What is debt collection software?
Why use a debt collection solution?
What features does debt collection software offer?
What are the criteria for choosing the right collection software?
Article written by ComptePro
The best debt collection software in 2022
Managing and accounting for unpaid invoices is a time-consuming business. Between reminder letters, telephone reminders and tedious administrative procedures, it’s time-consuming indeed. To solve this problem, it’s best to turn to a debt collection solution. What’s it for? What features does it include? And what are the best debt collection software packages in 2022? Some answers.
What is debt collection software?
Debt collection or credit management software is a tool that automates the entire collection process. It uses Artificial Intelligence to personalize information linked to payer profiles. Generally speaking, this solution is aimed at all legal forms of business, as well as specialized collection agencies. It can be integrated with other systems, such as accounting, billing and banking software. In any case, using such a program is an excellent way of managing disputes and the risk of non-payment.
In addition, debt collection software offers a collection diary to give better visibility of financial receipts. This avoids the need for the business owner to use the services of a collection company. What’s more, it defines credit rules to protect the structure from bad payers and over-indebted customers. Ultimately, debt collection tools are designed to ensure the financial health of the company.
Why use a debt collection solution?
If unpaid invoices have a heavy impact on a company’s budget, collecting receivables takes a lot of time. This makes it difficult for some organizations to collect their receivables. That’s why it’s a good idea to use a software program, which is also less expensive than hiring a collection agency or firm.
With this type of solution, companies can benefit from a number of advantages, including :
- Reduce payment delays and unpaid bills: set up personalized reminder scenarios to improve efficiency;
- Automate repetitive tasks: perform essential tasks in minutes;
- Improved productivity: focus on high value-added tasks and reduce the risk of errors;
- Strengthening customer relations: preserving the company’s image and personalizing reminders;
- A clear view of customer risk: centralized information for better management of outstanding receivables.
On the other hand, credit management software includes numerous functions such as reporting to create a history of payment data and determine the potential of each customer. It also facilitates communication between the departments concerned, and enables all employees to be involved in settling claims and resolving disputes.
As you can see, this tool contributes toimproving the company’s cash flow and real-time performance (collection, dispute management, etc.) on several levels. Among other things, it’s a way of boosting the structure’s profitability. In fact, with optimal monitoring of customer creditworthiness, it is possible to anticipate the various risks. At the same time, the company can save time and accelerate cash flow by professionalizing the actions of its debt collectors.
What features does debt collection software offer?
There is a plethora of debt collection software on the market. Although each has its own specific services, there are a few features common to all credit management tools. The following is a non-exhaustive list.
Recovery
This feature enables the company manager todefine a typical collection process according to customer segmentation. It also provides a collection diary to provide an overview of overdue payments, so that automatic reminders can be sent by e-mail, SMS or post. In addition, the debt collector can create dunning document templates, or customize existing ones.
In the event of unpaid invoices, the tool automatically calculates late payment penalties and inserts them into reminder letters. Last but not least, debt collection software can be linked to other CRM or accounting software.
Risk management
Risk management is one of the essential functions of a collection solution. In fact, it enables the company to :
- Automatically integrate customer financial data into the software ;
- Define credit rules and payment terms for each customer ;
- Set up scoring according to predefined criteria;
- Manage credit insurance and set up foreclosure alerts.
Reporting
Reporting is a decision-making tool. It is a system of verified and verifiable data that serves as a guide for the entrepreneur’s strategic decisions, with a view to achieving pre-determined objectives. Most credit management software packages include reporting functions for :
- Calculate debt collection indicators such as DSO, delinquency rate, etc. at a given moment in time;
- Anticipate future collections based on payment experience;
- Historicalize data and analyze a customer’s payment behavior over time;
- Etc.
What are the criteria for choosing the right collection software?
Clearly, there are so many debt collection solutions to choose from that it can be difficult to make a choice. Especially as these differ in terms of practicality, functionality, availability and cost. To help you choose the best credit management tool, discover the important criteria to consider.
Ease of use
It goes without saying that some software is complex to handle. For this reason, it’s best to choose a solution with a dashboard that’s both accessible and easy to use. This will enable each department to draw up reports and forecasts without any constraints or parameter settings.
The features
To get the most out of your debt collection software, it needs to bring together all your financial key performance indicators, or KPIs. It is also important to ensure that the tool includes the following functionalities:
- The dashboard: for a global view of outstanding receivables and a detailed view by customer;
- Automated dunning scenarios: to make processes more efficient and reduce payment times;
- Sharing information: to offer a diversified payment method ;
- Reporting: to guide the actions to be taken by the company.
Furthermore, it is not advisable to select software that does not allow easy personalization of dunning documents at the time of dispatch.
Reactivity and intelligence
The key to recognizing good debt collection software is its ability to adapt to all types of business. But that’s not all! It is equally important to consider its ability to highlight the financial situation of the structure’s receivables at any given time.
On the other hand, a debt collection service must be able to provide clear solutions and comprehensive support in the management of receivables. Of course, this will depend on the Artificial Intelligence it runs on. Ideally, we’d like software that intelligently tracks customers by profile and personalizes reminder scenarios.
Apart from that, it’s advisable toopt for a program that can be interconnected with in-house accounting and CRM solutions. In fact, the flexibility of the data import module guarantees the quality of the software.
Availability
Availability is an important criterion when purchasing a collection tool. For the best performers, accessibility is unlimited, i .e. 24/7. Others offer shorter working hours, usually less than 12 hours a day.
Pricing
Before choosing debt collection software, it’s essential to know the price. This must correspond to the company’s budget. Failure to do so could result in additional expenses. However, high prices are not always synonymous with quality.
In all cases, the manager must identify his or her own needs and those of his or her company, in order to find the most appropriate credit management solution.
The best debt collection software in 2022
These days, it’s no longer enough to make and receive calls or e-mails to guarantee the sound financial management of a company. For better organization of work, centralization of information and communication, the use of debt collection software is now essential. To help you make the right choice, we reveal the most popular credit management solutions of the moment.
Lean Pay
It’s an intuitive SaaS (Service as a Software) tool designed to automate and personalize customer reminders for unpaid invoices. This helps reduce DSO and accelerate B2B collections. In fact, Lean Pay is ideal for B2B SMEs in any sector that generate a substantial volume of invoices every month.
Features include :
- Analysis of payment times ;
- Real-time monitoring of customer accounts;
- Customizable dunning plans ;
- Automated bank reconciliation ;
- Etc.
On the other hand, Lean Pay can be directly connected to invoicing solutions such as Sellsy, QuickBooks… or accountants. In any case, to have this software at your disposal, you’ll need to subscribe to one of the three packages on offer:
- VSE: 95 euros per month ;
- SME: 195 euros per month ;
- PME +: 295 euros per month.
Esker
Esker is a collections CRM that automates processes to optimize debt collection management. It integrates Artificial Intelligence technologies to ensure visibility and traceability of exchanges, while strengthening customer relations. Its user-friendly interface and customizable dashboards make it easy to use.
In addition, Esker offers a number of features, including :
- Customer credit management ;
- Cash management ;
- Customer order processing ;
- Distribution of customer invoices;
- Managing deductions.
This platform boasts world-renowned expertise. What’s more, it boasts numerous certifications, including ISO 27001, TRUSTe, GDPR and ISO 14001. Please note that the software price list is only available on request.
Upflow
Upflow is the debt collection software that provides a solution for tracking unpaid invoices, from issue to collection. It’s theideal tool for B2B companies to manage their accounts receivable. Not only does it help to reduce overdue payments, it also simplifies settlement via diversified payment systems. Upflow can also be interconnected with invoicing and accounting tools. It’s collaborative and customer-adaptive, meaning it can tailor dunning plans to each account.
Pricing starts at 100 euros per month. This may change depending on the various options chosen by the company. A free trial version is available. To meet every need, Upflow offers four subscription packages:
- Standard: 100 euros per month ;
- Pro: 200 euros per month ;
- Company 400 euros per month ;
- Premium: on request.
My DSO Manager
Innovative debt collection software, My DSO Manager is a high-performance solution that’s both intuitive and easy to set up. It includes important functionalities such as automatic reminders that can be customized at the time of sending, scoring, interactive emails… It also features an intelligent data import module designed to improve a company’s cash flow while ensuring its sustainability and development.
Today, My DSO Manager is used daily by over 900 organizations of all sizes, and by almost 10,000 users. To use the software, different versions are available:
- Premium version: 49 euros per month ;
- Business version: 99 euros per month ;
- Pro version: 199 euros per month ;
- Customized version: on request.
Aston iTF
Aston iTF is a collection automation and customized credit management service. It is available on any device (smartphone, tablet and PC) and is based on the flexibility of the cloud. This solution offers a range of features, including
- Performance analysis (dashboards) ;
- Customer risk analysis (scoring) ;
- Automated dunning and collection;
- Risk coverage (credit insurance and factoring).
Aston iTF is also GDPR and ISO 27001 certified. Ultimately, it’s a tool that aligns risk management decisions with the company’s strategic objectives, and guarantees a certain level of information security.
ASTON iTF collection software rates.
1-month free online trial: https: //astonitf.com/demo/
ASTON iTF Cash Collection PRO: 95 euros per month ;
ASTON iTF Cash Collection TPE: 145 euros per month ;
ASTON iTF Cash Collection PME : 395 euros per month ;
ASTON iTF Cash Collection Corporates: on request.
Source : https://www.compte-pro.com/logiciel-recouvrement
ComptePro 2022 – All rights reserved
Leave a Reply