Naomi Robins.
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Case Study 06 · Credit Control & Collections

A credit control process that cut aged debtors by 90%

Client billing· Credit control· Collections

Invoices were being paid late, sometimes because clients never received them, sometimes because an unresolved query stalled approval. I built a proactive chase process that catches these issues early, and reduced outstanding aged debtors by 90%.

90%
Reduction in outstanding aged debtors
2 days
Automated receipt check after every invoice is sent
Remittance
Confirmed before the due date, giving near-certainty of payment

The challenge

In theory, collecting payment should be simple: send the client an invoice, and get paid within the agreed terms. In practice, clients paid late. Sometimes they had never received the invoice; other times there was a query on it that needed resolving before it could be approved. Either way, the problem usually surfaced too late, close to or past the due date.

  • Invoices sometimes not received by the client, and only discovered once payment was overdue.
  • Queries on invoices left unresolved, stalling approval on the client's side.
  • No early visibility of whether an invoice had been approved or scheduled for payment.
  • A need for a robust process that spotted issues early and minimised late payment.

My approach

Confirmed the invoice was received

I set up an automated email two days after each invoice was sent, asking the client to confirm receipt. If they didn't confirm, that was our prompt to investigate directly with the client, so a lost or missed invoice was caught within days rather than weeks.

Checked approval and the payment date

A week after the invoice date, an automated reminder asked the client to confirm whether the invoice had been approved and when it was scheduled for payment. If it hadn't yet been approved on their side, that prompted our client lead to chase their contact for sign-off.

Secured a remittance before the due date

A week before the scheduled payment date, we asked the client to share a remittance. That gave us proof they had included us in their next payment run, and near-certainty that the payment would arrive on time.

The results

  • Aged debtors down by 90%, by catching potential late payments early rather than reacting once they were already overdue.
  • Fewer lost invoices, because confirming receipt flagged straight away when an invoice needed re-sending.
  • Queries resolved before the due date, so issues on an invoice no longer delayed payment.
  • Greater certainty of payment, with a confirmed remittance showing we were in the client's next payment run.
Most late payments aren't a refusal to pay, they're invoices that were never received or never approved. Catch those early and the debtors take care of themselves.
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