You and your team are numbers people, so it’s pretty obvious when the amount of a payment doesn’t match what you’ve billed.
Enter the payment variance. Some can be resolved in a few seconds (when it’s a simple math mistake); others can eat up tons of time to handle (when a vendor is short-paying over an alleged quality problem).
So how are your peers handling variances these days?
On Credit’s shoulders
A recent poll by the National Association of Credit Management (NACM) offers some insight.
When members were asked how they handle payment overages (and
the occasional shortage), here’s what they said:
• 53% let the credit department resolve it
• 23% track and resolve by reason type
• 7% have a maximum dollar writeoff, while
• 3% have a separate dispute resolution team.
Of course, you might take several of these approaches simultaneously to protect your company’s cash flow.
One case for having a specific dedicated staffer: Companies who do this say they recoup 50%-60% of the money in dispute, compared to nothing at all.
Info: NACM eNews, 1/27/22