What's New At Credit Matters?

Welcome to our March newsletter. The focus this month is on the after-effects of COVID, plus questions on the value of emails and the importance of reconciliations.

The Special Topic questions whether technology does make it more efficient to make a payment via a third party in order to make that payment.

In view of all the risks today, you need to find ways to mitigate these risks wherever possible. First, there is the attached brochure from Enable Workplace Consulting offering an opportunity to reduce these risks with its course on Crises Management in the Workplace. The second brochure is from Peter Nash of Absolute Facts offering assistance with investigation and due diligence services.

Kim is available to help with your questions and concerns if you need any assistance, and as always, the first chat is always free of charge or obligation.

Quote Of The Month

“Clearly, a single major event -- the pandemic -- has driven changes in every facet of our lives and there’s been a domino-like impact, from supply-chain disruptions through stimulus-fund distributions, all of which drive inflation.”       From The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 23, 2021

Monthly Business Observation

Too often when looking around the business community, we see that many businesses are structured in the same old way, debt is freely available, savings and cash in bank accounts is still called lazy and customer wants are either worshipped or ignored, etc.

Failing to learn the lessons of COVID and understanding what is happening in today’s business world and act accordingly, can be, and is often fatal for your business. Below are five current issues, amongst many others, which need to be thought through for a business to be successful in this post-COVID era.

1          The importance of understanding your contracts and terms of trade used in business cannot be underestimated. Yet it is still noticeable businesspeople are:

1. failing to review these documents for relevance,
2. seek professional legal advice, or
3. understand the importance on the structure of these documents, etc.

After all, if these documents are required for legal recovery or protection of your business’s interests, they must be effective and applicable for the situation involved.

2          It is only recently that the importance of a holistic approach to risk management and credit management processes and actions, plus working with sales and marketing, has started to be understood.

3          The importance of cash in bank and as a payment methodology are still being attacked and the value of cash in both circumstances is not fully understood or recognised.

This is despite businesses becoming increasingly insolvent or having to look for additional funding or finance to survive or to expand their business operations.

4          When it comes to accepting cash payments, these payments will still be possible when there is denial of service, or there is a lack of power for making digital payments. Recently in Victoria, power was cut off for over a week, which limited the ability of businesses to accept digital payments. In turn, this prevented their customers from buying, unless the customer had cash and the business was willing to accept it. Furthermore, it is expected this situation of additional power cuts, will occur again in the near future.

5          The lack of real customer service today is more obvious than ever before. When you review your own interactions with many businesses currently, it has almost reached the stage where the customer service function is nothing more than a joke. It seems if you want to lodge a problem or an adverse complaint, the system is designed to make you go away and forget your complaint. Alternatively and perhaps, management doesn't care about the image of their business in the community.

As we all know, great customer service now is important than ever. After all, when completed well, it is often promoted by your customers, free of cost to your business. When not completed properly, bad customer service with all its connotations, is also proclaimed loud and clear to the masses thanks to the internet. Great customer service therefore provides another clear point of difference between your business over its competitors.

Structuring and managing your business post-COVID cannot remain in the same old fashion manner as it was before. Too many factors have changed, and it is essential to acknowledge these changes and act accordingly, if you want your business to survive for the short and long term. It is the wise businessperson and manager who recognises the value of survival by making appropriate changes. Such changes assist to ensure that their business will still be operating in the future when many of their competitors, which had stuck to their old pre-COVID ways, may no longer be around.

This Month's Business Inconvenient Truth

I have no idea why a business would not reconcile its supplier and customer accounts correctly and monthly these days. The fact is, a properly constructed and prepared reconciliation statement reveals the most up to date and interesting picture of its relationship with each of their stakeholders. As they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

A properly prepared and structured reconciliation, provides a picture of a trading relationship and displays clearly the outstanding factors and dollars involved in a manner that words alone, just cannot provide.

In addition, you get to “see” what type of transactions remain outstanding after each month, or whether payments have been allocated correctly. You can also quickly identify whether there are internal or external problems which need to be resolved, the “actual dollars” outstanding which are owed or owing, whether there are opportunities to make additional money, and to discover lost funds, etc.

Few other reporting systems such as an open item, or balance brought forward statement, complete these objectives as quickly.

If your business is serious about eliminating costly mistakes, creating operational efficiencies, increasing cashflow and profits, then reconciling all stakeholder accounts monthly, is essential.