What to Look for in the Best Collection Management Software

Most businesses have an assortment of software solutions to front office activities and back-office functions running like clockwork. Although you may already be using customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource management (ERP), they typically don’t provide the processes necessary in terms of credit and collections. While there are many benefits of incorporating collection management software, we’ve highlighted the top reasons companies like yours are adding collection management software to their software ecosystem.

Why You Need Collection Management Software

Within every business, the accounts receivable (AR) department has the difficult task of collecting money owed. As one of the most important functions of your business, this time-consuming process can be overwhelming.

The following are the top 12 reasons why all companies need a collection management software solution for better accounts receivable management.

1. With account information readily available, your collectors will spend less time searching for information and more time with customers discussing payment options.
2. Keep AR departments on track and collect debts faster by providing a schedule of collection tasks and reminders that are automatically generated.
3. The right system enables you to automate the creation of invoices and attach them as PDFs to an email for faster payment.
4. Minimize human errors resulting from manual efforts, including duplicate invoices and incorrect application of customer payments.
5. Automation keeps your collectors on track with information that will help them be more productive and improve collections.
6. The majority of your customers want to pay you and pay you on time. With invoice improvements you’ll alleviate inaccuracies, ensure timely delivery, and improve customer satisfaction.
7. Improve customer satisfaction even further by using the system to send timely payment reminders.
8. Streamline accounts receivable even more by accepting a variety of payments such as debit/credit cards, checks, PayPal, ACH and more.
9. Enable customers to have access to their accounts, including payment history with a customer portal that is accessible whenever needed.
10. Reduce bad debt write-offs by between 15% – 25% by resolving uncollected payment issues faster.
11. Get overdue invoices paid without involving a collection agency. In fact, did you know that many companies receive negative press when using collection agencies to collect unpaid debt?
12. When collection agencies are your only recourse, you’ll have the ability to selectively determine which accounts require work performed by an agency.

Your company relies on a steady stream of cash flow and nothing can upset that quicker than unpaid debt. Debt collection software can help you collect money faster, increase efficiency, reduce DSO, improve profitability, and foster better customer relationships.

The question quickly becomes, how to identify the best collection management software.

Simplify Collections with a Streamlined and Automated Approach

AR is more than an accounting function when it comes to collection management software. You need to ensure that it provides the information required by other departments and personnel within your organization such as the CEO, CFO, sales reps, customer service, and even your customers.

Managing outstanding debt is one of the biggest challenges most companies face. If you’re like many of your counterparts you’re ready to trade manual and error-prone process for the efficiency and effectiveness that collection management software provides.

Here are the 5 key features/functionality the collection management software you choose should provide:

1. Collector dashboard: Deliver everything your collectors need on a single, easily accessible screen. Be sure it provides a real-time status of all activities so that collectors can quickly prioritize accounts, understand actions due, and view customer history.
2. Automated notifications and alerts: Keep customers in the loop by informing them of outstanding balances. Automated notifications and out-of-the-box collection strategies should trigger when predetermined thresholds are met. In addition, the software should enable you to mix automated and manual actions to achieve high-touch or low-touch interactions.
3. Flexible strategies: In addition to being able to mix automated and manual actions, you need the ability to segment your customers based on predefined parameters in order to take full advantage of the collections management software.
4. Analytics: Business intelligence needs to provide real-time visibility into the performance of your collections strategies so that you can dynamically make changes to keep money flowing in.
5. Collection agency data exchange: Whether you outsource collections or find the need to pass collections onto an agency, the software needs the ability to easily share your data with the agency of your choice.

With a combined and automated debt management and collections software solution challenges such as losing track of aging balances, not having the figures needed to know the total amount of revenue past due and having inaccurate accounts at risk information will become a thing of the past.

Don’t Settle for Second Best

Are you ready to reduce DSO by 10% – 20%, increase productivity by 3X, and decrease churn by up to 15%? If so, look no further! BillingPlatform’s CollectionsCloud outperforms other collection management software. Our software aligns technology with your staff to conform to the specific needs of your business. And it allows you to easily track and automate all of your collection activities. BillingPlatform gives you tomorrow’s technology today to streamline and automate your collection processes, providing you an integrated financial ecosystem that enables you to minimize revenue loss, optimize employee productivity, and improve customer loyalty. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you learn about the best collection management software.