I did not expect my recent article on credit limits to get so much traction. So here are a few more tips for how to use your system better to collect debts.

1) Automate as much as possible your debt collection process. Use the technology that you have as much as possible.

2) Make sure that the customer details in your system are correct. If they do not get it or if it is not correct, what you are sending out is a potential argument.

3) Identify your difficult customers. Try to offload their debt problem to other people. VISA, Zippay etc. Why should you have problems let others have it? Trade with them with VISA, then let them argue with VISA. It may cost you a percent or so, but you get paid with no argument and most little friction.

4) Use our software late fee system, after a few times. This will send a strong message to your customers that you have firm credit practices in place.

5) Make it easy for your clients to pay, have several different payment types. The more, the better.

Hope this is of use and as always let me know how it works for you.

One point of being associated with Xero as their customers' data is online, are they do provide a service for anonymous statistical information on the current state of the accounting information.

This point was interesting if a typical business sends a 30-day invoice, how long will it take for them to get paid?

Well, it depends where you are:

By state these are the results that their clients provided:

ACT 30.6 days
New South Wales 37.7 days
Northern Territory 32.5 days
Queensland 33.9 days
South Australia 36.3 days
Tasmania 32.2 days
Victoria 37.1 days
Western Australia 33.7 days

The overall average was 36.3 days.

So if you send out an invoice for 30-days, budget that about half of them will be paid within 36.3 days.