Table of contents3 sections
Sound familiar? The invoice sinks in the spreadsheet and nobody reacts
A client pays a week late. Nobody notices, because the invoice is buried in a spreadsheet. 14 days pass — someone remembers to send a payment reminder. A month passes and collections kick in, but the relationship is already strained and cash flow is full of holes.
The problem is that receivables control is reactive — it waits until someone opens Excel. Meanwhile, every late invoice costs not only money, but also the team’s time and energy.
Collections start too late not because nobody wants to chase, but because nobody sees what is overdue until it hurts.
Fix it systematically: receivables control step by step
- 1
Define overdue thresholds
7 days — automatic payment reminder. 14 days — personal contact. 30 days — collections. Without thresholds, the decision waits for a person who has ten other things on their plate.
- 2
Automate payment reminders
The first payment reminder should require no work at all. The sooner the client gets the information, the greater the chance they pay without escalation.
- 3
Assess counterparty risk up front
A client’s history of late payments is the best predictor of future delays. Clients with a track record of delays need shorter payment terms or advance payments.
- 4
Connect collections with the relationship
Collections are not a war. Professional, timely payment reminders build respect and do not destroy cooperation.
We struggled with this ourselves: how Administy automated collections
A B2B company with a portfolio of 140 clients was losing about 40 thousand zloty a month in overdue receivables, because payment reminders were sent manually and irregularly. At Administy we automated the sequence: the day before the due date — a polite heads-up, 7 days after — a payment reminder, 14 days — a call from the account manager. The average time to payment fell from 41 to 28 days, and the team won back a dozen or so hours a month that used to go on manually tracking spreadsheets.
