Mr Combes and QuickFee have found themselves in the Australian Financial Review.
So Jadeja Partners went looking and heard the following:
88 – Not lucky
In Asia, the number 8 is seen as a lucky number*. So 88 should be even luckier. Unfortunately it’s not lucky for the average Australian accountant…that’s because 88 is the average number of days of lock up (WIP and debtors) in their firm.
With many firms, debtors stretch past 90 days which means someone else has had your money in their bank account for 25% of the year!
But it doesn’t have to be like that. One of the keys to success for reducing debtors is working out why someone hasn’t paid and having the client well aware of their obligations. Three easy things you can do are:
1. Lay out the terms clearly in your engagement letter and ensure the client knows about them when signing the engagement letter. If you say you will deliver X, Y or Z service and deliver it on time and on budget, the client is obligated to pay you on time
2. Follow up an outstanding invoice with a call immediately – statements showing 30, 60, 90, etc are almost inviting a client to choose the longest date! Don’t give them that option. If there is a genuine reason a client is not paying such as a service related issue or a misunderstanding you want to know; so pick up the phone and ask. Calling them allows you to assess the the quality of their experience with the team and you and to reengage around other ways you can help.
3. Give them options that don’t involve you becoming a bank – instead of seeking full payment offer the opportunity to pay half now and the rest in say two weeks or break the invoice into manageable amounts using a fee funder. If they can’t then that’s an opportunity for you to introduce QuickFee fee funding as a way for the client to break the invoice into manageable monthly instalments whilst you are still paid in full.
If you or your partners want to know more about the credit process or the ways QuickFee funding can help in the collection of debtors, please go to www.quickfee.com.au or call Bruce Coombes on 02 8090 7701.
*A telephone number in China with all digits being eights was sold for US$280,000!
https://youtu.be/HQcwNPa3L8Y
