|
Are You Promoting Late Payment Through Slow Invoicing?
 When
you send out invoices, how long do you wait
after receiving confirmation of receipt from
your customers? If you take too long, you
could actually be helping to cause your
customers to pay late.
A survey by the Better Payment Practice
Group has shown that 11% of businesses wait
two weeks or more after receiving
confirmation of receipt, while 19% simply
wait until the end of the month! Small
businesses were the quickest at sending
invoices; but is your business one of those
lagging behind?
James Meyrick, member of the Better Payment
Practice Group and Small Business Policy
Adviser for the Association of Chartered
Certified Accountants (ACCA), commented:
“The invoice is the first part of the
collection process and it is essential that
it is sent out as soon as possible after
confirmation of receipt of goods or services
– preferably within 24 hours. By not
invoicing promptly, businesses are leaving
themselves open to abuse from late payment.”
They also give some useful advice on how to
set out your invoices: “Set invoices out
logically and clearly, including the invoice
date, description of the goods or services
provided, account number, order number,
amount due, date by which payment must be
made, preferred payment method and the
address to which payment should be sent (or
account details for BACS). Always send the
invoice to a named individual and it is also
useful to alert the debtor of your statutory
right to charge interest on late payment.
The sooner the customer is aware of the
amount owed and the due date, the sooner
they can set the payment process in motion.”
Don’t forget that our free
BizStart24 software allows you to easily
produce
professional quality invoices as well as 40
other forms and letters.
|
