Improving Accounts Receivable Collections (Part 3 of 6): Improving Cash Flow by Managing Accounts Receivable
Over the next several weeks, we’re pleased to host a series of blogs authored by e2b teknologies aimed at improving your ability to collect accounts receivable. In addition, on April 10, e2b will be hosting a free live webinar entitled “6 Steps to Developing a World Class Business Credit Policy & Collections Action Plan.
As we all know, cash flow is the lifeblood of every business. Having sufficient cash can be the difference between success and failure and it is a concern that keeps many small business owners up at night. Accounts Receivable is the largest or second-largest asset of most businesses and reducing the amount of cash tied up in those outstanding receivables — and the associated cost of financing them – will have a positive impact on a company’s cash flow.
Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) is a simple measure of how long it takes for you to collect an invoice. DSO is calculated as:
DSO = (AR Balance / Credit Sales for a time period) X Number of days in that period
For example, a company with $10 million in annual credit sales and an AR balance of $1.5 million would have a DSO of 54.75, as follows:54.75 = ($1,500,000 / $10,000,000) * 365
The annual cost to this company of carrying these receivables is $75,000, assuming financing at a 5% annual percentage rate. Reducing DSO by just one day saves $1,370 in interest and frees up $27,397 in working capital.
Even more substantial reductions are possible by utilizing accounts receivable and collections automation solutions like Anytime Collect Surveys consistently show that the average DSO across all companies is between 40 to 60, although this varies considerably by industry segment and company size.
Research by PayStream Advisors, an industry analyst group, indicates that it is possible to reduce DSO by 10 to 20 percent by investing in collection automation software such as Anytime Collect. In the above example if we cut DSO by five days (9.13%) to 49.75 days then we save $6,849 in interest and generate $136,986 of free cash.
Rather than limiting their search for working capital to loans or investments, business owners should examine the feasibility of improving their internal collections process as a means to obtain cash.
Please contact us for more information, a personalized demonstration, or details regarding special pricing for Anytime Collect.
Live Webinar
6 Steps to Developing a World Class Business Credit Policy & Collections Action Plan
Accounts receivable is typically the largest or second largest asset for most businesses yet most companies do nothing to improve their credit and collections processes. This presentation will outlines six easy steps to developing a world class credit policy and collections action plan to help you gain significant advantages in your business to reduce days sales outstanding (DSO), improve cash flow, and reduce bad debt write-offs through best practices and automation.
Other Free Materials From e2b
- Free Whitepaper: 17 Things You Should Be Doing Right Now To Reduce Outstanding Accounts Receivable
- On-Demand Webinar: How One Company Reduced Their DSO by 40% With Credit Collections Software
- Free Report: Revenue Cycle Management – Increasing Control Over the Order-to-Cash Process
About e2b
e2b anytime apps, a business unit of e2b teknologies, develops software-as-a-service (SaaS), cloud-based business software including Anytime Collect, Anytime Commerce B2B e-commerce, Anytime 500 add-ons for Sage 500 ERP, Anytime Supply Chain, Anytime Docs, and Anytime Assets inventory and asset tracking. Anytime Collect accounts receivable credit and collections management software integrates with popular accounting software to streamline and automate B2B accounts receivable collections activities resulting in significant reductions in outstanding receivables and improved cash forecasting.
