Brendon Page is an Attaché software veteran, clocking more than 24 years of experience with the suite. His business consultancy firm, Page Business Solutions (PBS), is an Attaché Gold Partner. The accreditation has seen Brendon and his team provide Attaché software training, installation and support to a variety of mid sized Australian businesses for the past 16 years. When ezyCollect announced that its accounts receivable platform now integrates with Attaché accounting software, Brendon was keen to be among the first to test drive the automation functionality for his clients.
A growing business needs efficiency
Brendon’s client base is diverse. The payroll and accounting features of Attaché make it a popular choice for companies that have outgrown their small business software. In particular, Attaché’s inventory management functionality provides a robust solution for wholesalers.
That’s why ezyCollect’s accounts receivable capabilities peaked Brendon’s interest. His wholesaler clients typically sell on credit, manage a large number of debtors and end up with hundreds of overdue invoices each month. While getting his clients paid faster is important, it’s almost a bonus compared to the efficiency improvements he helps them achieve.
“Inefficient processes trap turnover. When systems and processes improve, then revenue can improve.”
Brendon Page
To test drive the platform, Brendon integrated ezyCollect with his firm’s Attaché accounting software and saw improvements within the first month.
Debtor management done in half the time
Brendon and his Client Services Manager, Pip Hawkins, understand the challenges of debtor management firsthand. Each week, Pip and the accounts team spent up to two hours identifying overdue accounts, calling customers, emailing payment reminders and preparing monthly statements.
“Our process was to go into Attaché, print off a debtor list, then go through the list with a ruler and a highlighter,” explains Pip.
Pip then manually prepared email reminders for overdue debtors.
“From Attaché, I would search each debtor, download the correct invoice, then attach it to an email that I would type for each customer.
“Then I’d update a spreadsheet of who I’d contacted and who I needed to contact.”
The process was laborious, messy, and left her with less time to make follow-up phone calls.
Since implementing ezyCollect, Pip’s debtor management duties are done in less than half the time.
The day-to-day AR process is more streamlined with ezyCollect:
- Pip logs into ezyCollect, and sees her daily call tasks and overdue customers prioritised for her.
- She completes tasks, then logs any notes in each debtor’s card.
- Pip no longer prepares reminders one-by-one. ezyCollect populates her saved reminder templates with all the invoice and due date information it draws from Attaché. ezyCollect attaches invoice copies and automatically sends the reminders on schedule.
- Pip reviews the communication history per debtor. ezyCollect automatically logs a record of all automated reminders alongside any manual notes made by the team.
- Pip is making fewer collection calls now as the earlier reminders politely prompt customers to pay.
With ezyCollect working in the background over the Christmas period, Pip returned to work in January and had time to reach out to customers: “I just rang to let them know we were back in the office and to wish them a Happy New Year. They really appreciated it.”
Benefits for Attaché businesses |
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Visibility: The team has high visibility of all debtor activity. Team members can log in and review up-to-date information on every debtor’s status at any time. One source: Eliminate the mess of spreadsheets and multiple systems. Login to ezyCollect, see all the debtor data analysed for you, and take any action from within the system. Time: Save hours by automating an unlimited number of payment reminders that are delivered according to your schedule. |
A feature-rich solution
“Unlike other systems that have basic reminders, ezyCollect’s features give businesses more options to communicate effectively with their debtors,” says Brendon.
Brendon’s top features:
- Multiple reminders: Set it up so debtors receive a series of automated reminders until they pay. Send a sequence of reminders by email, sms, post. Include a phone call in your workflow and it gets added to your daily task list when it’s due.
- Multiple contacts: Add in multiple debtor contacts to receive your reminders. “The contact in your CRM who placed the order may not be the person who needs to receive your reminder,” advises Brendon.
- Due date is king: The system communicates about the due date of the oldest overdue invoice. That simplifies the messaging and chases all overdue amounts relating to the debtor account.
- Online payments: With a payment gateway on the back end, you can add a Pay Now button upfront on your invoices and statements. Customers can click and pay online with their credit card.
Benefits for Attaché businesses |
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Discipline: The automation consistently and predictably sends and records a large volume of reminder communications that is almost impossible for a human to do. Reach: The variety of communication channels and contacts that ezyCollect uses means your reminders are more likely to reach the right person who can pay your invoice. Every invoice: Using the oldest overdue invoice as the baseline, every overdue invoice after that is also chased. Nothing gets overlooked. 24/7 payments: Payments can come in after hours as debtors pay online at times that suit them. |
Cost savings
“A solution like ezyCollect quickly pays for itself as your revenue improves and you spend less time and money chasing invoices,” says Brendon.
- One subscription with unlimited automated reminders to debtors*
- Save staff time on repetitive jobs.
- Cut debtor days. As cash recovery speeds up, cashflow improves.
(*Choose the right plan based on your number of debtors.)
Benefits for Attaché businesses |
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| Eliminate budget creep: Month-by-month certainty of accounts receivable spend. More time: Allocate more staff time to personalised customer service. More cash: As liquidity improves, businesses can pay expenses and invest in growth. |
Which businesses should use ezyCollect?
Brendon believes ezyCollect has wide application across many industries. Try ezyCollect if:
- Your business issues trade credit
- Has a large volume of overdue invoices each month
- Is considering adding headcount to deal with overdue invoices
- Has busy clients that attend to payments after hours
- Your staff need better tools to work efficiently.
ezyCollect offers a one-on-one demo online:
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