Best Practices for Getting Paid Faster

Author: Mary Schaeffer

Older receivables are harder to collect and more likely to become uncollectible. That’s just one of the many reasons why it is imperative for every organization to collect its receivables as quickly as possible. In this session, we’ll take a look at steps every company can take to ensure its receivables are collected as quickly as feasibly possible. Your actions often have a direct impact on how quickly you get paid. So, don’t shoot yourself in the foot by doing things that will delay your payments.

Then we’ll turn our attention to mistakes made by companies that result in slower payments. This happens far more frequently than most professionals appreciate. We’re talking about simple errors commonly made by companies who don’t even realize they are slowing their own payments. The 25 recommendations in this part of the talk are based on information provided by accounts payable professionals. They share widespread blunders made every day by many of their suppliers. Many professionals think, “oh, we would never do anything that stupid,” but the evidence shows otherwise. The steps needed to correct these errors are pretty simple. But first you have to realize you are making them.

Publication Date: September 2019

Designed For
Accounts receivable managers, directors, supervisors and professionals; Billing managers, directors, supervisors and professionals; Credit managers, directors, supervisors and professionals; Collection managers, directors, supervisors and professionals; Accountants, controllers, assistant controllers, accountants, accounting managers.

Topics Covered

• Best practices to ensure faster payments
• Best Operational Practices
• Best Invoicing Practices
• What Else
• Roundup of Poor practices
• Concluding Thoughts

Learning Objectives

• Recognize and apply the steps to ensure faster payments
• Identify mistakes your team may be making which slows payment to you
• Recognize when to talk about payment terms with a customer
• Describe what action you should take if a customer takes an unearned early payment discount
• Identify which address or email address an invoice should be sent to
• Recognize why you should include the PO number or name of the requisitioner on all invoices
• Differentiate which W-9 form you should use
• Identify acceptable reason to call a customer's accounts payable department
• Recognize the best reason for accepting ACH payments
• Recognize when the invoice date should be created and mailed on

Level
Basic

Instructional Method
Self-Study

NASBA Field of Study
Accounting (2 hours)

Program Prerequisites
None

Advance Preparation
None