Creating Aging Reports Manually? It’s Time for Automation

Every accounting program can create an accounts receivable (AR) aging report — unless you’re keeping your books like Bob Cratchit in a dusty Dickensian ledger. Depending on your app or software, you can change the parameters of the report, the aging buckets, and how granular the details are. It’s easy to get bogged down in creating the perfect report, but what matters more is how you use it.

In an ideal world, every single one of your customers would pay you on time—if not ahead of schedule.

Serial entrepreneur Anthony Venus, co-founder and CEO of YayPay, knows a thing or two about running small businesses.

Running a successful and balanced accounts receivable department can be a tall order. In fact, many companies feel helpless when it comes to collecting payments on time. This is due to the fact that more than one out of every three invoices an average business sends out are paid late.

The cash flow forecast is a critical report for a business of any size or niche. Because it shows how much money you’ll receive and disburse in a given period, the cash forecast serves as a touchstone for decisions about acquisitions, payroll, investing, marketing, and more. If this vital report is inaccurate, the fallout can be potentially dire for your business.

You want to be paid for your invoices quickly and predictably. You send out invoices and hope for the best. When the money doesn’t come in, the arduous and often aggravating process of accounts receivable collections begins.

Tracking performance of an Accounts Receivable team is done, in part, by assessing key performance indicators (KPIs). Since cash flow is necessary for operations, collecting what’s owed to your organization is a vital activity.

AR managers have a myriad of responsibilities. The company’s cash flow, financial forecasts, budgets, and debt collection efforts are all on your team’s task list. While much of your tracking and reporting focus is on other departments, it’s also critical to measure your internal team performance. AR analytics can be a  tool used to assess your team’s effectiveness and inform personnel decisions.