The two months when gold Jiuyin 10 shipments are most concentrated are also the window with the greatest pressure on money collection throughout the year. The industry habit of domestic trade is to settle accounts before the Spring Festival, so the fourth quarter became a run-on reconciliation: if you urge the customer, the customer's customers are also urging him. This article does not pile up data. It provides a set of credit management lists for factory domestic trade sales on credit. Following the four links, we can reduce the financial risk at the end of the year by a lot.
1. Divide customers into four categories first, and follow the classification of credit
The root cause of the risk of losing control of credit sales is usually not "too long accounting period", but "one treatment for all customers." First, customers are divided into four categories, and the credit granting method follows the level:
| customer type | credit granting mode | Accounting period recommendation | Required procedures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listed company/large state-owned enterprise supply chain | Framework agreement + accounting period | Monthly settlement 30-60 days | Contract, reconciliation stamp, receipt receipt slip |
| Cooperation for more than 3 years to stabilize dealers | rolling limit | Monthly settlement 30 days | Annual credit line confirmation letter |
| Cooperation with growing customers for 1-3 years | limited credit sales | 30% prepayment + monthly settlement | Order confirmation and quota approval form |
| New customers/old customers change entities | payment and delivery | Full payment in advance or cash settlement | Gradually liberalize the first order until delivery |
The classification is re-evaluated every six months: changes in customer delivery volume, on-time payment rate, and order structure. If any of the three dimensions deteriorates, it will be downgraded, and don't wait until it is overdue.
Classification does not divide customers into three or six grades, but focuses limited risk exposure on customers who can afford it. There is also a common misunderstanding during execution: if a customer changes the purchasing entity (changes the company name, changes the contract name), the credit level must automatically fall back to the lowest level for re-evaluation-many bad debts occur in the scenario of "Lao Zhang, who has been working together for five years, has changed a new company name and continues to place orders."
2. Five accounting period clauses that must be clearly stated in the contract
- The payment node writes specific actions and does not write fuzzy time.Write "Payment within 7 days after the goods arrive at the buyer's warehouse and pass the acceptance" instead of "Payment on Delivery"-the latter's starting point will be endlessly debated.
- Binding sign-in at the starting point of the accounting period.The buyer's signing date is taken as the starting point, and the signing form is required to be sent back on the spot; if the logistics signing is signed on behalf of the logistics, it is agreed that the logistics signing information shall prevail.
- Late due interest clause.Even if it is rarely implemented in practice, you should still write that interest will be calculated at a rate of several tenths per day for overdue periods. It is the anchor of legal status at the time of collection.
- Ownership retention clause.It is agreed that the ownership of the goods will not be transferred until the payment for goods is settled. When a customer explodes, this is the key to distinguishing between "creditors" and "ordinary suppliers."
- Reconciliation mechanisms.It is agreed that monthly reconciliation will be carried out and the buyer will confirm in writing within 5 working days. Failure to confirm within the time limit will be deemed to have no objection. The statement collected at the end of the year was collected from this account.
3. Daily reconciliation rhythm: Break down the year-end battles to be fought every month
If you don't reconcile until the end of December every year, you will find that the documents are incomplete, the person handling it leaves, and the sign-in slip cannot be found. The correct rhythm is: the finance department will issue the previous month's statement before the 3rd of each month, send the sales order to customers with it, and collect it for confirmation before the 10th; whether it is confirmed or not confirmed, it will leave a trace (email or corporate WeChat can be used). When a sales resignation is handed over, the uncollected customer receipts must be completely handed over-this item will be written into the sales system to save half of the skin at the end of the year.
4. How to rush if it is overdue: Level three actions, don't jump
- T+3: A kind reminder.If the deadline is 3 days overdue, the salesperson will remind him by phone in the name of "financial reconciliation" to confirm whether it is a process problem or a fund problem and record the reason.
- T+15: Official letter.If the payment is not paid within 15 days, a reconciliation reminder letter stamped with the official seal will be issued, the interest clause will be reiterated, and the approval of new shipments will be suspended simultaneously.
- T+30: Stop goods + legal evaluation.If the deadline is 30 days overdue, the supply will be stopped and the receivable will be transferred to legal evaluation: payment orders or mediation for small amounts, and property clues will be evaluated for large amounts before litigation is decided. At this time, the customer's credit level will be lowered and the evaluation will be re-evaluated after payment is made.
The principle is to be punctual and polite. Many bad debts are not that customers don't want to pay, but that your collection will always "wait a little longer" and become a priority sacrifice in the customer's capital chain.
5. Two tools: domestic trade credit insurance and receivable factoring
When shipments are concentrated in the fourth quarter, two tools can be evaluated: First, domestic trade credit insurance provided by insurance companies and credit insurance channels covers the buyer's default or bankruptcy risks, and is charged based on the insured amount, so large credit sales customers are worth investing; Second, accounts receivable factoring, transfers outstanding receivables to the factor for early payment, and the discounted cost must be included in the quotation. These two tools are used on demand and are not standard-only those with long accounting periods and large amounts account for a high proportion of customer structures are worth it.
Impulse and risk control are not contradictory: peak season is precisely the moment to test whether credit management has really been implemented-only when the system is firmly established in normal times, the number of people who dare to accept will be large in peak season. If you don't have customer classification or standard contract terms yet, don't expect to achieve it in one step. First, check the customers who will ship in the fourth quarter according to the above table, select the 30% with the highest risk, and process the rest after the year. Systematize.
common problems
1. An old customer suddenly asked to change the monthly settlement from 30 days to 60 days. What should I do?
Check three things first: his payment records, whether his downstream is also dragging, and whether he has changed entities or warehouses. The payment is always normal, and you can give it in exchange for conditions (such as increasing the single delivery volume); if the payment is no longer timely, it will be downgraded and replaced with an increase in the prepayment ratio.
2. What should I do if the customer never confirms the statement?
Follow the clause in the contract that "Failure to confirm within the time limit will be deemed as no objection"; if this clause is not written, it will be delivered through dual channels of mail + express delivery and left behind. It will cooperate with the sign-in slip and logistics records to form a chain of evidence, and the legal link will still be available.
3. Should we relax the accounting period at the end of the year for write-offs?
What can be amplified is the quantity, not the risk. Impulse is offset by price ladders and rebate policies, and credit levels are not relaxed because of impulse. There are cases every year where credit sales released before the New Year are bad for your cash flow during the peak season.
--Qihang AI Foreign Trade Research Institute·Let China Intelligent Manufacturing Set sail to the sea| Foreign trade customer consultation: 180-0327-6609
