Optimizing Accounts Receivables: How To Select A Cost-Efficient Order To Cash Solution
Cheap Accounts Receivables Solution
As corporate executive, finding the most cost-effective solutions to complete day-to-day operations is sure to be top of mind. Especially considering that accounts receivables have direct correlation to companies bottom line, selecting an order to cash system should be done with significant consideration and analysis. Therefore, this article provides the necessary steps and best practices to optimize the accounts receivables process and select the most appropriate order to cash solution for your company.
1. Know Your Customer Base
The accounts receivable lifecycle depends significantly on having customers who are willing and able to pay for your goods and services. Therefore, it is crucial that you have detailed knowledge of who your customers are and how payment will be collected from them. This includes understanding the industries from which they come, how quickly they can pay, how they prefer to communicate, and between what days, times and channels they are responsive.
2. Consider Cash Flow Needs
The frequency of payments can be extremely unpredictable and operate on constantly changing terms. Therefore, it is important to have cash flow forecasting tool that can capture data from customers, accounts and other sources, and accurately predict cash-in-hand. This helps companies to prepare for the financial burden of expenses beyond those related to accounts receivable, and allow for increased agility and scalability at the same time.
3. Ensure Security and Compliance
When selecting an order to cash system, it is crucial to ensure that it is compliant and secure. Security measures should include encrypting all data, managing authorization and authentication, as well as additional protective measures. For example, if credit cards are accepted as payment, the companieshould be compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). As such, it is important to clearly articulate all the security measures that you expect, and read up on the suppliers? compliance documents before committing to the system.
4. Set Up Automation Across Processes
In addition to security and compliance, automation of processes is key factor to optimize accounts receivable performance. Automation provides increased accuracy and cost-savings by reducing the manpower cost associated with tedious, manual accounts receivable tasks such as creating invoices and payments, tracking customers? payments, updating customer profiles, and following up on late payments with reminder emails.
5. Embrace Open APIs for Flexibility
As technology continues to evolve, open APIs (application program interfaces) provide companies with added flexibility and scalability. The ability to connect and exchange data with other software used in multiple departments increases the value and efficiency of the system on the whole. Additionally, the option for customization can help the company to specialize for their own customer needs and improve customer experiences.
6. Evaluate Contact Center
A contact center is great way to centralize customerservice and ensure quality of customer experience. An effective contact center ensures customersupport is delivered in timely manner, while also improving customer retention and reducing customer attrition by resolving customer issues in an efficient and customer-focused way.
7. Look for an All-in-One Solution
When it comes to selecting an order to cash system, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. It is important to find an all-in-one system which can meet all of your companies needs. This includes streamlined processes to capture customer payment, customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities, improved efficiency for customerservice channels, and thoughtful customer insights using big data analysis.
Conclusion
It might feel overwhelming to find cost-efficient order to cash system that can meet your accounts receivable needs and the specific requirements of your organization. But, with the guidance of the seven steps outlined above, you are more likely to find comprehensive solution that is in compliance with payment regulations, offers enhanced customerservice, provides open APIs for enhanced agility, and brings together all the necessary components for cost-effective, streamlined accounts receivable process.
