2 posts tagged “cash”
Medium to small businesses are at risk of being paid slowly by larger clients. Really bad late payment can even lead to insolvency in the worst cases. It has come to the point that after many years that the chasing of late payment and managing debtors is a day-to-day task for many small businesses.
In an attempt to help businesses overcome the threat of late payment the Government introduced the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. This gives small firms with 50 or less employees a statutory right to interest for the late payment of commercial debts. This statutory right to interest and other new entitlements are available to all businesses and public sector bodies from 7 August 2002.
You can many things to avoid the dangers of late payment:-
1. The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 allows small businesses to claim interest on overdue payments from other companies. Originally drawn up to help small businesses claim against larger businesses, the law now extends this rule to claim debt recovery against other small businesses. Even if you did not state a payment period in the initial agreement with a client, the Act states that a payment becomes 'late' after 30 days. You are entitled to claim interest at 8% above the prevailing Bank of England base rate. It is worth quoting the Act on any invoices sent to clients.
2. Clearly many small businesses feel vulnerable in demanding payment from larger companies, this is very understandable. For this reason, it is essential to follow the initial steps mentioned above when doing business with clients. If late payment occurs, always try to politely obtain settlement for overdue invoices before taking further action.
3. If a client has not paid on time, it is essential to follow up on
the invoice. Always try to obtain a point of contact in the accounts
department since this will save time. Politely ask for the payment to
be made and if the problem persists, you can consider charging interest
on the overdue amount, or in the worst case, threaten the late payer
with legal action with Business Debt Collection agencies
4. Clearly print your terms and conditions for payment on any contracts (or order confirmations) signed with an end-client. These terms should clearly state the payment period for any invoice - quite often you would expect payment within 30 days, but this could be shorter or longer depending on your type of business. Company Credit Checks are a way of checking your new customers and existing customers
5. You could offer an early payment discount, or a discount for upfront payment of several installments. For example, you could charge £500 + VAT for a service/product if the amount is settled within your agreed payment period, and £475 + VAT if payment is made within 10 days. This is likely to encourage many clients to pay early, although you will of course make less money on each deal.
There are many ways to use the internet to help combat late payment. One of the newest is a name and shame web site offering membership services.
DUE2PAY is a web site aimed at bringing common sense back to the problem of late invoice payments, by tackling debt recovery in a new way. Late invoice payment is now regarded as an acceptable practice for late payers and an addition to business debt collection
. In some cases the practice is an effort save a business from closing,
for other companies the philosophy is to dot it as and acceptable to
fund an already profitable business. Consider www.due2pay.co.uk as an
early warning system, an alarm which if triggered can save you a lot of
money for a fraction of the cost of the interest you are paying in
funding your customers' businesses. Or a fraction of the cost of phone
calls to chase payment and of solicitor's letters.
The Forum of
Private Business in the UK says that late payments of invoices are
having a serious impact on 70% of firms, with nearly 60% reporting that
the situation had worsened over the past year. It is apparent that this
scenario of late payment is being used as a form of free credit for
businesses. Delaying payment to many customers funds a business and
reduces bank borrowings. Any surplus cash held by a customer will in
turn earn interest. Depending on the size of firm, late payments can
have a major impact with a third of firms losing between £1,000 and
£5,000 a year as a result and 15% losing between £5,000 and £50,000. On
a daily basis we are hearing of companies forcing firms to accept
mandatory discounts, longer payment times, and payment delays.
You can use www.due2pay.co.uk along side a company credit check.
In fact it can work well alongside other traditional methods such as
business debt collection and company recovery of debts through outside
agencies which take a more hands on approach. UK government introduced
the right to charge interest on late payments but this rarely happens
in practice. www.due2pay.co.uk has two interesting powerful strings to
its bow.
1) Where the website sends an email and fax to a customer
asking them to pay an invoice within 14 days. If it remains unpaid,
then the supplier is revealed on the site as a late payer.
A nice addition which shows it is not all one sided is that the late
payer is given the opportunity to 'dispute an invoice' and potential
suppliers can enter into discussions with them and also the aggrieved
supplier.
2) The 'Watch List'. Put a company on your Watch List and
when it is listed as a late payer you will be informed by email.Large
companies are using various methods to keep more money in their
accounts. For example increasing the time it takes to settle suppliers'
bills from 30 days to 75 days and imposing a 2.5% ' settlement' charge
on payments. Cutting payments to suppliers by two per cent, despite one
company almost doubling its annual profits.
The FPB says that it
wants to see the Government 'leading by example' by committing to
paying its suppliers on time, as well as introducing a code of conduct
for itself and big companies. Chief Executive of the FPB, Phil Orford,
said: 'Protecting cash flow, which is the lifeblood of any small
business, has become even more important because of the credit crunch.
We would like to see non-statutory measures implemented to enable
businesses to hold late-payers to account without fear of losing
customers and contracts.' Join www.due2pay.co.uk now and take advantage
of the free trial
