When it comes to managing your business, very few things are more critical than preventing invoice disputes. All it takes is one dispute to delay the payment of the entire account. Now, it’s obvious why this can be problematic as it can adversely affect your business’s cash flow.
While all businesses need to avoid invoice disputes, it’s especially true for small businesses that have a lot less wiggle room when it comes to their finances. This is evident in the abundance of services that provide accounts receivable financing for small businesses.
So how do you go about avoiding invoice disputes? If you want to know the answer to this question, then we’ve got just the thing for you. Here are a few valuable tips that will help prevent invoice disputes from delaying payments!
Frustrated with Invoice Disputes?
Porter Capital can provide you with tangible solutions to prevent invoice disputes from delaying your payments.
Tip #1: Send Invoices as Soon as Possible
The act of sending invoices early won’t directly reduce the number of potential disputes that may be on the horizon. However, what it does do is it gives you more time to settle the disputes and avoid, or at the very least minimize, a delay in payment.
So how soon should you send the invoice? For the best results, be sure to send out the invoice as soon as the delivery is made. While some businesses opt to do this at the end of every month, this could mean that disputes are left unaddressed until it is long past the due date.
Tip #2: Be Clear and Concise with Your Invoices
In relation to sending invoices on time, you should also make sure that your invoices are concise and easy to understand. Remember that the terminology you use within your business may not be as easy to understand for your customers or suppliers.
As a best practice, make sure that all product descriptions are stated plainly and clearly. This way, the invoice addressees will be able to spot any discrepancies immediately!
Tip #3: Send Out Customer Statements
It happens rarely, but sometimes things can go wrong once an invoice is sent out. If it never reaches its intended destination, this could cause potential disputes down the line. This is why you’ll want to send out customer statements as well. This will help the parties involved reconcile any missing or lost invoices.
Tip #4: Ensure That Relevant Departments Are Informed of Disputes
Lastly, it’s important to make sure that the relevant departments within your business are informed once a dispute does come up. The truth is that invoice disputes can’t be completely avoided. What you can do is make sure that the disputes are addressed swiftly so that payment is not delayed.
Now, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem