- 15 Apr
Help Raising Sales Invoices To Customers On Credit Terms
If you are looking for help raising sales invoices to your customers, on credit terms, we have pulled together a number of useful resources that will assist you.
If you need the services of someone to do this for you, please get in touch and we will put you in contact with someone that can help.
Raising Sales Invoices To Customers
Accounting software packages tend to take all of the work out of raising your sales invoices, by doing the job for you (or having add-on software that will raise the invoices).
However, it is still important to know exactly what needs to be on your sales invoice, in order to prevent payment delays. For instance, if you don't specify the payment terms, customers may be able to take more credit than you wish to allow.
Firstly, see our article: "Top 10 Tips For Raising Invoices That Get Paid", it sets out a number of pointers that will help ensure that you get paid on time.
We also have templates for both invoices and credit notes, that list all the items you will want to ensure are displayed. The page also shows examples of invoices and credit notes.
Working Capital Partners also contributed an article titled: "Zen And The Art Of Invoicing", which has some more helpful tips on raising invoices.
Credit Control And The Cash Flow Gap
If you are raising sales invoices to customers, you may be lucky and they may be paid quickly, or at least within the term of credit that you have granted. However, in the UK, many invoices are paid late, often beyond the term of the credit.
You may need to put in place an effective credit control process, to ensure that you maximise your chances of being paid in a timely manner. We have guidance on running your own credit control process in our free guide.
If you are suffering because of the "cash flow gap" i.e. the delay between raising an invoice, and it gets paid, there are financing products that will help you bridge that gap. This type of cash flow finance, often called invoice finance, works by releasing most of the cash immediately after you raise the sales invoice to your customer. They still get a period of credit to pay, but you get access to cash immediately, in the form of a prepayment. This service is explained in our free guide to invoice financing.
Related Resources
Steps you can take to Help You Avoid Falling Victim To Invoice Fraud.