Managing Receivables Using 'Call Sheets'

Post date: Jul 18, 2011 7:51:51 PM

Everyone knows that the key to keeping your Accounts Receivable healthy is staying on top of your aging reports, and resolving issues before they can get to the 'uncollectable' column.  SMCP provides the 'Call Sheet' functions to structure and facilitate efforts in this area.

A 'Call Sheet' is a stored note (maintained by anyone doing collections follow up) related to particular customers, orders, or invoices, that keeps a simple chronology of your collection efforts.  Typical entries you might make include short comments like 'Called John Smith today about invoice # 12345 - sent him another copy - 7/11/2011', or 'Spoke to Mary Johnson - she promised a check by 7/20 - 7/15/2011'.  As collectors make contact with customers, the Call Sheet stores all the activity.  When the customer is called the next time, all the previous conversations are on the screen, in front of the collector for quick reference.  If the issue requires legal resolution, the Call Sheet provides automatic, complete documentation of previous collection efforts and correspondence.

In addition, each Call Sheet carries a 'Last contact date' and a 'Next contact date' - by keeping these dates fresh, you can print a list each day, for any particular 'collector', of all the customers you need to contact for that day.  An 'Alert' system is incorporated: by clicking on the 'Set alert' checkbox, managers can focus collectors on 'problem' call sheets and re-prioritize efforts.  Also, a 'Responsibility' field allows collectors to attach particular salespeople or other staff to each Call Sheet when help from the sales force or production department is needed.

The central workpoint in the Call Sheets system is the 'AR Print Call Sheets (1117)' report.  From here, collectors can list all the planned contacts for the day, show ONLY Call Sheets with 'Alerts', show only Call Sheets for themselves, or for certain 'Responsible' people (salespersons).  They can also choose the starting and ending 'Last contact date' range AND 'Next contact range.

The resulting Call Sheet List is a typical SMCP 'live' report: it eliminates the need for printing because you can navigate easily around the screen, and it includes links to all the functions required to manage collections.  From the list, you can view related customer or order information, view customer activity for ONLY the associated order OR for ALL orders.  You can also edit the call sheet directly from the list by clicking the 'Call Sheet ID' number.

Here's our recommendation for using Call Sheets effectively: Once you have the list on your screen, CTRL-click (i.e., hold your 'Ctrl' key while you click) the 'Call Sheet ID' for any particular Call Sheet.  Control-click opens the link, but in a new tab, leaving the list still displayed on your screen.  You'll see the 'Edit Call Sheets' screen in a new tab - click on that tab, edit your Call Sheet, click 'Update call sheet', then CLOSE that tab.  You should find yourself back on your original Call Sheet list.  If you need to update the list (because you made a change), just refresh the screen (pressing F5 does it in most browsers.)  Now you're in position to review and modify another call sheet right from where you are, all done with a minimum of steps.

There are two ways to add new Call Sheets:

1) Use the 'AR Auto-create Call Sheets (1115)' function.  This allows you to list open invoices and check those for which you want to automatically create call sheets.

2) Click on 'Add a new call sheet', either from the Call Sheet List, or from the 'Edit Call Sheet' screen.  Enter the order number you need to work on, and click the 'Update from order' button.  This populates most of the initial Call Sheet information so you can start adding notes right away.

Properly maintained, the Call Sheet feature of SMCP keeps you in control of collection problems while they are fresh, and still 'collectable'.