Independent Credit Control Services

Is Cashflow an issue for your business? Are you finding it difficult to recruit Credit Controllers. At ICCS we offer bespoke Credit Control to suit your business, we work within your business to help strengthen and develop your Credit Control function.

The word RECESSION is being repeated often in the business world today and everyone is saying that we must now focus on CREDIT CONTROL and collect as much outstanding money as possible.

At ICCS we ask the question WHY WERE WE NOT ALWAYS DOING IT?

Have you recently looked at your debtors ledger?
Have you recently looked at the 90 days+ column?
Have you drilled down and analysed it?
What's its percentage compared to the rest of the ledger?
How much of it is real and what needs to be a provision for bad debt or written off?
What way are you going to tackle it and maybe a more important question is where are you going to find the TIME to tackle it?

Let ICCS help your business, please give me a ring anytime on 07955 079848.

Independent Credit Control Services is now on WhatsApp.

The old saying "Cash is King" is something that I have advocated many times over the years. Not so sure now, as in 2018 debit card transactions exceeded cash payments and this was before the pandemic that "enforced" contactless payments. Advances in technology means, we can take instant payment, have you considered setting up an online store that will allow you to sell to Anyone from Anywhere? Taking card payments is now portable with some card readers small enough to fit in your pocket.
Yes "Cash is King" but it can now be acquired in different forms.

What have we learned from Covid -19?
Ask yourself, do I have to drive to Galway or wherever for the meeting? Could I do a zoom call, saving time, saving fuel, saving our environment?
Ask yourself, do we need all our employee's in every day or could they work from home - saving office costs and also saving our employee's the cost of travelling to work.
Let's look at Covid-19 in a different way, how it has shown us that we can conduct and continue in business via different ways and how some of these methods and platforms are not detrimental but actually beneficial to our business and the wider business community.
Good luck and stay safe.

Commercial/Business premises available for short/long term rent. 5000 square footage of working unit including reception area, office space, toilet facilities and storage on two levels. This is a fantastic opportunity to start a new business or expand an existing business as the premises are located in Newry City, 10 minutes from the M1 motorway connecting Dublin to Belfast.

NI Micro-business Hardship Fund:

InvestNI are now accepting applications for this fund where you can receive up to £10,000 or up to £5,000.

Do you have a Micro-business or Social Enterprise and employ between 1 - 9 people?

If yes you could be eligible.

Grant Funding Deadline Reminder:

Please note that the closing date for the following grants is TOMORROW - 20th May 2020 :

£10,000 Small Business Support Grant Scheme

£10,000 Small Business Grant for rental properties and Total NAV of £1,590 or under

£25,000 Retail, Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Grant

£25,000 Retails, Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Grant for businesses that occupy rental properties

Small Business Cash Grant for £10,000 or £25,000.00:

I read this evening that the closing date for applying for Cash Grants is closing on 20th May 2020. It is understood that there are hundreds that have not yet applied for the Grants but they could be eligible.

Questions to ask yourself:

Do I pay rates?
Is my rates bill Non-Domestic or a mixture of Domestic and Non-Domestic?

If you have answered yes to the above you could qualify for a Grant.

Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please feel free to share.

American Author Dave Pelzer quoted, "Something good comes out of every crisis". I hope he is correct.
Covid-19 has created a worldwide crisis that very few if any will not be effected in some shape or form.
However we should and must try to stay positive, however hard that may seem at times and it is easier said than done.
However we have an opportunity to use this crisis to see what can we learn and what can we do differently in the future?
I recently set up a set of virtual meetings for a client and it was a great success, so much so that they will be implementing more of the same in the future to save on costs.
The use of software, and changing slightly how you do business will save this business at least €300.00 per week moving forward.
We have to try and embrace the new ways of doing business moving forward and constantly question is there a better way of doing what I am doing??
Keep Safe, Keep Strong, Keep Smiling

Small Business Grant Fund - £10,000.00.
I am aware that a lot of businesses have received their payment, for those who have not, this is just a note to say you are not on your own. I spoke to the helpline again today and was advised that they are still in the process of getting payments issued. This includes businesses that pay their rates by DD.
“Keep Safe, Keep Strong and Keep Smiling”

Some good advice from Richard Branson:

“Never take your eyes off the cash flow because it's the life blood of business”.

The Redundant Credit Controller????
I was speaking to a fellow Credit Controller a couple of weeks ago when they said to me wait to you hear this about a customer making payment. I waited to hear the normal reasons as to why payment has not been made or a new reason, i.e. I never got the invoice, could you please send me a statement, your invoice is in the process of being approved and paid etc.
However I got a shock when I was advised that the customer was invoiced on let’s say 04/03/2019 and made payment on 06/03/2019, YES, payment received 2 days after the invoice was issued.
My initial response was one of horror – what is the customer thinking about? - paying on time. How dare they – are they trying to do me out of my job? Now total fear takes over and I start to think - if everyone started to pay invoices on time what would happen to the Credit Controller? More importantly what would happen to me???
My panic with regards to my future and the future of Credit Controllers around the globe was quickly restored after reading an article written by Sage.
It stated that the average time to pay in the UK for invoices of £1m or less is to be paid is 71 days, YES, 71 days – not 2. Sage undertook its own research and concluded that more than 1 in 10 invoices are late payments. Sage research also found that the most common excuse given for late payments is – no reason at all – this doesn’t surprise me as most businesses or companies are just relieved when the money hits their bank account.
There is no doubt that as an owner of a business or company there is a fear of asking for money from a customer even though you have done a great job. To reduce the risk follow these steps:
• Invoice immediately- do not delay
• Offer different ways to make payment
• Issue statements
• Answer Queries promptly
Let ICCS help put these processes in place – let us help your business, let us work together to increase your cash flow and reduce overdraft costs.

ICCS is all about avoiding this sign, and my experience has demonstrated that cash flow is one of the biggest contributing factors for a business having to close.

Do not be the next business forced to put up this sign - get in contact with ICCS and lets see how we can help you grow and prosper.

“If I had to run a company on three measures, those measures would be customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and cash flow.”
—Jack Welch, Former General Electric CEO

Cash flow is key - you have to balance how quickly it flows in against how quickly if flows out.

I came across this quote from Michael Dell, founder and CEO, Dell Technologies

“We were always focused on our profit and loss statement. But cash flow was not a regularly discussed topic. It was as if we were driving along, watching only the speedometer, when in fact we were running out of gas.”

It got me thinking about Business Studies and Economics, and yes we know that to make a profit we have to sell at a higher price than we produce. But this cannot be sustained unless you get paid for what you produce.

Are you watching the speedometer or all the dials on the dashboard?

Making Tax Digital (MTD)

Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT starts for every VAT registered business from 01st April 2019.
Have you had time to consider the implications for your business or hope it will go away?

You should be looking at getting a compatible software that will enable you to submit your VAT online to HMRC.

If you are looking any guidance or help please get in touch.

Making Tax Digital (MTD)

No this is not an April fool joke, the government is introducing Making Tax Digital for all VAT registered businesses from 01st April 2019.

Are you ready or do you live in hope it will just go away?

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact ICCS.

ICCS is delighted to announce that it has joined with Fieldmotion to provide solutions to the day to day running of your business.

This includes your Field Workers, Book Keeping, Credit Control, Health and Safety and Administration as well as the overall processes for the day to day operations of your business.

If you are constantly playing catch up let us with help create more time for you and your staff.

Please click on the link below to see how we can help.

https://events.genndi.com/register/169105139238475959/444ae12834

Fieldmotion - Field Service Management Software Fieldmotion, provides a cloud based field worker management platform. Jobs and schedules can be easily created and assisgned to field staff through the main CRM system, cutting out unnecessary journeys to the office.In this webinar we will go through the main points of what Fieldmotion can do for yo...

Credit Control in Business:

How many days does it take for our customers to pay us?
How many days does our suppliers allow us before requesting
payment?

Does the amount of days it takes customers to pay invoices exceed the time allowed to pay your supplier invoices?

If so your cash flow is not flowing and you are being charged elsewhere in your expenses to keep your business afloat. Please note that this is before taking into consideration the fixed costs of your business that need to be paid regardless of what money is coming in.

To survive in business you need a solid Credit Control Policy.

Bring clarity to your business, ensure your staff know weekly and monthly procedures. Clarity brings peace of mind and improved efficiency and effectiveness. Credit Control is no different.