Credit Matters Newsletter
In This Issue
- What's New At Credit Matters?
- Quote Of The Month
- Monthly Business Observation
- Monthly Business Conundrum
- This Month's Business Inconvenient Truth
- Word Of The Month
- Latest Blogs & Readings
- Special Topic
- THE LATEST ASIC UPDATES
- AUSTRAC MEDIA RELEASES
- IBAC UPDATES
- ACCC UPDATES
What's New At Credit Matters?
We hope the results for 2018 were positive and have set you up for success in 2019 as it looks likely to be a year of significant challengers. If 2018 did not meet your success expectations, then you really need to try and change your business to meet this year's challengers.
At Credit Matters, we continue the production of new features and other developments to meet the challengers ahead in 2019. So why not visit our website occasionally and see what becomes available to you develop your business.
In this edition, we have attached two flyers from ACFE promoting their courses. In particular, I draw your attention to their February Cryptocurrency Half Day Seminar. I expect this seminar to provide a number of interesting perspectives on cryptocurrencies not available from other sources. CreditWatch's brochure advertising its extensive range of services, offers new products and services which can assist all business owners and managers. Jan Reeves has just launched her book "Get Paid" which offers essential information for business owners of smaller business who need help and directions when selling on credit.
Finally and not least, if you wish to promote your business services at an affordable rate, contact Kim at kim@creditmatters.com.au. You will be surprised at what we have to offer.
Quote Of The Month
Abandon traditional forms, rules, and customs, we noticed…and you are most likely on your way to disaster.
We don’t know exactly why the traditional ‘rules’ are what they are. And we don’t know the consequences of breaking them. But there is almost always a price to pay.
Bill Bonner
Monthly Business Observation
This month’s quote is more visible today in the business community than ever before. The value of this quote is particularly important when we discuss issues related to Accounts Payable, Credit Management and Accounts Receivable.
If we visit the circumstances under which these core business areas operate today, you may be amazed at how many traditional processes have been discarded and devalued. More interestingly, is to see how few lessons are learnt in the real-life classroom of cash flow management and the protection of cash.
On revisiting the past, we note there were customer and creditor account reconciliations, statements were demanded, long standing employees knew the habits of their customers and suppliers. We also noted that no one was afraid of picking up the telephone.
In an era when bank reconciliations are still completed, why are so many businesses no longer reconciling creditor and customer accounts? After all, the purpose is the same, to protect your business's cash.
Many businesses no longer reconcile their creditor or customer accounts. Again, as I have discussed in the past, if you don’t reconcile these accounts, you don’t manage your money. A failure to reconcile these accounts is usually based on arrogance, or the use of technology tools and processes to ensure no mistakes. Alternatively, the naïve business person who wants to save costs, may believe by not reconciling, they will save money.
The fact that many businesses no longer require supplier statements is another baffling decision. In a time where not knowing is not acceptable, why is not knowing what your business owes acceptable? Of course, it is not. By refusing to accepte responsibility for what your business owes, exposes you, the business and its directors to legal action and/or insolvency.
Long standing and dedicated employees get to know how their business, customers and suppliers all operate. This knowledge is worth dollars in the bank. Why is this information not of commercial value? In addition, today where fraud, scams, and cybercrime are part of the business landscape, having employees which know what is right and wrong, is critical. Fraud and hacking are after all, just a false invoice, email, or one wrong click away.
Finally, due to the practice of employing the cheapest employees with limited skill sets, almost everyone seems to be afraid to pick up the telephone these days. Mind you, it can be almost impossible to find a valid telephone contact point for some suppliers and customers. However, that is not the point. It now seems that from senior management down, many are unable to pick up a telephone and have an intelligent conversation with their customers and suppliers.
As this month’s quote suggests, when you do away with traditional ways of doing business, you aren’t always aware of the true costs of the changes. In the areas of cash flow and profit protection, this is no different.
Based on my current business and work experiences, I suspect there are many businesses which have absolutely no idea of the true value of their assets and liabilities. In the good times when sales are plentiful, this situation may not be so obvious and can remain hidden for years. When times are tight, a lack of sales, and an increase in defaulting debtors, there is no hiding from your business’s true state of affairs.
Monthly Business Conundrum
It is more cost effective to respond quickly and with respect to customer enquiries then to ignore them.
Customer enquiries are like gold to any business. The fact is, customers’ enquiries reveal negative issues within your business which can be eliminated and highlight invoices with problems that need to be quickly resolved so they can be paid.
The business which ignores the importance of customer enquiries, or believes they are a hindrance to sales, fail to see the gold. As a result, these businesses lose sales through inefficiencies, have increased costs and slow paying customers because their concerns are not quickly addressed.
Obviously, no business wants unnecessary customer enquiries if they can be avoided. However, when customer enquiries are received, resources are required to treat all customer enquires quickly and with respect. At the end of the day, if the enquiries are not resolved quickly and the causes fixed, there are two obvious outcomes.
The first is there will be an increase in enquiries which will create additional problems for your business and increase delayed payments. Problems will continue to escalate and unnecessary costs to increase.
Secondly, customers will no longer make enquiries. The first you will know of any problems is when you make an enquiry about falling sales, or invoices remain outstanding without explanation.
The conundrum for all businesses; do they spend money to treat all customer enquiries efficiently and with respect to avoid further unproductive costs? Alternatively, do they spend money and time later trying to fix problems which increase costs which do not add value to the business, or cause slow-paying customers?
This Month's Business Inconvenient Truth
Time waits for no one and what we have, is limited.
The banks and other finance providers which provide finance, will charge interest for every day you have a debt outstanding. Any day you can reduce the amount owed, means money is saved. Financiers will also not wait for payments just because you don’t have the money to make your payments as required.
Creditors do not have the time or money to carry the debt owed to them indefinitely. Their patience is also limited in the face of continued non-payment, or a lack of communication. It is also worth remembering, there is nobody more demanding than a cash poor creditor which is trying to pay off their own debts to survive.
Customers no longer wait for any business to respond to their request for information on products, services, or for enquiries to be answered. They also will not hold up their payment runs, or issue a special payment just because you were slow in responding to their enquiries.
Your investors are no different. They have limited time and patience for your non-performing business.
As all businesess rely on profitable sales to survive and grow, it makes sense to concentrate every effort to sell properly, answer customers’ enquiries promptly and collect unpaid invoices as quickly as possible.
Every time there is a delayed response or a problem involving a raised invoice, costs increase and potentially, your business runs out of time to get paid and complete a sale. Yet it is surprising how many business owners and professionals place so little emphasis on the importance of time and how it influences the opportunity to sell, be paid promptly, or survive.
Word Of The Month
The words this month are very similar to the words adaptor and adapter from last month. You may even feel it is easy to then guess which is the primary spelling.
The Australian Oxford Dictionary and the Macquarie Oxford Dictionary both agree the primary spelling is disrupter and the secondary spelling is disruptor. The opposite of last month’s words.
If you check the overseas online English dictionaries including the British Oxford and US Merriam Webster, both agree the spelling disrupter is the primary spelling.
If however we check the usage in Australia for sites ending in .au using Google, we see the overwhelming usage is disruptor, with a ratio of 8:1 to disrupter. Checking government sites ending in .gov.au has a ratio of disruptor to disrupter as 3:1.
Far more people use the secondary spelling in Australia compared to those using the primary spelling. This also appears to be true in the UK. Microsoft Office is no help as both spelling variations are considered correct.
At this stage, all I can suggest is to stick to the primary spelling suggested by the authoritative references, which in this case is disrupter. If anyone challenges you, at least you can refer them to the authoritative references. But do keep an eye on this one as the primary spelling may change in the future.
Latest Blogs & Readings
During December 2018, The Bank Doctor's Neil Slonim wrote 4 blogs titled "The Washup of the Banking Commission". The articles are very interesting as they focused on banking issues which will affect the business community in the future. In addition, the article described actions of the banks that businesspeople and management could learn from in regards to the organisational behaviour of their own businesses. Rather than list each blog separately, you can access them all at http://thebankdoctor.org/blog/#
Updates courtesy of www.asic.gov.au
Media Updates
Speeches and Articles
Media Updates
News Updates
Events
Publications & Resources
Media Releases
Publications & Resources
Media Releases
Credit Matters is a financial risk management resource centre for the Australian business community. If you are in business, Credit Matters is your ideal source of financial risk management solutions.
Future Opportunities & Possibilities
Credit Matters is continuing to grow and provide marketing and knowledge about financial risks to the Australia business community.
Futhermore, we invite marketing and knowledge ideas from our readers and contributors on how we can assist our respective firms grow. If you have any ideas, please contact me at info@creditmatters.com.au.
If you are interested in finding new ways to reach your marketplace, why not try Credit Matters. Our prices for advertising are very reasonable and advertising packages are on offer to make any cost, even more affordable. So if you are interested in reaching your customers at the right price, please contact Kim at info@creditmatters.com.au for options.