How to Maintain a Healthy Cash Flow

1st November 2021 - In August 2021, we engaged the research consultancy Opinium to survey field service organisations and learn about how they fared in the year since the UK’s strictest lockdown came to an end.

Did you know that just over a quarter (26%) of field service companies lost money between August 2020 and July 2021, despite being busier than ever? Unfortunately, you could be running your business by the book but still notice your profits taking a nosedive if your customers consistently pay their invoices late.

But, how can you ensure your clients consistently pay by the deadline?

We’ve put together this guide to help you take back control over your finances, maintain a healthy cash flow and grow stronger. Read on to learn more.

What Happens If You Don’t Get Paid On Time?

For 27% of the UK’s field service organisations, clunky legacy systems cause efficiency issues. But, it’s not just productivity that takes a hit when you use outdated technology to run your operations. You could also be severely damaging your bottom line. 

Suppose you currently send out manual invoices. By the time your finance team has processed and sent the invoice to your customer, it could be anywhere up to a month since your technician completed the job. 

Once your customer finally receives their invoice, there’s a chance that they could lose it or forget to pay it until you eventually chase them. In the meantime, your cash flow may have ground to a halt, leaving you unable to do the following:

• Take on new projects
• Meet operational expenses
• Budget for future jobs
• Pay your suppliers
• Pay back loans

In a post-pandemic world, where financial recovery is critical to business survival and growth, it’s paramount to consider new, innovative ways to get paid on time.

Maintaining a Healthy Cash Flow

The good news is, maintaining a healthy cash flow needn’t be a challenge when you use job management software. Here are just some of the ways technology can enhance the invoicing and payment process:

Digital Invoices

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, unpaid invoices skyrocketed with an increase of 23%. Fortunately, you can combat the adverse financial effects of the pandemic by digitising your invoices. 

For example, the most advanced job management platforms come with a mobile application that your technicians can use from anywhere. The app enables your workers to instantly generate an invoice — using pre-populated information from the integrated customer relationship manager (CRM) — the moment they’ve completed each job.

Creating invoices with accurate data significantly decreases the margin for human error. As a result, your customers can sign off their electronic invoices the moment they receive them via their mobile devices and begin the payment process. 

Aside from being a more favourable method for your customers, you’ll also find that digital invoices save on back-office costs and time. Removing the admin-heavy aspects of processing an invoice leaves them with more hours to focus on activities that directly contribute to business growth. 

Electronic Payments

Today’s customers expect simpler, more convenient ways to pay, so field service organisations must modernise their payment processes. Continuing to handle payments ‘the traditional way’ increases the likelihood of customers forgetting about your invoice since it involves more effort than the straightforward methods to which they’ve become used to.

However, with BigChange’s job management software, you can receive payments in seconds. As soon as your customers receive their electronic invoices, they can send funds from their smart devices via BigChange Pay, which includes several user-friendly payment options. So, not only will your customers appreciate the speed of service, but you can rest assured that you’ll get paid on time.

Technology is the Key to Rapid Payment

Sadly, the amount of debt taken on by field service businesses increased by 50% over the last year. If you don’t get paid on time, you might find that you also have to take on unnecessary loans to cover the gap. Therefore, to avoid being affected by rising debt levels, you should consider streamlining your financial processes.

Luckily, job management technology lets you wave goodbye to the inefficiencies of traditional methods. By arming your team with state-of-the-art technology and digitising your invoices, you can eliminate the obstacles that often lead to late payments and, instead, bounce back stronger post-pandemic.

Your Finances Will Bounce Back Stronger on BigChange

The BigChange complete job management platform is helping field service businesses across the UK win more work, take control of their operations and deliver winning customer experiences.

Bring your customer relationship management (CRM), job scheduling, live tracking, field resource management, financial management and business intelligence onto one easy-to-use platform and begin enjoying the benefits of a smarter way of working today.

Want to find out more?

Discover how your business can grow stronger on BigChange here and arrange a free demo today.

Get the full State of the Field Service Sector Report here.