How to track invoices and payments

Implementing the kind of credit control that keeps your debtor days to a minimum and gets you paid faster is all about organization.

Keeping track of your invoices and payments means you know when to chase your customers for payment, prevents you from chasing invoices that have already been paid, and gives you greater control over your accounts receivables.

If you’re struggling with unpaid invoices and feel your late payments are getting out of hand, read on to find out how accurate invoice tracking could be the solution and what steps you can take to implement it.

Invest in good accounting software

If your accounts receivables are still running on pen and paper, it’s time to transfer them to a more efficient digital option.

There are plenty of excellent accounting software options available on the market, such as AccountsIQ, MYOB, FreeAgent, Xero, Quickbooks, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. All of these options will allow you to track your invoice and payments in an efficient, searchable, and organized manner.

Most accounting software options also have a huge app market place that you can use to modify the base software to match your business needs.

For instance, while any of the programs above are an excellent choice for accounting software, adding the Chaser add-on to any of them can drastically improve your credit control.

In turn, this will reduce the amount of time you spend waiting for late payments.

Chaser’s Payment Portal place all the payment and invoicing information you and your customers need in one easy to access location.

Accessible from any of our automated invoice reminders, the Payment Portal lets your customer see all of their outstanding invoices, not just the one related to the reminder. This increases the chances of them making payment on all their outstanding invoices and reduces the admin burden on you.

No need to worry about sending out multiple copy invoices when your customers can access them all in one place.

In our experience, the quickest way to get paid is to make it as easy for your customers to pay you as possible.

Understand and implement invoicing best practices

We’ve already spoken about the importance of having your payment terms clearly stated in your contract.

If you want to get paid on time and want to make it easy to track your invoices and payment, you need to apply the same rigor to your invoicing.

When it comes to sending an invoice, there are a couple of things you can do to make sure you get paid on time and make it easier to keep your accounts receivables up to date.

Focus on the details

It’s always a good idea to include as much information as possible in every invoice. You want your client to be able, at a glance, to identify exactly what your invoice is referring to.

It’s always a good idea to include as much information as possible in every invoice. You want your client to be able, at a glance, to identify exactly what your invoice is referring to.

Rather than just including the client’s purchase order number, although that should always be on there, include as much detail on the project as possible. That way, the customer has no excuse for misunderstanding the invoice and you’ll find it much easier to track down the invoice yourself, should you need to.

Set the correct due date

Most accounting software will put a basic due date on any invoice you don’t specifically change. Normally this due date is the industry standard of 30-days.

We’ve spoken before about how important it is to adjust your due dates to suit your client’s fulfilment processes. Sticking to a generic due date for each invoice could see your payment delayed by a month for lack of adjusting that date by a day.

Having the correct sending and due dates will also make your invoices that much easier to track.

Have the correct payment and contact details

Invoicing is part of the job that is often done on autopilot, especially if you’ve been using the same processes or templates for a long time.

Having the correct payment and contact information on your invoices is vital to avoiding delays and you should always check those details are correct before sending an invoice.

Chase Often, but Chase Accurately

As soon as your accounting software flags an invoice as overdue, you should be following up on it.

As a rule, chasing late invoice is one of the most common, but most time and effort-intensive parts of credit control. It’s also one of the most frustrating, as you’re essentially wasting time chasing money you’ve already earned, rather than spending that time growing your business.

The good news is that there are ways you can chase every overdue invoice without spending all your time sending emails.

Chaser’s automated reminder automatically follow up on unpaid invoices. Each reminder can be modified by you to match your business’s tone of voice and the relationship you have with your customer. All emails will also seem to have come from your usual email address.

In effect, it will look like you’re sending personalized reminder emails, adding the human touch back into credit control automation while retaining all the efficiency benefits.

Because the system is automated, it will never send a reminder email to a client that has already paid you and will follow up every payment with an automated ‘thank you’ email to build on your business relationships.

Using Chaser to say on top of their accounts receivables has allowed our customer, on average, to save more than 15-hours per week on credit control management and get paid 16 days sooner!

Let Chaser help you get paid on time

Chaser’s combination of innovative features and efficient automation makes it easy to track your invoice, stay on top of payments and implement effective credit control.

To understand how Chaser can get you paid earlier and more often, book a demo with us today.