Eric
McCraw
on
May 16, 2023Is your collections process the best it can be? Every business has a problem with collections. Unpaid invoices are costly for many reasons. They require your finance team to spend time and resources trying to collect. Delinquent and unpaid invoices lead to revenue leakage that cuts into profits. When customers become frustrated due to payment challenges, they stop being customers. That’s why dunning is an ongoing concern for every business.
As companies grow and adapt subscription and consumption-based pricing to scale business and revenues, the volume of invoices increases, including overdue invoices and uncollected accounts. The bigger the invoice volume, the greater the risk of billing errors, especially when using a manual invoice management process. Mistakes and confusion arise from a lack of transparency, leading to unnecessary late notices and frustrated customers, as lost revenue and countless hours sorting through accounts.
Automating billing and dunning with a realizable, scalable billing platform eliminates the errors and provides the transparency needed to see what's happening with delinquent accounts.
The Fallout from Unpaid Invoices
According to a study by PYMNTS, 49% of invoices produced by U.S. businesses will eventually become overdue. The problem is even more significant for small businesses, with an average of 55% of late and unpaid invoices. The late-payment problem was particularly acute during the pandemic and may have led to the closure of several businesses.
The biggest obstacle to tracking invoices and receivables is manual accounting systems. And the impact of late invoices goes beyond adding to manual labor costs. NerdWallet research shows that 39% of business owners would have to cut overhead costs to make up for unpaid invoices. Twenty-eight percent said they would have to pause recruitment and freeze salaries. Another 22% said they might have to cut staff to make up for the shortfalls.
Collecting Invoices While Preserving the Customer Experience
At Gotransverse, our business is billing, and we understand how challenging it can be to collect every invoice without upsetting customers. We also know how automating business processes can streamline invoicing and dunning.
To solve the problem, Gotransverse developed automated collection and dunning tools to reduce DSO (days sales outstanding). Gotranservse dunning automation for B2B and B2C companies simplifies payment retries, dunning plans, and payment plans.
Payment retries apply a configurable schedule to retry failed payments. Configurable account dunning also sends automated notifications and can schedule downstream events, such as deprovisioning or provisioning service levels. The system even can automate remedial actions once late payments have been received. Gotransverse can even automate payment plans for delinquent customers.
These collections and dunning tools are part of the Gotransverse platform, so no additional integration or licenses are required. Since collections and dunning are part of the Gotransverse billing platform, they have the same core platform features and white-glove implementation.
The features built into Gotransverse’s collections and dunning can dramatically impact your bottom line. Here are some details:
Payment Retries
Typically, payments received go through immediately, but sometimes there are problems, such as insufficient funds, when customers need more cash. With a configurable, automated payment retry system, payment collections can be scheduled to collect on the original payment submission. Those payments can be retried and processed without hassle to the customer – a real plus to promoting a positive customer experience.
Configurable Dunning Reminders and Actions
We know that customers only sometimes stay on top of bill payments. Our automated dunning system makes it easy to create plans to schedule those gentle and not-so-gentle reminders to collect payments and deprovisioning services when necessary. Of course, not all customers need the same reminders, so the Gotransverse dunning system allows you to treat different types of customers as required.
Automated Cure Action Notifications
Customers hate it when they receive collection notices for bills they have already paid. They also get frustrated when the finance department can’t find the paid invoice in their records. Keeping accurate records of overdue payments isn’t just good business; it’s good for customer relations. We built in automated status tracking, so the accounting department is alerted when an outstanding invoice is paid and, if needed, restore service. Automatic tracking of payment status and notifications prevent incorrect collection notices and improve customer satisfaction.
Payment Plans for Delinquent Accounts
Sometimes, collecting past-due accounts while maintaining (or repairing) a customer relationship seems impossible. When collecting on delinquent accounts, whenever possible, you want to collect the revenue without souring the customer relationship. Gotransverse helps address that problem by providing several payment plan options to help delinquent customers repay their debts.
No matter how you look at it, debt collection is a headache. Gotransverse can relieve the pain by eliminating paper processes that stand in the way of profitability. You must abandon old-school billing and spreadsheets for your company to be agile and scalable. To ensure smooth order-to-cash transactions, including collections, you need an automated billing solution that grows with you.
Gotransverse has been designed to ensure that every invoice is paid. The built-in collection and dunning tools can streamline collections without negatively impacting the customer experience. To learn more about how Gotransverse can streamline your billing, take a tour of the Gotransverse platform or call us to schedule a personalized demonstration.