Forget faxing invoices — try this instead

Yes, some of your peers have been able to secure a cash flow boost by faxing customers their invoices instead of mailing them. Here’s an alternative that might be even better.

Makes sense: The faster you get bills in customers’ hands, the faster they’re likely to pay you. The fax machine is a solid option there. After all, it eats up less time than mailing paper versions, and your staffers won’t hear the dreaded “must have gotten lost in the mail” excuse.

But what if faxing invoices isn’t an option for your business? Consider faxing account statements instead.

A softer touch with comparable savings

You may actually have better success. Some customers think faxing invoices is a bit too aggressive. Faxing statements is more subtle, but it still gets your message across.

You still stand to save a lot of A/R staff time. Companies that have gone this route report cutting the time they spend on statement sending by two-thirds. Not to mention you save on postage costs (good news considering the latest postal hike).

Even better, one accounting manager we know said faxing statements alone was able to nab his company a cash flow boost. The strategy dropped his days sales outstanding (DSO) from 45 days down to 42 days.