sales: Pro Plus is fine if you only need the bare minimum of inventory tracking. Premier Plus is far more capable. Pro Plus does not offer a sales order feature, but Premier Plus does, as well as the ability to track backorders and create partial invoices. Premier Plus also tracks per-item pricing and current availability while offering build assembly monitoring.

Reports: With Pro Plus, you’re limited to 100+ reports, while Premier Plus lets you run 150+ reports, in addition to the industry-specific reports mentioned earlier.

Job Costing: Premier Plus lets you take an estimate created with Pro Plus and use it to generate a purchase order. You can also manage change orders and track unbilled time and expenses.

Let’s touch on the number of users for a moment. It may not seem like a large leap to go from 3 permissions to 5, but in a large accounting or bookkeeping department, an extra two people using the same program can dramatically lower costs while increasing productivity.

Rather than having to get a second annual subscription of Pro Plus to accommodate a fourth accounting department staff member, you could add a fourth user in Premier Plus.

Will My Old QuickBooks Files Be Compatible?

You can convert older QuickBooks data files to be compatible with your new software, but it doesn’t work the other way around. If, for example, you wanted to share a file generated by your new QuickBooks software with someone using an older version, that wouldn’t be possible.

There is an exception to this, however. If you have QuickBooks Desktop Accountant and are working in an Accountant’s Copy, then yes, you can use older files.

Will I Be Able To Export To Excel?

Yes! If you want to use reports outside of QuickBooks, you can export them to an Excel file. You will have to make sure the file is not in protected view, or you’ll see data missing. To keep this from happening, you’ll need to select “enable editing.”

Are Quicken and QuickBooks the Same Thing?

If you’re just starting a business and want to get accounting software, you’ll notice two names that are quite similar: Quicken and QuickBooks. In fact, they’re both made by Intuit but have different purposes.

Quicken is aimed at users interested in tracking personal finances. There’s no cloud-hosting, no payroll features, no 1099 contract managing, and no accountant access. It’s also much cheaper than QuickBooks, of course.

What About QuickBooks Online? Is It the Same as Desktop?

QuickBooks Online seems like an attractive option because it’s cloud-based and can be accessed anywhere. While the Desktop version has the mobile app, the app can’t do everything that the desktop software can.

QuickBooks Online lets you download bank transactions, and your accountant can log in and work with you in real-time. It’s also far cheaper than the desktop version. Another benefit of QuickBooks Online is automatic mileage tracking, which is not offered on the desktop version.

We’re not telling you to abandon QuickBooks Desktop and go right for Online because Desktop does have far more features, and the features that they share are more in-depth.

Inventory management, job costing, report generation, and more are going to be more feature-rich with Desktop, even if you do have to give up the easy remote access that Online offers.

Hang On, What About QuickBooks Enterprise?

It’s true, there’s an option we haven’t discussed yet, and it’s the most advanced of all of the QuickBooks Desktop versions. Enterprise comes in at a hefty $1,020 per year at current pricing, but it also comes with some big options.

To start, Enterprise allows up to 40 users at once, as well as advanced roles. You also get bumped up to 200+ reports and advanced capabilities with your estimates, inventory, mobile barcode scanning, sales order fulfillment, and VIP Priority Circle customer support. If that’s worth doubling the price over Premier Plus for your organization, well, that’s up to you!

No Matter Which QuickBooks Version You Prefer, HappyAR Will Help With Your Collections.

With HappyAR. you can automate workflows, integrate with common accounting software, and gain insight into your customers with in-depth data collection. HappyAR streamlines your invoice follow-up tasks per day and helps you get paid faster.

If you’re currently following up on invoices yourself, it’s time to stop relying on human memory to check whether customers have paid yet. Past due invoices hinder your cash flow, and you shouldn’t be expected to have to remember to check your payments constantly.

To sweeten the deal even further, there’s no contract to sign; you’re with HappyAR month to month, and you have no long-term commitment to stick with us.

If you’re ready to have easier invoicing collections, we’re ready to make it happen for you. Contact HappyAR today!

It’s true that we love QuickBooks. Not only have we been users of the online accounting and bookkeeping software many years before starting HappyAR, but we also now integrate our AR automation solution with their platform. We’re not alone either. QuickBooks by Intuit is the most recognized and used accounting software for small businesses. DIY business owners and a ton of professional bookkeeping service agencies and certified bookkeepers rely on the software.

HappyAR is also proud to be able to provide our prospective clients with partner pricing for QuickBooks Online. Click on this link to get 40% off your monthly subscription for QBO and make sure to check us out in the App Store. Instead of taking a referral payment, we choose to pass the savings along to our small business friends in the market.

With that in mind, we encourage you to try the platform and have provided 8 reasons why we think that small business owners should try using QuickBooks Online for DIY ongoing bookkeeping.

Reason 1: There’s No Need to Be a CPA or Accounting Expert to Set Up and Use QuickBooks

QuickBooks keeps everything organized in one place, so you’re tax-ready all the time. Easy-to-read reports and dashboards help you make smarter business decisions. 98% of QBO customers say that it’s a simpler way to manger their business according to a 2018 client survey

Reason 2: You Can Simplify Everyday Accounting Easily

You can access QuickBooks from the web or your mobile devices, making it simple to send invoices, pay bills, save receipts, and add an expense when you’re on the go. QuickBooks users save an average of 42 hours per month using the platform.

Now bookkeeping tasks can be completed without the need of a public accountant with years of experience.

Reason 3: You Can Track Project Profitability

With QBO, you know exactly how much money your projects make with clear financial records and dashboards. You can track project details like job and labor costs, expenses, and income all in one place. This allows you to see your profitability based on complete payroll and time costs.

Reason 4: Cash Flow Management Is Easy to Set Up

You’ll get customized, data-driven financial information to have you make informed business decisions. Now you can forecast your money-in and money-out over 30 and 90 days and set aside funds from your QuickBooks Cash Account for non-negotiable expenses.

Reason 5: You’ll Get a Much Better View of Income and Expenses When Using QuickBooks for Bookkeeping

You can import transactions from your bank accounts, credit cards, PayPal, Square, and other payment portals. This will allow you to automatically sort transactions into sales tax categories. What’s also cool is that you can snap photos of your receipts and they will automatically match them to existing expenses.

Reason 6: New Financial Reports and Valuable Insights Will Allow You to Make Better Decisions for Your Business

So important to business owners is the ability to run and export financial statements including profit & loss statements, expenses, and balance sheets. You can also create customized on-demand and monthly reports and Excel sheets to get important insights specific to your business. Now you can avoid surprises by easily tracking cash flow and reporting on your dashboard.

Reason 7: Invoice and Payment Options Will Help You Get Paid Fast While Looking Professional

This is how HappyAR partners with QuickBooks and why we like them so much. You can send and quickly start importing hundreds of invoices at once with batch invoicing. You can also create partial invoices for stages of a project, track invoice status, and automate your payment reminders using an add-on solution like HappyAR.

All of this will help get you paid faster and easier in your first month of use.

With HappyAR, you’re also able to include unlimited users from your organization at no additional cost. These folks can be assigned full or select viewing privileges for specific clients. For example, sales reps can see how an invoice payment is progressing for a key account of theirs, so they know when to expect their commission or when to reengage for additional business.

Reason 8: You Can Maximize Your Deductions When It’s Time for Tax Filing

Snap and store receipts and stop missing out on business expense deductions. Share your books with your accountant or tax advice professional or export important tax return documents come year-end tax time. Finally, automatically sort business expenses into the right tax categories to keep more of what you earn.

If you truly want to transform your invoicing, then you need HappyAR. HappyAR is a full toolkit that makes invoicing simple and gets you paid faster and in full. It provides fully automated workflows and complete integration with your existing accounting software. Talk to HappyAR today; your accounts receivable will reduce or eliminate the need for redundant and expensive basic bookkeeping work.

As a small business owner, managing accounts receivable should rank among your top priorities. By managing receivables properly, you’ll have easier access to cash, greater liquidity in your business, and improved relationships with your clients.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for many small businesses. According to one recent report, the average business loses $84,000 each year in unpaid invoices. Late payments and unpaid invoices can cripple your cash flow and put your company in financial jeopardy.

However, you can improve your accounts receivable process by implementing a few basic strategies, which we’ll cover below.

What Is Accounts Receivable Management?

First, it’s important to understand our terms. Accounts receivable (AR) refers to any money that your clients owe your company. This is in contrast to accounts payable, which refers to money your company owes to others, such as vendors or suppliers.

Accounts receivable management refers to a whole series of processes that you use to manage your invoicing process. This can include:

• Invoicing and billing procedures
• Payment processing
• Communication with customers
• Your collection process

How you handle your accounts receivable process depends largely on the size of your company, the number of employees that can share the responsibility, your industry, and your own internal policies.

The Benefits of Healthy Cash Flow

Your company can only thrive when you have enough working capital to meet your obligations and invest in your core business processes. Proper cash management depends on your invoicing process, as well as your accounts receivable management.

Unpaid invoices not only negatively impact your cash flow, but the time-consuming task of collecting payment can divert your team’s attention away from your core business processes + growth efforts.

Your best strategy to avoid this is to devise an accounts receivable process that is prompt, accurate, and easy for you and your valued customers. The goal with any accounts receivable strategy should be to increase payment speed, decrease employee hours needed for those collections, and do all of it while making sure your customers stay happy and continue working with your company.

How to Manage Accounts Receivable

How can you streamline your accounts receivable process? The following tips represent some of the best practices in the industry and can potentially transform the way you do business.

Tip 1: Learn Your Metrics

Before you make any actual adjustments, it will be helpful to examine a few basic metrics to help you gauge your company’s financial health before deciding how you should be managing receivables.

You should start with your day’s sales outstanding (DSO) figures. This number reveals the average amount of time it takes to collect payment. Ideally, this number should be less than 30 days, though many companies aim for a DSO number that’s even lower.

Another important metric is your accounts receivable turnover ratio. Your receivable turnover ratio illustrates how quickly you’re collecting money from your clients, it basically measures your efficiency of collections.

To calculate this figure, use the following formula:

(net annual credit sales) / (average accounts receivables) = accounts receivable turnover

The lower the number, the better. A ratio of 10 or above indicates you have a lot of uncollected revenue that hasn’t been accounted for.

These metrics can help you make better sense of your financial statements, which can also be useful in your company’s financial forecasting. These figures provide some starting points for developing your receivables strategy and focusing on what areas you need to improve on.

Tip 2: Use an Electronic Invoicing System For Managing Receivables.

Sending an electronic invoice is the fastest and most accurate way to bill your clients. One of the primary reasons that customers pay their invoices late is that their initial invoice contains errors. Worse, each paper invoice costs an average of $53.50 to fix, which can take a significant bite out of your revenue.

Invoicing software helps to minimize the kinds of errors that creep in from data entry. It also ensures that your clients receive an invoice that matches their records, as well as any initial estimates, if applicable.

Another crucial benefit of an electronic invoicing platform is that it allows you to send invoices almost instantly. The faster you send your bill, the faster you can get paid.

Unless mandated by your customer, electronic invoices are the most efficient way to send invoices and receive fast payments. We recommend using an invoicing platform like QuickBooks or Bill.com.

Tip 3: Establish a Clear Due Date and Payment Terms

Your invoices should communicate a clear due date. Generally, you’ll want to aim for a date of 2 weeks to 30 days after the date of the initial invoice. Some companies will do “due on receipt” for invoices, especially down-payment invoices. This essentially means payment is due when the customer receives the invoice.

Additionally, you’ll want to specify any payment terms, such as late fees or interest, that may apply to outstanding invoices. Again, the exact terms are up to you, but many companies assess a 10% to 15% fee for invoices that are not paid within 30 days.

Late penalties may sound harsh, but they can also be a deterrent against companies putting your invoice aside. Communicating clear payment terms can ensure that you receive your money by the due date.

Tip 4: Provide Electronic Payment Options

Your clients may be more willing to pay their bills promptly if you offer multiple payment methods. You’ll receive your money faster if you offer electronic payment options. There is very little upside in collecting payments via check. With constant mail delays, paper processing, and signatures required, electronic is the way to go in 2021.

These payment methods can include credit cards, debit card payments, and automated clearing house (ACH) payments, which ensure you receive your money more rapidly than if a customer simply mails a paper check. Some companies also offer payment through Paypal, Stripe, and now even cryptocurrency. The more efficient options you provide your customer the better the chances are they will pay faster.

Tip 5: Offer a Payment Plan

Depending on the nature of your business, you may consider offering a payment plan. Larger projects or orders can be broken down into smaller portions, which may encourage your customers to commit to making regular payments.

Granted, this will mean that you won’t receive your full payment until the invoice is paid in full, but it will at least give you more regular access to your company’s cash flow.

Tip 6: Offer Discounts for Early Payment

If unpaid invoices are a frequent problem for your company, you might consider offering a small discount when customers pay their bills within two weeks or less.

By offering a 10% discount, you can get faster access to your cash, which can be more valuable than if you’d waited for the full amount a few weeks later.

Tip 7: Automate Your Payment Reminders

The right invoicing software will let you automate your communications with your clients, allowing you to send form emails with your invoices or thank them for their business once payment has been received.

But perhaps most crucially, you can send automated payment reminders to your clients, letting them know that their payment is expected by the established due date.

Statistically speaking, nearly half (48%) of American companies delay making payments. Managing receivables by using follow-up payment reminders can prompt your clients to pay their bills promptly. Some clients may even appreciate the reminder to keep their accounts in good standing!

What About When You Can’t Collect? Sell Your Past Due Accounts

What happens when your accounts are extremely past due? At this point, your only recourse is to sell these debts to a collection agency or receive a loan against your client from a factoring service. You won’t receive the full amount, but at least you’ll be able to avoid a total loss from that client.

Write Off Bad Debt

Thankfully, the IRS allows businesses to write off bad debt when they file income taxes. Any debt that’s been in your books for more than 60 to 90 days can qualify for a write-off, though you may be asked to provide proof of past efforts to collect this debt from your clients.

The Best Tools for Managing Accounts Receivables

Your accounts receivable process can actually benefit from many tools, such as your accounting system and electronic invoicing system. The best tools will integrate with one another, providing an all-in-one software platform that can be used to perform tasks such as:

• Sending electronic invoices
• Collecting online payments
• Sending automated payment reminders
• Tracking financial data and customer data

The right tools can streamline every aspect of your accounts receivable process, allowing you and your staff to focus on growing your core business.

HappyAR: Automate Your Accounts Receivable

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, paper bills will be completely obsolete by 2026. Is your business prepared to go completely paperless?

An electronic platform can help you manage your accounts receivables and streamline your financial processes. HappyAR provides an innovative solution that helps you manage your invoice follow-up and get paid faster with less effort.

Plus, our software offers integrations with many of today’s most popular accounting solutions such as QuickBooks and Bill.com

Sign up today for a free trial and see how you can prepare for the future of business with HappyAR.

When a company is unable to collect debts from their customers, they are often forced to turn to the services of a collections agent. A collection agent operates as a third-party liaison between businesses and their debtors, helping to resolve delinquent accounts and ensure that debts are paid in full.

To learn more about this unique occupation, we'll take a look at the duties and requirements associated with being a collection agent.

A collections agent is an individual legally licensed to locate debtors and recover delinquent payments on behalf of another company. Typically, a collection agent works for a registered Debt Collection Agency (DCA). However, it's perfectly legal for a collection agent to operate under the name of the creditor.

As you might expect, a collections agent must possess a unique blend of customer service and financial skills. These agents are responsible for locating debtors, setting up payment plans, and other activities to pursue successful debt recovery.

This set of responsibilities means that a collections agent must demonstrate empathy and creative problem-solving skills and be adaptable throughout the recovery process.

Additionally, a collections agent must legally abide by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which dictates what is permissible when resolving past-due accounts.

What is the Difference Between a Collections Agent and a Debt Collector?

Generally speaking, a debt collector refers to anyone who seeks to recover a debt on behalf of another company. This definition can include collection agents, though it's also possible for a lawyer to operate as a debt collector as part of their law practice.

In other words, "debt collector" is a general term, while a collections agent is a specific type of profession that operates as a debt collector.

What Does a Collections Agent Do?

What is a typical collections agent job description? Collections agents typically work out of an office or call center, but their tasks vary considerably.

Researching and Locating Debtors

A successful collection starts with the right information. Many debtors can be hard to locate since they may have changed their address or phone number since they last dealt with their original creditor.

Collections agents use a practice known as skip tracing. This approach means that an agent may have to search through public records or online databases to obtain the contact information for the debtor. Skip tracing might include using background checks, credit reports, or other documents to establish contact with the debtor.

Negotiating a Payment Plan

Once the debtor has been located, the hard part can begin. Many debtors may screen their phone calls and may even hang up on a collections agent. Others may become defensive or even rude, which can pose a challenge for the collection specialist.

Agents must learn to empathize with the debtor but be persistent in creating a workable payment plan. In other circumstances, the agent may negotiate a settlement that allows the creditor to receive a percentage of the debt, which is naturally preferable to not receiving payment at all.

Initiate Repossession Proceedings

Of course, debt repayment is the best possible outcome. But what happens when a customer is unable or unwilling to pay their debts? The collections agent must then initiate the repossession proceedings or hand the case over to a legal practice specializing in debt collection to determine the next steps.

Thorough Documentation

Debt recovery demands a lot of record-keeping. Collection specialists have to keep detailed reports of the following:

• Customer communications (or attempts)
• Payment plans that the debtor has agreed to
• Settlements that the debtor has agreed to
• Amounts paid

Most credit bureaus rely on software to support their team members, helping streamline the collection process and allowing their clients to recover debts as smoothly as possible.

The Current Need for Debt Collection Services

The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) reports that one out of every three American adults has a file with a collection agency. The average debt is over $5,000, and all trends indicate that this number will climb in the immediate future.

This positioning makes debt collection a $13 billion industry, with over 40,000 workers nationwide. And if the above predictions are accurate, this need will continue to grow alongside America's credit card debts.

How to Become a Collection Agent

Thinking about pursuing a career as a collections specialist? With consumer debt on the rise, you can always count on job security. What should you expect if you pursue a career as a collections agent?

Average Salary for a Collections Agent

According to the employment site Glassdoor, the national average salary for a collections agent is $37,338 per year. However, you can probably expect to start a bit lower than this and climb to $35,000 to $40,000 once you gain a few years of experience.

However, as the New York Times reported in 2014, many agents can earn more through commissions, making it a lucrative industry for motivated people who land a position with an agency that doesn't place caps on commissions.

This lucrative option might make debt recovery a good entry point for those interested in finding a related job in the financial services industry. For example, many of the skills used as a third-party collection agent can transfer to a company's accounts receivable department, making you a valuable asset as a full-time employee of another business.

Job Requirements for a Collections Agent

To become a collections agent, you should generally expect to meet the following requirements:

• High school diploma or GED
• One to two years of experience in a call center or customer service setting
• Strong problem-solving skills
• Negotiation skills

Most credit bureaus will provide internal training to bring their agents up to speed on how to use their software or any specific information on the best practices for the creditors they represent.

How Do Collection Agents Get Paid?

Most collection agents receive a base salary, though they also receive a percentage of the debt that's recovered, similar to a sales commission. The exact rate can vary depending on the agency, the amount of debt recovered, and other mitigating factors.

The agency will often charge the creditor 10% to 50% of the debt, and the agent then receives a smaller portion of this as part of their payment.

Understanding the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)

All debt collectors are legally bound to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which governs the appropriate practices for collection specialists in the U.S.

The FDCPA protects consumers from unfair collection practices, such as harassment, attempts to contact you in unusual places, or continuing to contact you if you secure an attorney.

Debt collectors are therefore bound to the practices described in this document, as deviating from them can result in legal action against their credit bureau or client.

Avoid Debts through Better Invoicing

At HappyAR, we'd rather not see your company suffer from overdue invoices and past-due accounts. That's why our software helps you invoice faster and more efficiently than ever before, as well as send automated payment reminders to your clients, so bills don't go forgotten.

These state-of-the-art solutions give you better access to your cash flow, all while handling routine administrative tasks to keep you focused on your core business activities. Get started today with a free trial, and say goodbye to your delinquent accounts today.

Intuit Inc., the company behind TurboTax and QuickBooks accounting software, offers small businesses the ability to get loans through QuickBooks itself with QuickBooks Capital.

The program began in 2017 and initially offered loans up to $35,000 over six months but has grown that offer considerably. Now businesses can apply for short-term loans of up to $150,000 paid back over 18 months.

Why is QuickBooks Offering Loans?

Traditionally, small businesses just starting and seeking lines of credit were rejected far more often than banks accepted them. Cash flow in the early stages of a company is low, but the irony is that generating revenue required loans that businesses couldn’t get, leading to a feedback loop of never getting enough working capital.

With funding options limited, Intuit saw a hole in the market and decided it might be time to become a lender and offer small business loans. Thus, Intuit QuickBooks Capital was born.

Since QuickBooks is the de facto standard for many accounting departments, and companies input all their financial data through the software, Intuit was in a unique position to analyze the ability of a startup to pay back their entire loan amount.

QuickBooks can glean plenty of information to inform their decision with 26 billion data points to determine eligibility even with little to no credit history. This approach offers QuickBooks customers an easy way to get a loan by entering their QuickBooks software and filling out a loan application — it’s a handy addition to other QuickBooks benefits.

How Does it Work?

Whether you have QuickBooks Desktop or QuickBooks Online, you can apply for a loan as long as you have a QuickBooks account. Keep in mind that even if you’re a QuickBooks user, that’s no guarantee you will be accepted for a QuickBooks Capital loan.

In fact, your business needs to be invited to be able to apply for a loan. Based on financial data already stored in your account, you may see an in-app invitation to apply. Once you get this invite, you can go through the application process.

The criteria for a loan as per QuickBooks are:

• A clear picture of your business with six months of activity within your QuickBooks account
• Personal and business credit history, typically a personal FICO score of 620 or higher
• Primary business bank accounts connected through QuickBooks Capital
• Revenue of at least $50,000 over the past 12 months

Thankfully, the application itself is simple. Because the QuickBooks platform already has customers’ information, that information doesn’t need to be filled in.

Instead, applicants choose the amount they want to borrow, between $5,000 and $150,000. The amount small business owners can apply for is based on QuickBooks’ analysis of their financial history.

What are The Loan Terms and Interest Rates?

Loan rates and timelines are based on how much money your business is borrowing and what your company’s credit score happens to be. Loan interest rates and terms range from 2.61% and 9.99% APR for six months for $5,000 for companies with excellent credit to 29.04% and 34% APR for 18 months for $150,000 for companies with the minimum level of credit.

What Are The Fees?

Fees are one of the areas where QuickBooks Capital small business lending is strong. QuickBooks Capital has no origination fees, and there are no prepayment penalties.

Paying a loan off early can save on interest payments. Borrowers’ repayments are taken via debit from their business bank account through the QuickBooks platform using Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments.

Are There Discounts?

There are no discounts available, but small business owners who have paid off their loan will have the opportunity to apply for a second loan if they desire.

Do Business Owners Have to Put Up Collateral?

No, but that doesn’t mean QuickBooks Capital will have no way of collecting if the business can’t repay the loan. Let’s say your business declared bankruptcy. You will personally have to pay back the loan. QuickBooks requires a promise from all applicants to this effect, which is why one of the criteria for a loan is a personal credit score of 620 or higher.

How Soon Will I Find Out If I’m Accepted?

From the time the application is sent to the time when QuickBooks responds is generally 2 to 3 days. Rarely do applicants need to provide additional information since QuickBooks has access to all pertinent financial statements.

QuickBooks will run a soft credit check, which does not hurt applicants’ credit scores, but might slightly impact their company’s credit history.

What Happens if I’m Not Approved?

Since QuickBooks doesn’t accept everyone for a loan, it’s good to have a backup plan. The QuickBooks Capital marketplace offers connections to other loan providers that can integrate with QuickBooks Online. You can also apply for an SBA loan or try to get a small business line of credit through a bank or other institution.

Can I Still Get Forgiveness for PPP Loans Through QuickBooks Capital?

Yes, even this far out, you can still get Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness. The deadline is farther out than many people realize. If your business received a loan on or before June 5th, 2020, you received a 2-year term. If your business got the loan after June 9th, 2020, you received a 5-year term.

QuickBooks partnered with Cross River Bank (CRB), an SBA-approved lender, to allow for second PPP loans for eligible customers, but PPP loans stopped being granted on May 31st, 2021. Businesses that got loans just before the deadline have a reasonably long five years to repay the loan.

Is QuickBooks Capital Right for My Business?

Small business owners have more options than ever for loans, and while QuickBooks Capital is compelling, it may not be your preferred loan source. Perhaps you don’t use QuickBooks, or you need loan amounts that QuickBooks doesn’t offer. Whatever the case, there are advantages and disadvantages to using QuickBooks Capital.

QuickBooks Capital Advantages

Once you’ve been invited to apply for a loan through QuickBooks’ platform, the application process is easy. It’s a matter of clicking a few buttons and requesting the loan amount you want. There aren’t any excessive fees; rather, there are zero fees that other lenders will charge you (such as prepayment penalties or origination fees).

These loans are a great opportunity for small business owners with a QuickBooks account who need a short-term loan with reasonable interest rates. And even if you get rejected, there’s still the QuickBooks Capital marketplace with lending partners that offer easy integration with QuickBooks.

These lenders also use QuickBooks data for determining loan terms, so the process is still easier than if you were to apply from another source.

QuickBooks Capital Disadvantages

If you want a loan to get some quick working capital but haven’t gotten the invite to apply, you’ll have to wait. There’s no way to speed up the process, either. When QuickBooks sees you’re eligible, then you can apply and not before.

This waiting period can be a problem because the software isn’t perfect. If QuickBooks doesn’t recognize your actual cash flow for any reason, you might be eligible based on their criteria, but you won’t get an invite because that’s not what the software sees.

If you want alternate loan details, such as better rates, longer terms, or more loan money, you’ll have to go elsewhere. And if you don’t find a suitable lender in the QuickBooks Capital marketplace, you’ll have to keep searching, and there’s no guarantee outside lenders will be easily integrated into QuickBooks.

QuickBooks Capital Alternatives

If you’re looking for a small business loan, you don’t have to rely only on QuickBooks Capital. While Intuit may have blazed a trail, others have followed suit in recent years.

1. PayPal Working Capital

PayPal is almost as ubiquitous as QuickBooks, with most businesses either accepting PayPal payments because of how easy they make online payments or using PayPal as an online storefront. Now PayPal offers PayPal Working Capital, which like QuickBooks Capital, offers small businesses the opportunity to get a loan through a familiar platform.

Applying for a loan through PayPal Working Capital doesn’t require a credit check because PayPal already has account holders’ pertinent information. This state is good news for businesses looking to build up good credit because credit history doesn’t impact a PayPal Working Capital loan.

Businesses can borrow up to $97,000 for their first loan, and repayments are paid back from the company’s PayPal sales, somewhere between 10% and 30%, as well as a fee. Subsequent loans can be as much as $125,000.

To be eligible, applicants must have had a PayPal Business or Premium account for three months. PayPal Business account holders must have a minimum of $15,000 in annual sales, and Premium account holders must have at least $20,000 in annual sales.

2. Fundation

Fundation is an attractive alternative for small business owners seeking longer terms and higher loan amounts. Qualification requirements are stricter, however. Applicants must have at least a 660 credit score vs. QuickBooks Capital’s 620 requirement. To qualify, a business must also make at least $100,000 per year and have three full-time employees.

Installment loans offer amounts between $20,000 and $500,000 with term lengths from 1 to 4 years. There is an origination fee of 5%, and APRs run from 7.99% to 29.99%.

As for Fundation’s lines of credit, the loan amounts are $20,000 to $100,000 and require a $500 closing fee as well as a 2% draw fee. Collateral is a personal guarantee and a UCC-1 blanket lien.

3. OnDeck

Thanks to laxer borrower qualifications and tech-based lending analyses, application approval with OnDeck is quick, typically 1 to 2 days. However, because of those relatively relaxed qualifications, they may charge higher rates. To qualify for a loan, businesses must have a FICO score of at least 600 and annual revenue of $100,000 or more.

Short-term loans can be anywhere from $5,000 to $500,000 for 3 to 36 months, offering a much wider spread than QuickBooks Capital. However, borrowers will have to pay a factor rate of between x1.003 and x1.04 per month, as well as an origination fee of 2.5% to 4%. Collateral is a personal guarantee and UCC-1 blanket lien.

Lines of credit, which offer between $6,000 and $100,000 for six months, have no draw fees, but borrowers will have to pay a maintenance fee, typically $20 per month. APR ranges start at 13.99%. Collateral is a personal guarantee.

4. Breakout Capital

To qualify for a Breakout Capital loan, business owners must fill out a pre-qualification form and provide basic information and documentation. Additionally, Breakout Capital will suggest another lending partner if they have a better deal. To qualify, businesses must be at least one year old, have a 600 credit score, and take in $10,000 in revenue per month.

Business loans are anywhere up to $250,000 with terms up to 24 months. The factor rates are relatively high at 1.25% to 3.5% per month, and there is a 2.5% origination fee. Collateral is a blanket lien and personal guarantee.

5. Funding Circle

Requirements for a loan through Funding Circle are a bit more strict than those offered by some other lenders. Businesses must have been operating for at least two years, have a credit score of 620, no bankruptcies over the last seven years, and zero tax liens over the past ten years.

If a business does qualify, it can get installment loans between $25,000 and $500,000 with repayment terms from 6 months to 5 years. Origination fees range from 0.99% to 6.99%, APRs from 7.4% to 36%, and interest rates from 4.99% to 26.99%. Collateral is a personal guarantee and a lien on business assets.

Improving Your Cash Flow with HappyAR

As you work to repay your loan, you need cash to be coming in. Are your customers paying their invoices on time? Or at all? HappyAR’s complete toolkit integrates with your existing accounting software to improve workflows and communication to make accounts receivable a breeze. Your invoices WILL get noticed!

You’ve worked hard to build up your small business, you’ve gotten loans to help with working capital, but money’s not coming in as fast as you would like? HappyAR is here to fix that. We’d love to talk with you about how HappyAR can transform your accounts receivable and invoicing, so contact us today!

Creating a solid cash flow for your business relies on optimizing how money comes in and goes out. You send out invoices, and ideally, people pay you the total amount without becoming past due. You place orders and pay on time, as well. In other words, your accounts receivable and accounts payable flow flawlessly. It’s the way the business/customer relationship is supposed to go. Of course, no system is perfect, and it’s rarely that smooth. Bring in an accounts receivable aging report.

The Importance of AR Aging Reports

An accounts receivable aging report, or receivable report, summarizes the amount due from your customers. The report features a detailed aging schedule that shows all overdue payments ordered by the due date to see which outstanding invoices have yet to be paid. Date ranges for aging reports tend to be in 30-day increments.

Accounts receivable aging reports are a great way to identify cash flow problems. Perhaps your business is too lenient with its credit policies and lets customers submit late payments far after they should have paid.

Your company may be lax on following up with unpaid invoices, and customers forget about their account responsibilities because of the lack of contact.

Healthy cash flow relies on fair credit terms, a limited number of days before dunning letters and payment reminders are sent, and close monitoring of customer accounts. Business owners may be too busy to closely watch the bookkeeping process, but that doesn’t mean avoiding establishing proper procedures and checking the results.

An AR aging report is the thermometer that shows your company’s financial health, and it’s one of the best ways to take your business’s temperature.

What’s in an Accounts Receivable Aging Report?

A typical AR aging report shows the following columns:

Client or Customer name

This column shows who owes you money.

Current

The current column represents money you are owed, but that is not past due. If you have good payment terms that your customers abide by, this will be where the majority (or better yet, all) of the money detailed in your AR aging report will be.

Date Ranges

Depending on how detailed you want your AR aging report to be, you can include single or multiple date ranges. For example, you could have three columns for outstanding balances due within the last 30 days, 30 to 60 days, and 60 to 90 days.

Total

This column gives the total amount each customer owes for the entire reporting period. Along the bottom of the report, the total owed for each period will be calculated as well. On the bottom right will be the total amount for all customers in the entire reporting period.

Fixing the Collection Process

Once you’ve created your AR aging report, it’s time to analyze what the report says about the health of your large or small business. Yes, even large, well-established companies can have cash flow problems.

Track Doubtful Accounts

When you’re unsure if a customer will pay, they will get classified as a doubtful account. Doubtful accounts or doubtful debt may turn into bad debt in the future, but classifying them as doubtful isolates them from the rest of your accounts receivable so you don’t end up having a credit problem.

The way to deal with doubtful debt is to create an allowance, which is a contra account that gets listed on your balance sheet and counts against your total accounts receivable. In other words, it’s an estimate as to how much of your accounts receivable total you expect to collect.

Healthy cash flow relies on having a high value of amounts of accounts receivable, which can sound contradictory because accounts receivable represents money you don’t have yet.

The difference is that accounts receivable is money you should expect to collect, and your aging report can separate your customers who pay on time from ones who don’t. Companies need to identify which of their customers are credit risks and which can be relied upon for payment so they can look deeper at the overall value of outstanding invoices.

Expand Invoice Information

You can’t measure what you don’t track. Your company’s financial statements rely on accurate dates and quick payment, and one way to encourage them is by putting information on invoices that communicate with the customer. Customer invoices need to have:

• Invoice dates, so purchasers know when you sent it
• Payment terms that outline what happens if there’s a late payment
• Total amount due
• Invoice numbers for easy tracking in accounting software
• Customer name
• Company name

Providing this information on customer invoices is essential for setting up expectations with the customer and simplifies filing and accessing these documents for future use, such as sending payment reminders or during an audit.

Use Accounting Software

You can solve many cash flow problems by using accounting software, such as QuickBooks. Most software has templates for accounts receivable aging reports and can fill in the fields automatically by accessing your customer database.

Even using Excel templates simplifies AR aging report creation thanks to Excel’s ability to perform functions like adding or subtracting certain arrangements of cells.

Accounting software can also automatically send payment reminders to customers. Rather than relying on employees remembering to send a dunning letter or reminder to a customer, the software can either remind the employee to do so or use a standard form that fills in customer information on its own.

Change Payment Terms or Credit Policies

No one wants to be the “bad guy,” having to call a customer and demand payment, but having policies that are too generous can critically impact the financial health of a company. You might even have a great track record of collecting payment in full, but it might take 90 days to do it!

Payment in full and on time is the goal. You may need to shorten the acceptable payment window before customers incur late fees. You may need to experiment w/ different messaging sequences from email, phone call, and text. It’s important to continually refine your collections strategy until it is a well-oiled machine for your business.

The tough part is remembering that the goal is not to be nice but to ensure that you and your fellow employees can meet payroll. If customers are receiving a product or service, they should be expected to compensate your company accordingly.

Use a Collection Agency

Collection agencies don’t mind being the “bad guy.” Suppose that you find that you have a few clients on your accounts receivable aging report that you have contacted in every possible way over months and still haven’t gotten a response.

In that case, you may need to write them off and turn them over to a collection agency. They’re a necessary part of collection functions for many businesses, and they do get results. Typically they will take a percentage of what they are able to collect. In most cases, it’s well worth it when you have a customer that gets to that bad of a stage.

Transform Accounts Receivable with HappyAR

HappyAR is a seamless SaaS that quickly and easily boosts your accounts receivables work. We save companies of all sizes thousands of dollars each year by optimizing the speed and efficiency of their collections methods. No more guessing if someone has received an invoice or trusting that it will be paid on time. This is a fully integrated solution that pays for itself over and over each month by preventing defaults and preserving client relationships.

Banks like to see large values for accounts receivable on a company's balance sheet. A larger value of accounts receivable proves that a company gets a healthy amount of business and generally indicates solid cash flow.

Having more money in accounts receivable usually leads to more favorable lending rates. Such rates can be the difference between profitability and bankruptcy for a small business. The value of accounts receivable is an important metric, but so is the amount of time it takes to convert those accounts receivable into cash.

Your company's average receivables might be astoundingly good, enough to make any financial analyst give you an impromptu thumbs up. However, if you're not collecting on your accounts receivable balance until well after the due dates outlined in your payment terms and credit terms, you've got a cash flow problem.

Calculating the Formula

The average collection period calculation is simple:

(Average Accounts Receivable ÷ Net Credit Sales) x Number of Days in Period= Average Collection Period

What this result represents is how quickly your company can transform accounts receivable into cash. Let's break down the parts of the average collection period formula to understand what goes into one of the most important metrics for a company's health.

Average Accounts Receivable

Before we can know the average collection period, we need to calculate its parts. Finding the average accounts receivable uses the beginning and ending accounts receivables values from the period of time you want to measure.

Usually, this period of time is one year. If that is the case, find the total value of accounts receivable from the beginning and end of the year. As long as you find the values for the beginning and end of the period, whatever it may be, you'll get the result you want.

For example:

Beginning accounts receivable amount: $100,000

Ending accounts receivable amount: $150,000

Add the two together to get $250,000, and divide that figure by 2 for the average accounts receivable, which would be $125,000.

Net Credit Sales

Net credit sales are sales where cash was collected at a later date after the sale. The formula to calculate net credit sales is:

Sales on credit – Sales returns – Sales allowances = Net Credit Sales

For example- A company had $500,000 in sales on credit, $50,000 in returns, and $50,000 in allowances for a total net credit sales of $400,000.

Number of Days in Period

Determining the number of days in the average accounts receivable will give you the data you want for your average collection period. In this case, since one year is the most common time frame, we'll say 365.

Plug these numbers into our formula and we get:

($125,000 ÷ $400,000) x 365 = 114.06 days

This result means it takes a whopping 114 days — or nearly four months — for this fictional company to collect on its accounts receivable. This company's average collection period needs to improve!

The goal is a lower average collection period. Being under 30 days is a solid number since most businesses want to collect their customers' payments within a month.

Other Formulas You Should Know

While the average collection period formula is essential, so are these other fundamental calculations:

Accounts Receivable Turnover Ratio

Another financial ratio your company can use to determine its health is the accounts receivable turnover ratio. It's calculated as:

Net Credit Sales ÷ Average Accounts Receivable = Accounts Receivable Turnover Ratio

It's the opposite formula from the first part of the average collection period formula, so in the case of our fictional company, it would be:

$400,000 ÷ $125,000 = 3.2

In other words, the company collected on its accounts receivable about 3.2 times in a fiscal year.

Improving Average Collections

If your customers aren't paying on time, then you need to implement some changes. Your average credit sales might be high, but you have to turn those credits into cash!

Collection Policies

You may need to examine your collection policies. If your credit policy allows customers to pay whenever they feel like it, then they will, and they will never feel like it. If the average number of days it takes for a customer to pay their invoice is beyond a month, you will need to alter your policy to specify that payment is due within thirty days.

Invoice Communication

Put due dates, total amounts, contact information, payment terms, and payment methods on your customer invoices. Put important dates and payment amounts in bold, highly visible fonts and colors. Sometimes customers don't pay because they're confused about how much they owe or where to send their payment.

Improve Communication

Use accounting software to keep track of payments and who still owes money. You can set reminders to contact customers or let the software send out reminders.

Stay in touch with your customers and remember that the vast majority are happy to pay, but life gets in the way. If you have particularly unruly customers or customers who refuse to or can't pay, you may need to turn their accounts over to a collection agency.

Improve Your Invoicing With HappyAR

If you truly want to transform your invoicing, then you need HappyAR. HappyAR is a full toolkit that makes invoicing simple and gets you paid faster and in full. It provides fully automated workflows and complete integration with your existing accounting software. Talk to HappyAR today; your accounts receivable will get the shot in the arm it needs.

Bookkeeping can be overwhelming if you let it be. There are many moving parts to keep track of, including invoices, receipts, bills, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and more. And all this has to be meticulously maintained to maintain financial excellence and to avoid future IRS audits down the line. This article breakdown some common collections management practices for you to consider for your business.

Fortunately, collections management isn't a dark art. Developing a collections management system and using the right software can transform a collections department into a well-oiled machine. With proper collections procedures, your team can ensure that your company not only gets paid but that it also gets paid on time.

The Collections Management Procedure

Before we talk about how to improve collections, let's talk about how the collections process is supposed to go. The longer invoices are left unpaid by a customer, the higher level of focus they are escalated to.

While most customers will pay their bills in a reasonable amount of time, others will let them go unpaid. This can be due to forgetfulness, a lack of funds, or even out of more nefarious intentions. Regardless, there's a procedure to follow.

Typical steps in the process include:

1. Issuing a Dunning Letter

Dunning letters are more forward than reminders but less aggressive than demand letters. Using automated software can allow these collections letters to be sent out on a schedule so that no bill is left unpaid without a timely reminder.

2. Calling the Customer

If the dunning letters sent have not gotten a response, it's time to initiate more direct contact with a phone call. Team members should record all of the details of the call.

3. Create Payment Arrangements or Adjust the Credit Limit

If you've reached the customer and they request an alternate payment schedule or amount, and this is something your company allows, you can arrange that at this point in the process.

4. Send Them to a Collections Agency

If you can't reach the customer or come to an agreement on payment, you might choose to send the outstanding invoices to a collections agency and put the customer on a credit hold list.

5. Sue the Customer

You may have to meet with your organization's legal team to see whether this is possible, but suing a customer in a small claims court may help you to get payment. The customer will have to have enough assets to pay, however, if you want to use this approach.

6. Write Off the Balance

You may end up having to write off the remaining balance if all other collection techniques fail. Create a credit memo approval form for the total amount of the invoices.

7. Document, Document, Document

After this process has ended, you'll have to analyze it thoroughly. Find out whether there was a problem on the company's end that could have resolved the issue. Call meetings with appropriate team members to conduct a post mortem. Document everything.

Improving Collections Management

Let's start with some tips on how you can improve your collection process by developing a collections management policy. Simple procedures and protocols will take much of the stress out of the process and avoid invoices going unpaid in the first place.

1. Establish a Routine Way to Handle Disputes

If your business is in operation long enough, you'll eventually have to handle collections. Decide on a plan upfront for how you will approach the topic.

Collections can be a touchy subject for customers because no one likes being called and told that they owe someone money. Think of collections as an opportunity to foster a relationship rather than remind a person about a transaction that's taking too long.

Prepare your teams to hear questions like:

• "Can't I pay you next month when my paycheck comes in?"
• "Wasn't the service supposed to be cheaper than this? Why is it so expensive all of the sudden?"
• "Are you sure you mailed it to the right address?"

You may also determine which members of your collections staff will be the ones making contact with the customers for collections. Set up a hierarchy of command in case customers demand to speak to a supervisor.

Clients often just want to be heard, so the staff members that have the best bedside manner need to be the ones placing the initial calls! This kind of stewardship over your collection process will keep the client relationships alive and thriving.

You may also want to have a specific area on your company's website that contains a written FAQ to address some questions regarding collection management information ahead of time. You will still get calls from customers, but this will reduce complaints, as you'll have a clearly outlined policy that you can refer to.

2. Follow Up on Invoices

This will also need to be established in your collection policy to make the process clear. When you're checking your collection records to see who has paid and who hasn't, the customers who haven't paid in a timely way need to be contacted as soon as possible.

The estimated total of unpaid invoices in the United States is a staggering $825 Billion, and 48% of customers delay payments. Calling and asking to get paid drastically reduces the number of unpaid invoices your company will have.

To make sure no customers are blindsided, ensure that each one is aware of the timelines in place for any loan agreements or payment schedules. This kind of preparedness heads off claims of ignorance.

As long as your policies have clearly recorded information that customers can't reasonably claim they didn't know about, you'll be able to cover your bases and uphold your professional standards for collections.

This is what's known as creating an "upfront contract." Layout your collection policy in advance for your customers so they know what to expect if they don't pay on time.

3. Assess Your Collections Process Regularly

If you want control over your cash cycle, you'll need to analyze, analyze, and analyze again. Ensure that workflows are operating at peak efficiency, that you have the right software in place to organize your digital collections information, that the right employees have the right permissions to access documents they need and more.

If you're not getting paid on time or in full amounts, then it's time to make a change.

This also should give you motivation to continually check your collections management policies to make sure they're current and working effectively! This is a task that should be done on a regular basis so that you can adapt your approach as needed along the way. When you update a policy, you can even record updated training for your team members via a webinar. This can help to keep everyone on the same page.

4. What Are Your KPIs?

Know your key performance indicators (KPIs) so that you can determine the health of your collections management department. This goes hand in hand with analyzing your collections process because your KPIs will be your benchmarks to measure success.

Some typical KPIs are:

• Average payment time
• Average payment amount
• Number of customer complaints
• The average time it takes to send out invoices
• Number of credit overruns
• Number of delinquent accounts

These are just a few of the KPIs you'll want to track. You're essentially creating your targets so that you can hit them. As you advance, you may discover new KPIs you should track. Just keep improving!

5. Automate Wherever Possible

Engaging in solid risk management means removing human error wherever possible. Entering physical and digital assets into automation software and/or well-crafted templates does several important things for your accounting and bookkeeping, including:

• Creating a paper trail for audits
• Creating shareable documentation for your accounting department
• Allowing work to happen from any location with cloud-based accounting software
• Ensuring accuracy
• Making it easier to engage in collections procedures

Using software and templates also allows you to store the information in multiple formats for easy review and sharing amongst the accounting team. You can save files as Word docs, PDFs, Excel files, and more.

This is a large part of what we have built with the HappyAR platform.

What You Need for a Collections Call

When you need to make a collections call, it helps to be prepared with the right materials. Here's what you should have on hand:

1. The Correct Collections Documentation

Have the customer account information, invoice(s), collections statements, and any other pertinent documents so that you can quickly and accurately reference the customer's financial history as you represent your institution's collections department.

2. Proof

You need to have proof to support any claims being made. Does the customer say the product was never delivered? Have the shipping receipt. Did they claim they never received services rendered? Have the statement of completion.

3. Notes from Previous Conversations

If your company has had past conversations with the customer, you'll want to have those notes on hand. They can prepare you for your upcoming encounter with them. Review these notes before you make the call.

4. Alternate Contact Methods

Sometimes, the customer won't answer their primary number. Have a backup method, such as a work phone number or a spouse's phone number.

Your collections software can help you to gather this information ahead of time. The more you prepare, the more successful you are likely to be.

Different Techniques for Collections Management

It helps to have different methods that you can use for collections management, especially when you're trying to improve cash flow. Here are some of the most common approaches:

1. Stress the Importance of Due Dates

It might surprise you to learn that graphic design and fonts can help with this. Use highlights, larger letters, different colors, or anything else that can help to make the due date stand out for the customer. Some customers will still say they didn't see the date, but you can at least point out that you do have a due date clearly marked on the invoice!

2. Get Help from a Collections Agency

Collections agencies are experts at getting payments. It's their only job, so they tend to get results. Consider them as a last resort after all other collection techniques haven't worked. They will charge a fee for their efforts, of course, but the alternative is not having any payment from the customer whatsoever.

3. Settle

It's not ideal, but settling for whatever the customer can pay at least nets your organization some money. Plus, if the customer does eventually go bankrupt, they wouldn't be able to pay anything at that point.

4. Give Shorter Payment Timelines

If you find that customers are taking advantage of generous payment timelines, shorten them. Instead of giving customers a month to pay, give them two weeks.

5. Prioritize Customers

Focus your efforts on customers that have the largest amounts due. Small amounts owed may simply need a reminder sent to the customer, while large amounts may need direct calls.

What Happens When I Need Payment from a Bankrupt Customer?

This is not a situation any collections department wants to find themselves in, but it does happen. If a customer goes bankrupt, one option is to file a claim with a bankruptcy court.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that you will receive anything close to what the customer owes.

Another option is to sell your claim to an investor. That investor takes over completely and you no longer have to pursue the claim. You will have to prove the payment the customer owes is not disputed, but as long as you have this proof, interested investors will be able to work to figure out the amount of the claim that might be paid.

Both you and the investor will have to come to an agreement on the terms of the sale and then notify the bankruptcy court. As long as the customer has no objections, the sale can move forward.

However, this isn't necessarily a painless process. Some issues may arise, including:

• The seller has to repurchase the claim from the owner if the claim doesn't get paid
• The seller has to pay the investor additional interest if the claim isn't paid
• The seller has to repurchase all claims disputed afterward
• Investors might delay payment to the seller

In some cases, this can be a better option than bankruptcy court, but not necessarily. There may be stiff stipulations you simply don't want to face.

Other Avenues of Collection

While the tips involved in this article are intended to be extensive, they are not exhaustive. There are still more ways to collect and/or notify customers of the need to collect. You can also go through:

1. Your Sales Staff

Sales staff may have access to contact methods or other channels you don't. Their contact list can be extensive, but it might not necessarily be in your collections software or analytics.

Since they may have had the first contact with the customer, your sales teams may also know the best way to get ahold of them. This could be as simple as asking for a business card. You may find that the customer came to the sale with a family member and the salesperson knows how to reach them. You would be surprised how effective your sales team can be in tracking someone down.

2. Your Attorney

Your attorney can issue a strongly worded letter that outlines all of the legal ramifications of non-payment. This letter will carry some weight, especially if it's on official attorney letterhead!

The benefit of this is that your attorney will know what legal rights you have and exactly what you can do if you don't get paid.

3. Your CFO

Ideally, your Chief Financial Officer would be someone who a customer should take seriously. If a customer receives a call or letter from the CFO of a company, it might lend weight to the demand for payment! You can also take the issue to your controller.

The Benefit of the Doubt

Realize that there may be some legitimate reasons why your customer hasn't paid, especially if you primarily serve other businesses with your services. Collections care can make all the difference in getting payment.

Some possible reasons for late or missing payments could be:

• They never received the invoice
• The invoice has not yet been approved
• There's a mistake on the invoice that hasn't been resolved
• The customer can't find their purchase order

This is why it's a good idea not to approach with "guns blazing" via a demand letter or attorney. Again, because you're trying to maintain a relationship with the customer, first try to find out the reason for non-payment.

Now, if you find out that an invoice hasn't been paid deliberately, that changes the equation. The collections staff can then escalate and use further collection techniques to seek payment.

Help with Collections Management from HappyAR

Ultimately, the goal is to get your company paid, but you want to make sure you keep getting paid. The customer is, most of the time, happy to pay you for your services and products.

By establishing some rules and protocols for collections, using as much automation as possible, being upfront with customers, and following up with them, you will increase your cash flow and get paid much sooner.

The good news is HappyAR is here to help. With unrivaled compatibility with your existing accounting software, HappyAR has helped businesses just like yours refine their collections processes and increase payments. Talk to the HappyAR team today — you'll be happy you did.

When a company's accountant or bookkeeper opens up the subsidiary ledger to check the account balances, occasionally, they may run into a situation where they have a credit balance.

A credit balance can seem odd because it indicates that your company owes money to a customer or vendor, rather than the other way around. Don't let this throw you off — credit balances are common occurrences and aren't necessarily a problem.

What Is a Credit Balance?

A credit balance is a situation in which your company was overpaid for a product or service after sending out an invoice. It's the opposite of a debit balance, which would represent an amount still owed to you.

Debits go into accounts receivable, while credits go into accounts payable.

Why Is a Credit Balance Bad?

A credit balance, like accounts payable, is a liability for the company. In essence, it's money you shouldn't have because it's owed to someone else. Failing to handle credit balances quickly or properly can negatively affect your cash flow.

Because high amounts in accounts payable can be used to show that your business is successful and can be trusted with a loan, credit providers will give favorable borrowing rates.

Conversely, high amounts of accounts payable or credit balances indicate your company is less able to handle the cash flow. Any borrowing you do will likely have higher interest rates, increased late fees, and harsher payment plans.

What Are Some Reasons for Credit Balances?

There is no single way to arrive at a credit balance. Sometimes, they can be the result of a mistake by a customer, a typo by a lender, or an intentional overcharge.

Accidental Overpayments

Perhaps you sent an invoice to a customer and they paid more than they owed. This would leave you with more money than you should have. Don't let the name "credit balance" fool you —, overpayments made with credit cards, debit cards, direct withdrawal from bank accounts, or even paper checks are all the same thing according to your ledger.

How to Fix It

First, talk with the customer to see what they want to do. You could offer to put the credit towards a future purchase, or in the case of recurring payments such as utilities, put it towards their next invoice.

You can also refund credit balances back to the customer via their debit or credit card account. The card issuer can then pay the customer directly, often with a paper check or direct deposit.

If you were paid directly from a bank account or with cash disbursements, you can refund the money yourself.

For some clarity, credit card payments must be refunded to the original credit card. However, it's possible to run into an issue in which the credit card is no longer valid. You may be able to refund the money to an alternate card if the customer has more than one on file.

To preserve your relationship with the customer, as well as their credit score, you'll want to handle this quickly but accurately!

Invoice Error and Payment Duplication

Humans are fallible, and even with accounting software, mistakes can still happen. Perhaps a missing comma or decimal point created confusion or payment was run twice instead of once. These mistakes can take place within your accounting department or on the customer's end.

How to Fix It

First, find the source of the error. Was it a typo? Was it a double payment? Don't let the problem linger. The more business days that go by, the longer you have this liability on your books.

Once you find the source of the error, look for ways to avoid the problem in the future. Perhaps someone typed a figure in by hand or copied and pasted a figure they shouldn't have. Finding a way to automate more of the processes can take people out of those sensitive workflows and ensure greater accuracy in the future.

As for why a customer would send a double payment, there may be a glitch in a payment portal or the interface could be confusing. Talk with your software provider and/or IT department to identify and rectify the problem.

Discounts

After a customer orders a product or service, but before they pay, your company might reduce the price. This could be due to a promotion or sale. Perhaps the product is an older model and a new model just debuted.

In either case, it's good business to offer the new lower price to your customer.

How to Fix It

As in previous entries, you'll want to refund your customer the difference. Make sure they are aware of the reason that they are receiving a credit, too.

Returns

Customers do occasionally return goods. Unless you provided a disclaimer stating that you don't accept returns, you'll have a credit balance you owe the customer.

How to Fix It

As above, refund the customer's payment. This can be a bit of a headache because the product may not be in good enough condition to resell.

Intentional Overpayment

You may have cash flow issues that called for customers to pay a deposit on future product and service purchases. This advance payment would count as a credit balance.

How to Fix It

Improving your cash flow should remedy this problem over time. Ideally, you won't have to ask for advance payments in the future.

Title IV Credit Balance

There's one more type of credit balance. Students might receive Title IV financial aid in a student account, but sometimes, the amount received is more than they need for tuition, fees, housing, and meal plans.

If the school has received authorization, they may hold the funds until the end of the school year or pay the student via EFT for a direct deposit into the student's bank account. Otherwise, the student will be issued a paper check for the amount.

Thanks for reading! To learn more about HappyAR please read below…

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HappyAR is a seamless SaaS that quickly and easily boosts your accounts receivables work. We save companies of all sizes thousands of dollars each year by optimizing the speed and efficiency of their collections methods. No more guessing if someone has received an invoice or trusting that it will be paid on time. This is a fully integrated solution that pays for itself over and over each month by preventing defaults and preserving client relationships.

HappyAR is an ever-evolving toolkit that helps optimize your invoice collections process and our solution starts at $0/month and scales up based on your invoice volume. Visit us at www.happyar.com to learn more.