The Post Office workers are going on strike – I have lived through this in the past, it must be in the post office, I can’t cancel the cheque for six weeks, maybe they lost it in that strike.

Clients don’t seem to realise that it is their responsibility to pay, their responsibility to have the money in my hands by a certain date, and when that does not happen they have broken a contract.  Dam simple.  It is not my responsibility to chase you every day until you get sick of me and pay for goods or services that you have bought.

Since I left credit control as a full time job I now run my own business, and it is just as hard getting paid from customers as it was when it was a full time job.  However now I am also the one chasing up the people that I sold to – so there should never be a reason for someone not paying me.

Today I just finished my monthly calling of outstanding monies, most, in fact all are fine – they just need a reminder.  There is one company however that never pays one time and keep on asking for more than we agree at the beginning of any work.  After this payment this customer is getting the sack.

I work on fairly tight margins and this means the cash must move freely in and out – when someone gets the job done for less than they would pay elsewhere and then takes up my time and head space by making me call him every week – this is not a customer I want to have.

One of the rules I started off having when I started my business that I would work with companies that I wanted to work with – if a company makes me chase them for payment – lying to me week in week out, they then become a company that I don’t want to work with.

I wish I could have made these types of decisions while I was a credit controller, but that is not the way life works.

Bradford and Bingley one of the now nationalised banks that helped us get to this point is recruiting 150 more credit controller this year.  That does not sound like good news for those that are having problems with loans or mortgages.

At least when I worked as a credit controller it was most during the good time and people or businesses that were not paying had either generally made stupid decisions or were just trying to avoid payment.  I rarely had sympathy for those that I had to start proceeding against – but now…

Now I am glad that I sit in front of a computer and type this instead of calling someone who has ended in a financial mess not wholly of their own making.  From the free Credit Control website.

Speaking to a friend recently who works in a multi-national tells a story for small businesses and how the duties of credit control have changed over the last few months.

It appears that some credit managers have decided that many small businesses are doomed and hence they will have no flexibility in their credit.  My friend is now shutting down accounts of their smaller clients as soon as they reach the 30 day mark – so not one day over.

In the past, to a certain extent, I would have been a fan of this.  Most companies had the money to pay, but would push the credit period to the absolute limit – there would be the usual letters and several phone calls and the eventually they would pay up just as the account was heading onto to hold.

These companies cause are a high cost on any business – but those days have stopped.  30 days and automatic hold and interest added after 7 days – something I would have been a fan of in the past – but today I am not so sure.

However I do lead with my heart and not my wallet sometimes.  This may over time makes all companies more responsible in paying their invoices on time – something that is way over due – like most of their invoices.