How TWE Improved Collections & Aging With Automation

Industry:

Textile Innovation

Gaviti Customer Since:

March 2020

Challenges:

Cumbersome manual collections tasks, high DSO

Solution:

Streamlined the entire collections process through automated workflows, enabling the team to collect faster

Results:

Reduced RAR by 60% in less than 3 months

The Challenge of Manual Collections

Before using Gaviti’s automated accounts receivable collections solution, TWE Group’s A/R collection method was purely manual and extremely cumbersome.

The collections team manually generated PDF files of their invoices and sent them out by email one at a time in order to notify customers that it was time to pay. There was no mechanism in place that allowed them to know if they happened to miss any invoices, or whether the email address they used for their customers was good or bad.

Once they sent out the invoices via email, they would then review past dues usually on a weekly basis, and manually send reminder notices or requests for payments. This process was cumbersome and not exact. In fact, they didn’t always manage to review past dues every week, and if the customer service rep got too busy, she might forget or not get around to sending out all the emails. There was no formal procedure or guaranteed follow-up. The sales account managers were only involved if it got to a severely past due situation and then we would ask for their help.

The process was so tedious and so inefficient, which is why TWE Group’s Corporate Finance Director, Anita, decided it was time to automate.

The Solution: Automating A/R Collections for Improved Aging

With so many manual tasks weighing the team down and the number of outstanding invoices rising, Anita knew that something had to be done to improve TWE’s collection process, and so she turned to Gaviti to automate their accounts receivable.

Once they started using Gaviti, their invoices consistently began being sent to all of their customers on a daily basis, and there is a log that enables them to easily see if there were errors or if any of the emails were not received or opened. Past due reminders are sent out automatically and sales account managers not only have access to view their accounts, but are also copied on past due notices. They have become much more involved in the process and contacting their buyers proactively to try to help arrange payments.

“The workflow has reduced our workload and made our communications with our customers more consistent.”
-Anita Huffman, Corporate Finance Director, TWE Group

TWE has seen a tremendous response from their customers who are requesting copies of older past due invoices and sending in payments in a more timely manner.

“Implementation was smooth and painless, even enjoyable. I love the lookup and drill-down capabilities. The screens are so easy to navigate that our sales team is embracing the tool and helping more than they ever have.”
-Anita Huffman, Corporate Finance Director, TWE Group

Results With Gaviti

With Gaviti’s automated A/R collections platform, TWI Group’s past due balances and accounts have improved significantly – even with the COVID-19 pandemic situation, and they have better visibility of their current situation at a glance. They’ve received payments for invoices that they had expected to write off and found gaps where customers never received invoices.

“Even in the midst of the worldwide pandemic, our collections and our aging have improved.”
-Anita Huffman, Corporate Finance Director, TWE Group

With systems they’d used in the past, they would have to run a report, download it to excel and manipulate the data to get a concise picture of past dues to know who needed attention. With Gaviti, they have that just by logging on and clicking a few buttons.

TWE Group now has access to their accounts receivable information all the way down to the invoice copy in one centralized place, and they have a very clear log of activity as well as a place to make notes of the responses they receive. Automation has enabled them to accelerate their cash flow and reduce manual collections tasks for their team which enables them to focus more on delivering an excellent customer experience.

“I have been in accounting for over 30 years and this was by far the best value and easiest implementation that I have been a part of.”
-Anita Huffman, Corporate Finance Director, TWE Group