Outsourcing

A nice mention from our client VOLT Bikes in Manufacturing Today Magazine.

'As a privately funded business, we also realised early on how critical cash flow is, and we made the decision to outsource our credit control, debt collection and finance functions to a specialist called Sterling – this works very well for us, and allows us to put all our energy into what we know best ‘building [...]

How to chase payment of invoices in a pandemic

*This article relates to business to business credit control and not collection from consumers. The current environment is unprecedented with companies forced to change working practices and policies quickly to adapt. Several businesses have sought advice from Sterling, asking whether they should suspend their credit control collection process completely until the lock-down is lifted, fearing that [...]

The late payment virus

In the current business environment caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19), it’s crucial for businesses to protect cash flow. Whilst many companies are taking positive steps, others are intentionally ‘washing their hands’ of their payment obligations and delaying or cancelling payments to strengthen their own finances. Whilst there are many businesses feeling the strain due to the [...]

SME business owners chasing overdue invoices themselves.

A study of 500 UK SME’s by Quickbooks has found that over half of business owners are chasing overdue invoices themselves, often outside office hours, eating into family time and putting a strain on their personal life. Sterling provide outsourced credit control to businesses as small as £0.5m t/o, acting entirely in our client’s name, giving [...]

Credit control outsourcing done right

The company in this example had decided to use two credit control outsourcing companies with each assigned 50% of the sales ledger. The intention was that competition between the service providers would give the best performance and service price. Lack of knowledge, costly mistakes Two credit control outsourcing service companies were already in place. Sterling was [...]

Don’t wait for late payment

Leaving your late paying customers unchecked and without proper handling may make them believe that it is “Okay” to pay their invoices late, or in some cases not pay them at all. In order to keep a positive balance it is essential to use a professional credit control service and get your money on time. Clearing [...]

Credit Control Service for Accountancy Firm – 34% improvement after 5 weeks.

Sterling implemented our outsourced credit control service for a £1.5m t/o accountancy firm at the start of October this year. Service is carried out entirely under the firm’s brand, with invoice chasing 2 days per week and incoming calls answered 5 days, the firm gets the benefits of an experienced full-time team at the cost of [...]

Sterling reduce average payment days for a top 50 Accountancy firm by 58%!

Sterling Credit Management provide outsourced credit control service to a number of UK accountancy firms. Over 10 years of doing so we have perfected the difficult balance of maintaining sensitive customer relationships whilst getting paid promptly. One of these clients is a top 50 London firm who had a DSO of 95 days when they approached [...]

Managing cash flow and customer relations for a top 50 UK accountancy firm

This client, a top London accountancy firm,  has used Sterling since 2009. Sterling began by having discussions with them regarding their credit control function. At the time it was being managed by a finance controller and assistant, both of whom had other responsibilities which they were giving priority to. The firm was very nervous about outsourcing, in particular [...]

Working around a restrictive system.

In an ideal world your credit control service should never be stuck completing admin duties. Any time away from the phone, chasing outstanding payments is time lost. Our goal is to reduce admin time as much as possible to ensure that our client gets the most out of our service and we can continue to collect [...]