Best Practices for Purchase On Account Functionality

B2B Technology for Managing Customer Accounts

Extending credit terms at the right time in the sales process can foster conversions more efficiently than almost any other sales strategy, and knowing when to deny credit can avoid unnecessary collection costs and write-offs. Technology customizations of B2B eCommerce platforms can simplify and automate these decisions and provide third-party integrations that manage risks such as invoice insurance and invoice factoring for selling credit-worthy invoices in cash flow emergencies.

B2B back-office automation for billing and qualifying customers for purchasing accounts simplifies the entire process of invoicing, generating customer loyalty, encouraging faster payments and offering standard 30-day NET credit terms or longer financing periods for companies that have seasonal sales fluctuations or special billing needs. Offering these accounts generates major benefits in four key areas that include customer convenience, sales convenience, ordering convenience and greater customer loyalty to the business brand.

Customer Convenience Integrations

Purchasing accounts offer many benefits for B2B customer that include empowering employees, business associates and company stakeholders to log-in to parent accounts and order goods and supplies without dealing with any payments. Customers can set limits for each user, issue purchasing or procurement cards to staff or just authorize the workers directly with the B2B company based on a check-in code, ID card or other mutually agreed authorization method. Staff can then make purchases directly with the B2B supplier without accepting any responsibility for paying the bill like an authorized user of a company credit card.

Back-office customizations manage authorizations, send automatic reminders, initiate collection efforts, integrate regular credit reports and help company decision-makers to manage risks and develop sound business practices that provide customers with extraordinary conveniences in their ordering processes and abilities to place orders, take advantage of bulk discounts and develop great partnership-level working relationships with the B2B company.

Companies that buy invoice insurance can offer credit terms without risk, and the benefits for buyers include simpler ordering, ability to place larger orders, faster order fulfillment and a clear process for delegating buying tasks to staff, stakeholders, branch offices and departments.

Other conveniences of B2B purchasing accounts include simplifying the ordering process when companies use a purchase order system to place orders. The rules, proposals, negotiations and final authorizations can become complex, but B2B companies can handle these costs of doing business easily with digital tools and back-office customizations.

Account Statistics to Change How You Think About Offering Credit

Many B2B companies fear offering accounts when business customers have many payment options, and others worry that they’re subsidizing their customers with interest-free loans for 30 days. While these fears are valid to some extent, there are many ways to mitigate the risks to acceptable levels, and in-house purchasing accounts generate real competitive advantages. Today’s eCommerce platforms function as business partners for their customers, and helping them succeed increases a B2B company’s sales and success.

Tips For Offering B2B eCommerce Customer Accounts

Clarity Ventures doesn’t qualify prospects or make specific recommendations for granting credit, but our experts can customize your software so that your company’s risk management team can do these jobs or enlist third-party support in the process. Managing credit accounts, storing financial information and running credit checks generate difficulties for B2B organizations unless they have fully integrated back-office features to manage the process and provide secure storage, limited access to financial information and robust business tools to manage customer relationships, credit processes and collections. That’s an area where we excel, and we’ll work with your IT and credit staff to design a system that automates these processes with all the essential security protocols needed to satisfy regulatory agencies and insurance providers. We can design a world-class accounts receivable management system that ensures collectors and sales staff follow all your company’s collection procedures and industry best practices for granting credit, ensuring payments and meeting collections regulations. Call or contact us today to find out more about the advantages of offering credit accounts to your customers to generate more sales and build customer loyalty.