Tips To Survive A Cash Flow Crisis
1. Triage payments
Make a list of all payments due for the next three months. Give payroll priority and see what else you can negotiate to pay later. You may be able to slide with utilities; subcontractors can often be persuaded to wait a bit.2. Accelerate collections
Call customers to check on payments that are overdue, or due soon. If you have a good relationship, you may be able to ask for early payment as a favor. For older accounts receivable, offer to forgive 15% of their overdue balance if they pay within the week. This may encourage them to respond and it’s less costly than hiring a collection agency to go after receivables you may never see.3. Invoice early
If you consistently send out invoices a week late, you are delaying receipts by a week. If you average $7,000 a week in receipts, the net effect is that you have $7,000 less to work with. If you take 10 days to send out the invoices, it’s the same as if you need another $10,000 in working capital to run your business.4. Offer discounts
This invoicing carrot can speed collections, but make sure that you understand how much it is costing you. Some large companies have policies in place that require speeding payments to earn discounts, e.g., 2% for paying within 10 days. But beware: Suddenly offering a 5% discount for payment in 10 days could give out the wrong signal.5. Invoice more frequently
If you are billing customers for time, consider billing twice a month instead of once. Billing promptly on the 1st and 15th of the month speeds up immediate cash flow.
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