What is pdz of clients. Accounts receivable control: creation of a credit committee. Other accounts receivable

This page presents the structure of the regulations defining the activities carried out by various officials of the company, as part of a single process of control and collection of receivables.
The specified document is an element of the company's accounts receivable management system.

Regulations for the control of receivables (hereinafter DZ) and the collection of overdue DZ (hereinafter PD)

1. Purpose of the Regulation.

This Regulation is intended for:

Systematic prevention of the occurrence of overdue receivables (hereinafter referred to as PDZ), prevention of the occurrence of non-recoverable and chronic receivables.
Reducing the average time of delays and reducing the average volume of PDZ.
Keeping the size of the PDZ within the planned and standard values.

2. Scope of this Regulation.

2.1 This Regulation applies to all clients working with deferred payments and to all cases of DZ and PD, regardless of the categories of clients, except for cases for which there is a written order from management to fully or partially exclude them from the scope of this Regulation.

2.2 The regulation comes into force from the moment the client has a DZ before the organization (that is, from the moment he receives the first batch of goods on a deferment).

3. Classification of clients (statuses) and their defining features.

On the basis of settlement and payment discipline, when paying off DZ, all clients of the organization are assigned 4 main categories or statuses:

3.1 Reliable payers- customers who, having a payment deferral for a year, have never delayed the return of DZ, or allowed no more than 2 delays lasting up to 1 week, with a preliminary warning of the delay and agreement on the terms of debt restructuring.

3.2 Uncertain Reliability Clients- clients for which there is no statistics of interaction on RD during the previous one-year period, or clients for which payment statistics are unstable. That is, there are up to 50% of cases - delays for periods of time (from 1 to 2 weeks), with and without warnings, while there is always consent to debt restructuring.

3.3 Clients threatened with delay- customers who allowed during the one-year period:

one-time delays for periods of more than 1 month;
more than 1 (one) delay per month for periods of more than 2 weeks, mostly without warning;
delay up to 1 month in more than 50% of cases;
evasion of contact and objection to the terms of debt restructuring proposed by him.

3.4 Defaulting Clients- clients:

in the history of interaction over the past year, more than 1 (one) per month of delay in payment of DZ for a period of more than 2 weeks, without warning, protested against the proposed terms of debt restructuring and avoided contacts;
with whom litigation has already taken place;
to whom the complaint letters have already been sent.

4. Assignment of initial categories (statuses) to clients.

4.1 Initial categories (statuses) are assigned to clients at the beginning of the calendar year, based on the history of interaction with them and statistics on timely / late repayment of debts to the enterprise, taking into account the criteria given in clause 3.

4.2 The assignment of customer categories is carried out jointly by the Head of the Sales Department (ROD) and the Head of the Service Financial Control(RSFC), then, is approved by the Commercial Director (CD) of the enterprise.

4.3 Depending on the status (category) assigned to the client, the following terms of delivery/payment for goods provided by the organization are automatically set for him:

№	Client status	Initial conditions of cooperation
1.	Reliable payers
2.	With uncertain reliability	Shipment limit: __; discount: __; deferred payment duration: __.
3.	Clients threatened by delay (non-payment)	Shipment limit: __; discount: __; deferred payment duration: __.
4.	Defaulting Clients	Shipment limit: __; discount: __; deferred payment duration: __.

4.4 Over time, depending on the statistics of payments and delays, the category of the client may change, both upwards and downwards, and with it the delivery conditions set for this client will also change.

4.5 The control of payment statistics and changes in the credit history of customers is carried out jointly by the Head of the Sales Department (ROD) and the Head of the Financial Control Service (RSFC).

4.6 Revision (confirmation or change) of the statuses (categories) of clients is carried out based on the results of 3 months of interaction, also by the Head of the Sales Department (RPD) and the Head of the Financial Control Service (RSFC).

5. Proactive action.

5.1 The main working documents for monitoring the dynamics of DZ / PDD are: 1C report on accounts receivable of counterparties, route sheet and payment history.

5.2 In relation to new clients (clients for which there are no statistics because they have not been worked with before), in order to adequately understand their solvency, Sales Representatives (TR) must, at a minimum, collect information about the personal data of the owner, manager and Decision maker, about which a mark is made in the client card.

5.3 Likewise, in without fail, the TP is required to enter the state of the outlet, the availability of goods, location, brand representation, price level and inventory (to determine the safe shipment limit) on the card.

5.4 To select the conditions and conclude the Agreement, the Trade Representative must have the following package of documents:

Certified copy of the Certificate of state registration legal entity.
A certified copy of the Certificate of registration of a legal entity. persons in the tax authority.
A certified copy of the Certificate of making an entry in the Unified State Register legal entities.
Extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities no later than 30 days.
A certified copy of the charter (information on the amount of the authorized capital, the location of the enterprise or private enterprise, the competence and terms of appointment of the director).
A certified copy of the protocol or decision on the appointment of the head of the enterprise.
Letter requesting a deferred contract.
Company details and personal Contact Information about the first persons of the enterprise (Director, Chief Accountant, commodity specialist, procurement specialist), indicating work, home and personal mobile phones.

In the absence of at least one of the above items, the decision to conclude the Agreement is made personally by the General Director.

5.5 In relation to clients who have previously allowed delays in repayment of DZ, employees of the Sales Department (SD) apply an advance warning of the due date of payment, however, depending on the category assigned to the client (see P 4 of these Regulations), the intensity of the reminder should be different.

Category (customer status)	Reminder intensity
Reliable clients	A reminder can be excluded altogether or a single reminder 1-2 days before the due date is sufficient.
Uncertain clients	2 times reminder 4 and 2 days before due date.
Threatened clients	At least 3 reminders 7, 4, 1 days before the due date.
Defaulters	Deferred payment is not available

5.6 Warning calls are made by TP on a scheduled basis, every Friday, in relation to customers who have next week the due date for payment is due in accordance with the Agreement.

6. Control of the dynamics of remote sensing and PDZ

6.1 Performed by a sales representative.

6.1.1 Communication with the client during the visit prior to the date of the payment: During the visit prior to the payment, the TP, after fulfilling the main objectives of the visit, reminds the decision maker (hereinafter referred to as the decision maker) of the Client about the date of the upcoming payment, indicating the date, number, amount of the paid invoice, form of payment. Then, it is checked on the basis of clause 5.1 with the data of the Client.

6.1.2. The TP analyzes the Client's behavior in relation to the debt.

Options:

The behavior of the Client, the state of the outlet does not raise doubts about timely payment.

Specifies the time and date of the contact (based on the itinerary). Thanks the Client for the constructive approach, says goodbye.

The behavior of the Client, the state of the outlet raises doubts about timely payment.

Specifies the time and date of the contact (based on the route sheet). Thanks the Client for understanding that timely payment important element working relationship, saying goodbye to the Client.

In the route sheet, he makes a note about the need to remind the Client about the payment in advance. If necessary, requests the assistance of the supervisor (hereinafter referred to as the CB) in achieving the goal.

The behavior of the Client, the state of the outlet indicates a high risk of loss Money(hereinafter DS).

Immediately inform the immediate supervisor of the situation. Agrees further actions with the immediate supervisor, following his instructions.

6.1.3 Communication on the day of payment:

After greeting and establishing a positive contact with the decision maker, he indicates, as one of the goals of interaction, payment according to the current invoice (indicating the date, number, amount).
Variant situations:

a.	The customer pays for delivery	Fixes the reception - transfer of funds. Thanks the Client for the timely fulfillment of obligations (in a cashless settlement situation, specifies the date, number, amount payment order). Moves on to the next purpose of the visit.
b.	The client asks for an additional delay	1. Clarifies: date, number, amount of the invoice in question; the reason for the delay in payment; the period when the Client plans to solve the specified problem. 2. Analyzes the behavior of the Client in relation to the debt.
a1	Credit history is not in doubt (reliable payer), the behavior of the Client, the state of the outlet does not raise doubts about the performance in the implementation of agreements	Coordinates the time and date of the contact (no more than five days from the current moment, a period of more than 5 days is agreed with the immediate supervisor), the amount and number of the invoice. Expresses hope that the agreements will be fulfilled on time. Makes an appropriate note in the route sheet, proceeds to the next stage of the visit.
b1	The outlet is new or credit history, the behavior of the Client, the state of the outlet raises doubts about timely payment (a client with uncertain reliability and, a client threatened by delay).	Sets the time and date of the contact, the amount and number of the invoice (no more than three days from the current moment, a period of more than three days is agreed with the immediate supervisor). If the Client: asking for more long term, the sales representative agrees on partial payment of the invoice amount starting from the current day; refuses to pay, re-specifies the reason for the violation of the terms of the contract, if the Client does not change its position in relation to the debt, T.P. notifies the immediate supervisor and then acts on his instructions.
c1	The behavior of the Client, the state of the outlet indicates a high risk of losing the DS (regardless of the status of the client).	immediately (at point of sale) informs the immediate supervisor about the situation. Coordinates further actions with the immediate supervisor, then follows his instructions.

6.2 Performed by the supervisor.

(Working documents: 1C report on debts of counterparties, work plan for the week, checklist, route sheets, etc.)

Personally controls delays in payment for more than 5 days from the date of payment under the contract, in case of delay for more than 10 days, submits a memorandum to the NOP with a report on the work done and a request for further recovery from the non-payer.
At the end of the working week, he analyzes the situation with overdue receivables of subordinates, plans (with inclusion in the operational plan) measures to eliminate the delay in payment in the form of:

individual or group work with a sales representative in the office. Including sending a sales representative to a training group on the topic: “Negotiations with a debtor client”;
individual work with a sales representative in the territory;
telephone call or personal visit to the debtor Client;
coordinated interaction with the SFC employee.

6.3 Performed by the head of the sales department

(Working documents: 1C report on accounts receivable of counterparties, weekly plans for supervisors, work plans for the week, operational plan for the month.)

1. Personally controls and takes part in the process of collecting late payments, lasting more than 10 days from the date of payment under the contract.

2. Checks the weekly planning of the work of the supervisors of the sales department (hereinafter referred to as OP), for the presence in the plan of measures to reduce DZ and work with debtor Clients.

2.1. Controls in daily reports (checklist) the actions of TP and CB in a situation of late payment, including the presence of training goals.

3. Based on the results of monitoring the work of the department, the NOP makes a decision from the 10th to the 15th day on:

granting the SV an additional period for the collection of PDZ;
unconditional collection of funds. In this case, a memorandum is drawn up to the immediate supervisor with a report on the measures taken to return the PDZ.

4. Plans and reflects in the operational plan measures to reduce the percentage of overdue payments in the OP.

5. Determines, on the basis of the analysis of work for the period, the planned percentage of delay in payment for a month and agrees it with the Director.

6.4 LLC Director

(Working documents: 1C report on accounts receivable of counterparties, route sheets for supervisors, operational plan for the month of the head of the sales department (NOP), personal operational plan.)

1. Personally controls the process of returning overdue payments for more than 15 hot days from the date of payment under the contract.

1.1 Within 10 calendar days from the date of the deadlines for clause 1. decides on:

providing the NOP with an additional period to collect the PD;
inclusion of a task for a specific PP situation in the plan of the SFK employee;
debt restructuring (partial return of goods, compensation with other goods, additional deferment with payment of penalties);
change in the client's reliability status and subsequent change in commercial conditions in the 1C program;
unconditional collection of funds;
transferring the PD to the base of the irretrievable PD.

2. Controls the presence in the operational plan of the NOP of measures to reduce accounts receivable (AR) and work with the debtor Client.

3. Approves the allowable planned percentage of delay in payment for the next month of the OP.

6.5 Legal Department

Based on the request of the OP, SFC or instructions of the director of the LLC:
draws up claims to contractors-debtors;
organizes work on the collection of PDZ in accordance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation and the requirements of the company's internal standards;
keeps records of work with PDZ in the network schedule.

7. Price of delay and terms of debt restructuring

7.1 By decision of the management of the LLC, before the official filing of the claim with the court, a delay of no more than 3 calendar weeks (or 15 banking days) from the date of the delay. In other words, after 4 calendar weeks or 20 banking days, the delay must be repaid, a debt restructuring program adopted, or the client must be transferred to the South Ossetia and the SFC to ensure the claim procedure for collecting PDZ.

7.2 This period of time is a resource for the work of sales representatives, supervisors and the head of the sales department to pre-trial resolve the issue in the interests of both parties and agree on the restructuring of overdue debts.

7.3 The delay in repayment of the DZ is actually a commodity lending to the non-paying client, therefore, if the repayment terms of the DZ are changed by the client, the change in the terms of payment of the amount of delay will also be fair.

7.4 If the client agrees to restructure the overdue debt, an additional agreement is concluded with the client to the current Agreement, according to which the following table applies:

Delay time (months-weeks)	1st month	2nd month
Delay time (months-weeks)	Week 1	2 weeks	3 week	4 week	Week 1	2 weeks	3 week	4 week
Overdue price (in % of the amount)	1.5	3	4.5	6	2	4	6	8

7.5 At the same time, the competence of the sales representative leading this client includes the possibility to exclude payment for delay during the 1st week of delay (if the full repayment of the PD takes place within this week).

7.6 The possibility to exclude the payment of the delay for the second week (at the verbal request of the lead client of the sales representative and subject to the full repayment of the PD for this period) is within the competence of the Head of the Sales Department.

7.7 Other decisions on granting benefits and exceptions are within the competence of the Director of the LLC.

7.8 In case of partial repayment by the client of the delay, indicated in the table (clause 7.4 of these Regulations), the rate will be charged from the outstanding balance of the PDZ.

8. Measures of influence in case of delay in payment

In case of no receipt planned payment on the appointed day, as well as the absence of a warning from the debtor, the following actions are taken:

№	Action	Purpose of action	Executor
1.	Contact the debtor, notify about the lack of payment and the occurrence of a delay under the Agreement, find out the reason for the lack of payment and the actual term for repaying the debt.	Notify the client about the violation of payment discipline. Clarify the circumstances of the delay and assess the behavior of the client.	Sales Representative
2.	Based on the PDZ repayment terms indicated by the client: notify the client about the proposed restructuring conditions and demand from him a letter of guarantee indicating the PDZ repayment period and the obligation to reimburse payment for the delay. Agree on the date of the meeting and exchange of documents.	Coordination with the client of the conditions for restructuring the PDZ, changing the initially provided delivery conditions, launching the restructuring process.	Sales Representative
3.	Make an act of reconciliation, amendments/additions to the supply agreement (with the terms of restructuring). Meet with the client and arrange the terms of the restructuring.	Receipt of a written request from the client to defer payment, indicating a new payment date and guarantees of reimbursement not only of the principal cost, but also of payment for the delay.	Sales Representative, Supervisor
4.	If the client avoids contact, hides, refuses to give explanations or designate reasonable repayment terms for the PDZ, as well as refuses to discuss the conditions for restructuring the PDZ, the following is delivered to this client (personally against signature or by a valuable letter with notification): Certificate of reconciliation and a copy of the contract; A letter demanding the repayment of PDZ within 3 calendar days; A copy of the completed claim to the court. If full or partial payment is not received on the appointed day, and the client still does not go to the dialogue, then the claim gets a move, and the day the letter of demand is delivered to the client becomes the start of the 30-day period established by the current legislation for pre-trial settlement of the issue.	Providing a dosed pressure on the client in order to force him to a dialogue on the restructuring of the PDZ or its repayment.	Sales Representative, Supervisor, NOP, SB, Lawyer
5.	If the client repays part of the PD, but still does not enter into a dialogue, repeat step 3 or steps 3, 4, taking into account the remaining outstanding amount of the PD.	Providing repeated dosed pressure on the client in order to force him to a dialogue on the restructuring of the PDZ or its repayment.	Sales Representative.
6.	If the client makes contact, participates in the dialogue, accepts the terms of the restructuring, however, does not comply with them with a warning and asks for a delay again, such a delay can be granted to him: by the decision of the head of the sales department, if the repeated deferral is within a 2-month period from the date of the original payment due date. by decision of the Director, if the repeated postponement involves going beyond the two months indicated in section 8 of these regulations.	Encouragement of a conscientious client approach to the terms of the contract, an interactive mode of solving problems and a willingness to accept the terms of restructuring.	Head of Sales Department, LLC director
7.	Resolution of the situation in the pre-trial (settlement agreement) and judicial procedure.	Enforcement of PDZ and related penalties.	Lawyer, SFC, LLC director.

Reference list

Entrepreneurship is risky. Today the company makes a profit, and tomorrow it suffers losses. Debtors of the company are other organizations and individuals.

Causes of accounts receivable:

the client does not pay for the services;
the company overpays taxes and penalties;
the organization makes loans.

What accounts receivable are considered overdue?

If the company's customers do not pay for products or services on time, an overdue debt is formed. Normal debt occurs when the customer received the goods, but did not have time to pay. Overdue debt is divided into bad and doubtful. The tax code clarifies the question of what is the difference between types of debt.

Doubtful debts. Article 266, paragraph 1 tax code established that if counterparties do not pay for services or products on time, the debt becomes doubtful.
Bad debts.

Do not expect to be paid if the deadline has expired limitation period or the obligation cannot be fulfilled (paragraph 2 of Article 266 of the Tax Code).

Three reasons that lead to the fact that payment cannot be received:

the company that owes money is liquidated or is at the stage of bankruptcy;
the time limit for filing a claim has expired;
the debtor cannot withdraw money from the "problem" bank.

Return Methods

In practice, debtors are in no hurry to fulfill the terms of the contract. When accounts receivable considered overdue, we do not advise you to sit idly by. Discuss with the counterparty ways to repay the debt, and then write off the overdue receivables.

3 ways to repay a debt:

Agree on an installment plan. Prescribe in the supplementary agreement to the contract the payment schedule and the amount of the amounts.
Exchange products or services.
Allow payment by securities.

Ways to avoid getting into debt:

Show attention to detail.

Ask the client to provide and examine in detail copies of the TIN, certificate confirming registration, and articles of association.

Check information.

Go to the website of the Federal Tax Service: egrul.nalog.ru. Check the information on the statement. Do not discount that your potential partners may submit fake documents.

Check permissions.

Pay attention to the term of the power of attorney. If the deadline has expired, your partner does not have the authority to sign the agreement.

Find out your financial situation.

Clarify the financial situation of the partner on the website of the Federal Tax Service. Find out if the organization is at the stage of liquidation at the link: www.vestnik-gosreg.ru/publ/vgr/.

Check if participants have entrepreneurial activity claims against your partner.

Card file of the Higher arbitration court help keep you up to date. Enter the information about the organization on the website: kad.arbitr.ru and get information.

Analyze information about the counterparty's finances.

Examine the financial statements of the counterparty for the previous year. Order of the Ministry of Finance No. 34n dated July 29, 1998 established that financial statements is open. Therefore, do not rush to sign the agreement. First, ask the counterparty to show the financial statements.

Problems with debt forgiveness

Companies face problems if there are no grounds for writing off debts, then it is necessary to use a debt collection procedure.

4 main problems in dealing with debt:

the contract is not signed or missing;
the act of inventory has not been drawn up;
invoices not completed;
incorrectly completed primary accounting documents.

An experienced lawyer will help you solve problems. Entrust the work with receivables to professionals. Go to the 33 Yurista.ru website to ask a lawyer a question online. Experts advise and explain the intricacies of the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Competently draw up a contract, send a claim, prepare the grounds for writing off the debt. Justify and defend the position of the client in court. use legal ways convince the court of the correctness of the client's position.

Technology of effective conflict-free collection of receivables

Undisciplined customers owe your business varying amounts of money. Some amounts are so large that they cause serious damage to your business, and many "small" debts, the non-payment of which is puzzling, also add up to a large amount. In order to claim them and not spoil relations with debtors, appropriate technology is needed.

The further presentation is based on the fact that you have a good product, and you have properly fulfilled your obligations to the debtor under the contract and current legislation.

Why do overdue accounts receivable occur?

The debtor has bogus reasons for not paying you.
He has no money to pay the debt.
The debtor chooses other spending priorities.
The debtor is undisciplined or dishonorable.
Employees of your company did not take the required actions to collect debts in a timely manner.

In all these cases, your main instrument should be an agreement with the debtor. Unfortunately, usually agreements between enterprises are formal pieces of paper that do not protect either party from the arbitrariness of the other.

An agreement that reduces the risk of receivables

In order for the contract to be a guarantee of conflict-free cooperation between the parties, it must contain detailed algorithms for the actions of counterparties in various situations.

Before concluding the contract, the parties assure each other of their reliability and commitment. And no matter how thorough the negotiations are, it is still impossible to foresee all the nuances. Part of the ideas of the negotiators and their understanding of certain details remains different. At the same time, all ideas that are important for each of the negotiators are perceived by them as an obligation given by the other side.

If some of the details are not carefully reflected in the contract, then different understandings involve the risk of potential conflict. Often, the agreement includes a never-objectionable clause that reads: "The parties acknowledge the entirety of this agreement and its replacement of all previous agreements between them in writing or orally." This correct phrase cancels the right of the parties to say about something not included in the contract: "But you promised." This point is equivalent to the fact that there were no negotiations before the signing of the treaty. Therefore, do not hope that, as it seems to you, the debtor promised something else. If it was, then it doesn't matter. The debtor only cares about his own interests, which is natural. You also have to take care of yours. By the way, your verbal promises are also cancelled. You never know what your sellers blurted out in the heat of the moment.

Why the debtor does not pay and how to deal with it

He has no money;
He has other priorities;
He does not consider himself a debtor:
It is beneficial to him; He is confident in his impunity.

So that he could not avoid paying, the contract must be provided with conditions when it is more profitable to pay. That is, it is necessary to provide for sanctions for breach of obligations that would force the debtor to change his payment priorities, or take a loan, or sell an asset dear to his heart, but pay you off.

During the negotiation of a contract, the issue of applying sanctions should be considered as a test of the obligation of the counterparty. Objections to the inclusion in the contract of provisions for serious sanctions for late payments should be taken as a wake-up call. These objections can be overcome by pointing to assurances of integrity made by the counterparty, and by including "mirror" sanctions for non-fulfillment of obligations by your enterprise.

The non-conflict application of sanctions is ensured by the inclusion in the contract of an easily accepted clause with the following content: “The parties are aware of the issuance of an invoice for the payment of penalties as the proper fulfillment by the penalizing party of its obligations under the contract.”

By the way, do not forget to include clauses in the contracts that provide for restrictions, suspension or termination of the fulfillment of your company's obligations to the debtor in the event of an overdue debt.

Algorithm for the fulfillment of obligations, information content of the contract

There is nothing in the world that is obvious to everyone. What is obvious to you is not so to the client and vice versa. Therefore, the more detailed the actions of the parties, their sequence, the terms of execution, the conditions for the commission, the procedure for documenting are reflected in the contract, the more accurately the obligations of the parties will be fulfilled and their interests observed.

Do not save on the paper on which the contract will be printed, it will pay off instantly. Representatives of the counterparty are able to read and understand the text in the size and dozens of pages. Describing the algorithm for fulfilling obligations, the parties will more often “on trifles” quickly come to an agreement, which has a beneficial effect on establishing mutual understanding and trusting relationships. Most likely, this approach will allow you to reduce the time for negotiating the contract as a whole.

During the execution of the contract or the application of its results, clients often encounter certain difficulties that they cannot guess in advance. For example, when implementing a technology, the details of which are described below, there may be resistance from your employees. The reasons for this may be: fear of changes in the order of performance of duties, the need to reconsider their views on relationships with client representatives, personal material losses due to the exclusion of opportunities to receive unreasonable income, and others.

The occurrence of unforeseen difficulties by the client will cause dissatisfaction with your product and you with any possible consequences. To avoid negative consequences for you, the client must be warned of all potential difficulties that are not obvious to him, which may arise even if the parties strictly fulfill their obligations under the contract. To do this, include informational clauses in the contract, which will reflect that the client is warned and understands the nature of potential difficulties. These points do not require agreement, do not oblige the parties to perform any actions, but they guarantee you that the client will not have the opinion that you have deceived him. Understanding the possibility of difficulties for the client provides him with a more thorough approach to the operation of your product. And this is beneficial for you, because the client can avoid these difficulties.

Contract Templates

I recommend that you develop a set of contract templates for the various types of relationships that arise most frequently with your clients. This will not only save time on drawing up and agreeing on a specific contract, but will also allow you not to forget to reflect the provisions that are fundamentally important for you.

A template is not a dogma. Never tell the client that the contract can only be concluded in the form in which you have developed it. Otherwise, you will lose most of the best potential customers. The only exception to this may be an accession agreement, which consists of two parts: the agreement itself and the rules for using its goods that are not subject to change by the client. But even in this case, the client may be granted the right to include in the contract provisions that are important to him and acceptable to you.

There may be clauses in contract templates on the inviolability of which you not only can, but must insist. These are points, the exclusion of which will almost inevitably lead to conflict with the client. For example, ready-made software products are sold on an "as is" basis. That is, no matter how obvious for the client the mandatory presence of a particular function in the product is, if the developer has not implemented it, then no complaints about this from buyers are accepted.

If a potential client insists on the exclusion of such a clause from the contract, then it is more profitable to refuse the client than to conflict with him later when he refuses to pay, using far-fetched pretexts.

Why Your Employees Dodge Collecting Accounts Receivable

Almost always, evading the collection of receivables is associated with psychological barriers that workers build in front of themselves. The reasons are usually:

Upbringing. Money is one of two topics that people usually feel uncomfortable discussing even with their closest ones. Religious commandments, philosophical and fiction literature, proverbs, sayings, anecdotes have been devoted to presenting money in a negative light for thousands of years. Therefore, it is often difficult to even demand that the money they have earned legally be given back to people. They are embarrassed that they have to demand money from those who lack it.
Fears. Employees are afraid of being rejected, doing something wrong that will lead to the loss of a client, innocently experiencing the negative reaction of colleagues to real or fictional actions, and others.
Negative attitude towards the product of their enterprise. Pay attention to how your employees perceive incidents related to the use of your products and the provision of services. They vigorously discuss them, remember for a long time, tell new colleagues. They are silent about regular situations, believing that this is how it should be. Benefits and customer satisfaction, if remembered, are considered as advertising and PR. Therefore, repeatedly inflated, even if few, incidents create a stable bad opinion about the goods and services of their enterprise. And if so, then workers consider it indecent to demand money from debtors for them.
Personal mercantile interest. It manifests itself in two ways. One of the manifestations is an agreement between an employee (usually a seller) interested in a percentage of the amount of “sales” and a debtor, which is expressed in an increase in receivables due to an increase in shipments with a deferred payment in case of incomplete payment of previous deliveries. The second manifestation is the receipt by the employee, who is obliged to recover the debt, of a personal "reward" from the debtor for improper performance of functions on the demand for payment of the debt.

Development of debt collection technology

Management technologies, like production ones, include strict sequences of actions performed by employees. Building a chain of steps should begin with the formulation of the last step. In this case it is - accounting entry, closing the receivables of the client. Having formulated this step in the past tense “Accounting entry is made”, it is also necessary to consistently formulate all the previous steps in the past tense, including the step “The occurrence of overdue receivables has been recorded”.

Phrasing steps in the past tense is a technique that allows the technology designer to think things through to ensure that each step is feasible.

In order for the occurrence of overdue debts to be fixed automatically, it is necessary to continue the formulation of the steps until the moment “A contract is concluded with the client”. Among them, it is necessary to reflect the movement of documents and the transfer of information on the fulfillment of contractual obligations.

The collection process for overdue receivables will be activated immediately when your employees become aware of their occurrence. To do this, it is necessary to provide for informing the relevant employees about the fulfillment of obligations under contracts between your company and customers. That is, your employees must inform each other in writing about the conclusion of each contract with customers, the timing of shipments and payments for goods (services), the facts of receipt of payments, and other features of the contracts. For this, it is convenient to use software products of the CRM-system class. This will simplify and automate the creation, storage and transfer of the necessary information.

With each transition to the previous step of technology, its developer automatically determines which of the workers he has should perform this step. Transition points between individual employees and departments of the enterprise are identified. Procedures for the transfer of information and documents become apparent, as well as requirements for controlling what the recipient receives. From this follow the criteria for acceptance or refusal in it. Thus, at each step, each performer is obliged to carefully fulfill his duties.

Regulatory support of technology

In addition to the current legislation, the normative support of technology includes a number of documents. Including:

contracts with clients;
Acceptance-delivery primary accounting documents (acts, waybills);
Orders for the enterprise on putting the technology into operation and the responsibility of employees for its implementation;
Templates for letters and claims sent to debtors and orders for the enterprise to suspend or limit the fulfillment of obligations to debtors;
Technological instructions for workers, including prohibitions on the commission of certain actions.

Templates for information and reporting documents.

These documents are necessary not only to formalize relationships with clients, but also to formalize the performance of duties by your employees. Availability of these documents:

Eliminates the fears of employees who are afraid to be punished for possible mistakes.
Prevents them from doing things that harm your business. (Usually, many prohibitions are self-evident. But since they are not reflected in the current legislation and in the internal documents of enterprises, they are allowed. That is, employees can justify themselves by not knowing that a harmful action is prohibited).
Prescribes what, how and when to do. (Employees will not be able to tell you: “But I thought it was better in a different way.”)
Ensures the obligation of employees to report in writing on their duties. Fake reports are not possible, as concrete results of actions must be presented.

Very important document

It is tutorial"How to sell product "X"". This is not only the most important tool for sellers, but also a psychological support for employees whose duties include the collection of receivables.

The fact is that usually employees of enterprises know very little about their goods and services. Test your employees to see if they can at least clearly, let alone convincingly answer questions related to your products:

What are the advantages of your products compared to competitors?
How do they work (are operated)?
What tasks do your customers solve using them?
What benefits do customers get from using your products?
What guarantees and under what conditions does your company provide customers?
Why is the price of your products fair?

Knowing the answers to these questions, employees will not be dismissive of your goods. They will know that they are justly demanding to pay honestly earned money. After all, having sold you their time and messing around in the office, they, with a sense of violated justice, will begin to demand a salary if you do not pay them on time due to the fact that the debtors did not pay you off.

How to develop this document, you can read in my electronic collection of fifty articles "Secrets of Success", published in the magazine "Machine Park". I can send this collection free of charge upon your request. And the development of technology as a whole is described in more detail in my books “Frankly about Enterprise Management” and “Biorobotization of Workers”.

Principles and methods of implementing debt collection technology

Before implementing the technology, do not be too lazy to once again carefully check everything. Of course, the ideal is unattainable, and one cannot do without changes in the operation of the enterprise, but the technology must initially be developed so that it can not be changed for years.

Compliance with this principle will provide you with minimal resistance of workers to the introduction of technology. They shouldn't have a valid reason to criticize it. Even if some roughness is revealed, then try not to make changes to the technology. After all, if workers feel that something can be changed, they will increase the pressure to abolish the technology as a whole. Well, they do not want changes in their work and in their minds, which are vital for you.

Employees must familiarize themselves with your order on the introduction of technology under the signature. The signature under the document obliges. It also deprives the worker of the opportunity to say: “But I didn’t know.”

In order to perform the technology properly, workers must be well aware of the content of their technology instructions. The volume of each instruction can be several tens of pages. They will sabotage the introduction of the technology, justifying themselves with an imaginary lack of time for studying. To prevent this, it is necessary to organize the acceptance of an exam for knowledge of the instructions for each employee. Two - three days to prepare for the exam is enough, because you do not need to know the instructions by heart. She is a working tool that should be “at hand” in case you need to clarify the correctness of the performance of duties.

Conducting an exam will deprive employees of the opportunity not to know what and how they are required to perform. At the same time, you will check the attitude of those involved in the technology on their attitude to your orders and, in general, to the performance of their duties.

In the first weeks of the technology implementation, you need to check the reports of employees on the performance of debt collection duties on a daily basis. They are obliged to see and feel your determination, that this is serious and forever.

Within three to four weeks from the date of passing the exam, and maybe faster, your employees will be drawn into the implementation of the technology requirements. Their murmuring will noticeably weaken. You can indulge yourself personally in the regularity of daily reporting checks. But workers must always know that control has not been weakened and will never be stopped.

Your employees should know and feel that you are not printing or stealing money, that their salary is paid from the funds that your company receives from customers. Having developed and implemented the technology of collecting receivables, you will create the basis for the systematic development of your business.

One of the most pressing problems in any company is the problem of repayment of debts. Maxim Golubev, owner of the Brain Energy group of companies, business coach, told at his training how to work with receivables correctly, and is it possible to collect debts without a fight? CEO National Training Agency (NTA). More about this in the report of the journalist Training.com.ua.

“Do you think if a company delivers goods or services on a prepaid basis, does it have to work with receivables?” Maxim Golubev asks the audience a question.

And he immediately answers: “When a company works on a prepaid basis, and for some reason the buyer did not pay (respectively, the company did not provide the service), it still loses its money budgeted. So she also has to deal with debt.”

Money in the morning, chairs in the evening

Where possible, the speaker advises working with clients on a prepaid basis, as it is easier than collecting debts later, as is often the case with loans. In order for prepaid sales to be successful and the company not to lose its income, you need to follow a few simple and obvious rules:

An issued invoice is a transaction that has not yet been completed. The transaction is completed only when the money is in the account.
The more time passes since the invoice was issued, the less likely it is that the invoice will be paid.
As soon as you have agreed with the client to issue an invoice, you must immediately agree on the date of payment.
Call the client back the day before the agreed date, remind him that tomorrow is the day of payment.
If the money has not been credited to the account on the specified date, contact the client, specify the reason for the non-payment of the invoice, and agree on a new payment date.

In addition to the classic sales techniques used by the company, you can also include customer misinformation techniques. This is done in order to “push” him where he is slow, to convince him that he really wants to buy the product or service you offer.

Methods of misinformation of the client can be the following:

Limited stock or Excessive demand,
Link to a satisfied competitor,
The prospect of not buying.

Maxim Golubev warns that not a single sane client would want to buy anything from a sales manager, and even on an advance payment, if this manager is blackmailing or intimidating.

Deferral of payment in many markets has become the norm, so the refusal of commodity lending is often a slowdown in the development of the company
Therefore, using the techniques outlined above, you need to try your best to become a "friend" to the client, to show that you are on his side, that you protect his interests and sincerely want to help him.

In the evening, money - in the morning ...

If, nevertheless, you have to work with commodity lending - and this is the practice of almost every company, then you will inevitably encounter receivables, and there is nothing to worry about. According to Maxim Golubev, “deferred payment in many markets has become the norm, so the refusal of commodity lending is often a slowdown in the development of the company.”

When working with commodity lending, you need to clearly understand that some part of the money will not be returned. Why? There are two groups of reasons for non-repayment of a debt. It:

Natural causes
artificial reasons.

"Natural Causes" of non-payment of debts is usually 2% - 3% per year, which happen due to "natural causes" such as accidents, death, bankruptcy or other "force majeure circumstances".

As for the "artificial causes" of receivables, according to Maxim Golubev, this is a test of your business for strength by fraudsters who usually add another 3% - 4% of receivables in a short time. “If you do not deal with the prevention of “Artificial Causes”, then you will be attacked by scammers, which can lead to the bankruptcy of your business,” says the coach.

Maxim Golubev, business coach, CEO of NTA (National Training Agency)

The Golden Rule of Accounts Receivable

If you decide to work with commodity lending, then you need to clearly understand the basic rule for working with receivables: receivables must be managed! And in order to effectively manage accounts receivable, it must be effectively accounted for.
There are several types of receivables: current, overdue, problem and bad (or unprofitable) receivables.

An obligatory component of work with receivables should be a preparatory stage. At this stage, all the events that prevent the appearance of debt occur.

During this period, the following activities are carried out:

Acquaintance.
Negotiation.
Verification activities.
The amount of future debt is determined.
Debt repayment terms are determined.
Penalties for violation of agreements are determined.

“A prerequisite for the preparatory stage is the legally competent contracting of the agreements reached,” says Maxim Golubev.

Types of accounts receivable

1. Current accounts receivable

Current accounts receivable are debts that are in the contractual terms. As a rule, such debt is determined by two criteria:

the number of days of deferred payment;
maximum debt.

Even if the client meets the payment deadlines according to the contract, the sales manager must work with the current receivables - monitor the schedules of receipt of money daily, and remind the client that the due date for the invoice is coming soon. As a rule, such reminders to the client must be done three and one day before the planned payment date.

At the preparatory stage, all events are performed that prevent the appearance of debt

After the money is credited to the company's account, the manager must thank the client for the payment made. Maxim Golubev believes: "The client should always know that receivables are closely monitored and remembered!".

2. Overdue accounts receivable

This is the debt, the payment term of which, according to the contract, has already come, but the delay period does not exceed the critical period. The critical period is the period that is established by the internal regulations of the company. As a rule, it is set differently for different categories of counterparties.
When overdue receivables appear, it is very important to “keep” the client in a state of payment of current payments. In this case, it is necessary to agree with the client that he continues to pay off receivables in accordance with contractual obligations, and the overdue debt is restructured for him. That is, a schedule for the repayment of overdue payments is drawn up. “When such agreements are reached, shipments to the client can be continued,” Maxim Golubev believes.

When dealing with overdue receivables, it is very important to let the client know that no one will let him turn it into a system.

3. Problematic receivables

Problem receivables - this is the debt, the delay of which exceeded the critical time. When such a debt appears, Maxim Golubev recommends blocking all shipments of goods to such a counterparty, and warns: "The older the bad debt, the more difficult it is to collect it."

The client should always know that receivables are closely monitored and remembered!

When problematic receivables appear, financial responsibility is shared between the sales manager and the head of the sales department. When working with problem receivables, four stages of negotiations are defined:

Negotiations at the level of the sales manager,
Negotiations at the level of the head of the sales department,
Negotiations at the level of the first persons of the company,
Judicial decision.

For each stage of negotiations, a time schedule for transferring negotiations to a new stage is necessarily established.

4. Uncollectible receivables

According to the speaker, this is a debt with an age of more than 1095 days. As a rule, it is already impossible to recover such debt or it is very expensive. The company has the right to write off uncollectible receivables with an age of more than 1095 days at the expense of its own profit.

Maxim Golubev cites data that in developed countries with a high culture of payments, the bad debt rate is 0.2% of total amount debt. In good Russian and Ukrainian companies, this is 2% - 3% of the total debt. And the generally accepted critical value is 7% of the total debt.

Dance, not fight

One way or another, as soon as a company starts working with receivables, it has to negotiate for the return of this debt. Maxim Golubev is convinced that this must be done skillfully, using a whole range of tricks and tactics. “Negotiations to repay debts are almost doomed if the negotiator fights against who owes him,” says the coach. - The more struggle, and not communication, the greater the resistance of the debtor. The debtor must be made to "dance" to the music that you radiate. Dancing, not fighting, is the secret of difficult negotiations.”

According to the speaker, there are two strategies for negotiating with debtors:

The boxer's strategy - its basis is the "we against each other" tactic. This strategy can be used if you have such power against which the debtor will definitely not resist;

Aikido strategy - it is based on the tactic “We are not against each other, but we are together against a common problem. You and we want to maintain our good relationship in business, we and you want to continue our business together, but we have a common problem that we must solve together.”

The debtor must be made to "dance" to the music that you radiate. Dancing, Not Fighting, Is the Secret of Tough Negotiations

Maxim Golubev recommends using the aikido strategy for negotiating with debtors. The general essence of psychological aikido is not to resist someone else's aggression, but to extinguish it; from beginning to end to maintain restraint and goodwill; remember that the desire to understand does not mean acceptance - you want to understand it and nothing more!

In addition, it must be assumed that the partner has every right to his opinion and his assessment of the situation. It's just weeds in his head. And that's no reason to hate him. And you need to manage in such a way that the management itself is not visible.

Debt recovery methods

How to apply this strategy in practice? What techniques can be used to negotiate with debtors? Maxim Golubev shared several such tricks.

Broken plate. You can “hit” a client by squeezing out a debt without destroying the relationship.
False accents. You can ask the client for something that he obviously will not give, but that can break his resistance, after which he will be ready to give what you ask.
Common interests. You can identify common interests so that the client realizes your value to him.
Present. You can provide some favors in advance or make a small gift to make him obligated to you.
Agents of influence. You can use other people as agents of influence to help you influence the debtor.
future losses. You can describe some consequences (horror stories) in case of non-repayment of debts, without spoiling the relationship.

Debtor Manipulation Methods

Very often, in order for negotiations on the return of debts to end successfully, it is necessary to use methods of manipulating the debtor. Here is some of them:

I am an image. “Is it customary in your circle to repay debts? How would people in your circle react to a person who does not do this? Russian merchants were distinguished by honor. And it was the biggest reputational capital, helping to create money capital.”
interest in new things. “There is a theory of karma, according to which non-repayment of debts destroys the karma not only of the person himself, but also of his children and grandchildren. Think about whether some money is worth future illnesses or misfortunes for your offspring?
Paradise. "Repay the debt, and your reputation will remain impeccable."
Hell. “If you do not repay the debt on time, then we will try to make as many people as possible know about your unreliability.”
Context change. “If the money is not returned, then this is called racketeering.”
Armchair. “What would you do in my place if you weren’t paid back your debts?”
Socratic method. “Decent people repay debts? (Yes) Are you a decent person? (Yes) When do you want to pay off?
Framework. “The return deadline is the 15th. Further, the case is transferred to the authorities that are engaged in the return of debts.
reference groups. “Everywhere there are people who different reasons do not return debts on time. Among successful businessmen, there are fewer of them, and among those who are in prison, their proportion is high.”

Accounts receivable must be managed! And in order to effectively manage accounts receivable, it must be effectively accounted for.
Ways to protect against manipulation

Just like you, the debtor can and will use manipulation techniques during negotiations. Only his goal will be - not to pay debts. The speaker gives advice: “With a clear impact, when you feel that you are being pulled like a fly into a web, switch to extraneous trifles: consider his tie, manner of speaking, and so on, imagine him with a frying pan on his head or sitting on the toilet. After that, you are too tough for him! Here are some more methods of protection against manipulation: Mandate method. If the manipulator refuses his request, pick up the mandate. To fight back, it is best to take a mandate from someone or something that is not questioned. The boss doesn't allow it. This is not within my authority. This is prohibited by law or our rules, etc. Do not try to explain by any circumstances. The manipulator will put all his carcass on you.

"Rubber ball" (Question-hedgehog). Don't take the word of threats. When people threaten to leave or "this is our last word," make sure they mean it.

"I will get hurt." Explain to the manipulator that if you comply with his requirements, you will suffer greatly (you will be fired from your job, you will be deprived of something, your rating or authority will decrease, etc.) Sometimes this passes.

"Let me finish." Don't be afraid to interrupt the manipulator. It is not necessary to answer any kick in the same way. If you act honorably and don't respond, then people will have an unconscious sense of guilt. And this creates a condition for concessions on their part.

Bifurcation. If you need to change the course of negotiations, use bifurcation techniques - do something unexpected, for example, change the tone of voice or the pace of speech. This knocks down and weakens the resistance.

12 rules for working with receivables

“Everyone knows how to run, but to run like an Olympic champion, you need not only to train a lot, but also to change the very paradigm of running,” says Maxim Golubev. So it is in negotiations. To learn the Olympic style of negotiating, you need to change the internal attitudes and paradigms. Summing up, the trainer once again recalls the basic rules for working with receivables:

The money the client owes is my money.
As a rule, the client always thinks “If you can not pay, you should not pay!”
First of all, they do not pay the one who does not ask.
Friends are almost always paid, so I am friends with my client.
If I work with deferred payment, I manage accounts receivable
I am distrustful of each client, so I prepare in advance for the court. A good deal is my salvation.
I start working with receivables already when the current DZ appears.
My client knows that I always remember about DZ.
The client's penalty for delay is not his punishment, but the reimbursement of my losses.
I am engaged in two businesses - commodity and financial.
I participate in the financial responsibility for a hopeless DZ.
I know that there will always be DZ, but I am responsible for its quality.