Confident Cashflow

Bringing credit control consistency to accountants and their clients

The NumberCrunchers are one of a number of accountancy firms we work with, helping not just with their own credit control, but with some of their clients’.

With offices is Highworth and Cirencester, The NumberCrunchers offer a full suite of accountancy services to SMEs, with clients ranging from limited companies and partnerships to freelancers and sole traders.

The brief

The NumberCrunchers, headed by Howard Smith and Gaynor Hutton, were looking for a new credit control service, after their previous provider had to step back due to ill health.

While for a period of time they took this on themselves, they soon realised that their efforts were sporadic, with credit control taking a back seat due to other work priorities.

The solution

We took on the credit control of The NumberCrunchers and two of their clients – one as a white labelled service, and one with whom we have a direct contract.

While aged debt wasn’t a significant problem for The NumberCrunchers, it had gradually been increasing. We quickly brought down the amount outstanding by being proactive, and re-educating The NumberCrunchers’ clients, so that they were taking payment seriously.

Our approach is to start with a gentle email reminder, and – as this comes from a Confident Cashflow email address, i.e. a third party –  this is often enough to prompt the client to pay.

We also spend time looking for common problems and spotting patterns, so we can help overcome barriers to being paid on time.

We compile regular reports, so The NumberCrunchers have up to date information on their credit management.

Now we have a monthly package with The NumberCrunchers, dividing our time between their own credit control and credit control for two of their clients.

By providing credit control to The NumberCrunchers’ clients, the team are adding value, with a complementary service.

The outcome

We were able to tackle the aged debt, which had built up in the gap between us starting and the previous provider stepping down, and to reduce this significantly by 51% in six months.

Gaynor and Howard are delighted with the service they have received, which relieves them of the burden of credit control, freeing up time for them to run their business.

Gaynor said:

“We found we were too busy running the business to spare the time to give credit control the attention it needed. We’d be distracted by events, and so credit control would be sidelined. We might have a blitz, get some instant results, and then drop it for a week or two. It then takes a while to refresh yourself where you were.

“The benefit Nicki and Adrian have brought is the consistency they can provide. They are absolutely first class and very responsive. By outsourcing credit control, it seems to evoke a better response from previously unresponsive clients. They see it as an escalation, which in fact it isn’t, but that has been a real positive. Put simply, it is one less thing for us to think about.

“We were very happy to offer Confident Cashflow’s service to some of our clients who, just like us, don’t have the time for credit control.”

If you run an accountancy business and would like to add a complementary credit control service for your clients, or are interested in outsourcing your credit control to the team here at Confident Cashflow, please get in touch.