Accounts Receivable, Credit and Collections Leading Practices

Accounts receivable is among the largest and most liquid assets on the books of most companies. A properly managed accounts receivable portfolio can expedite cash flow and support corporate cash requirements. The goal of accounts receivable is to increase working capital.

An effective accounts receivable, credit and collections process is built on a set of well-defined and clearly stated business objectives. Key objectives articulate the ideal performance results that the company expects from that process. When determining what process improvements are needed to reach the next level of maturity, evaluators should consider the importance of the process being addressed. As the importance of a process increases, its desired capability increases.

This tool features several leading practices for the accounts receivable, credit and collections process, including:

• Identify and act on distressed and delinquent accounts.
• Assign and update customer credit rating.
• Automate the remittance processing function.
• Use the credit and collections process to enhance customer satisfaction.
• Develop, motivate and monitor collections specialists.