In modern collection software, the customer file is the central screen used daily by collection and credit management teams. It is from this interface that managers quickly analyze a customer ‘s financial situation: outstandings, overdue invoices, any disputes, dunning actions in progress or position in the collection process.
To learn more, read our guide: Customer Follow-Up and Collection: Best Practices.
To effectively manage accounts receivable, teams need to be able to understand immediately whether a customer is meeting payment deadlines, whether there is a risk of non-payment, or whether the customer is involved in a dunning scenario.
And yet, in many tools on the market, the customer file remains complex and difficult to read. Information is often scattered across several tabs, mixing administrative, accounting and operational data.
As a result, it becomes difficult to quickly identify where a customer is in the dunning process.
For credit management teams, this lack of clarity slows down the analysis of accounts receivable, complicates the prioritization of collection actions and can have a direct impact on the company’s ability to reduce its DSO (Days Sales Outstanding).
In a high-performance collection tool, however, a user must be able to answer an essential question in a matter of seconds:
where does my customer stand in his dunning scenario?
It was precisely to meet this challenge that Aston AI decided to completely rethink the “Follow-up reminder” tab in the customer file.
A customer file designed to provide an immediate understanding of the customer's situation
As part of its continuous product improvement program, Aston AI is offering a new version of the customer file, which gives an immediate overview of a customer’s financial situation and dunning status.
The objective is clear: to enable collection and credit management teams to identify at a glance :
the customer’s financial situation
total outstanding and overdue amounts
the customer’s position in the dunning scenario
the next collection actions to be taken
The customer file thus becomes a genuine operational dashboard for receivables management, designed to facilitate decision-making and improve the management of payment deadlines.
Clear visualization of the customer reminder scenario
The main change concerns the visualization of the recovery scenario.
Users can now immediately identify the stage a customer has reached in the dunning process.
Dunning scenarios are represented in the form of visual friezes, making it easy to track the progress of dunning campaigns for different types of files:
standard files
cases in dispute
litigation files
This representation considerably improves understanding of the file’s progress, and enables collection teams to adapt their actions more quickly.
It also facilitates the management of customer disputes, which can be identified more quickly and integrated into the overall monitoring of customer receivables.
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A timeline of actions for effective reminder management
The new customer file also introduces an optimized timeline of dunning actions.
Actions to be carried out in the next ten days (D+10) are now highlighted, enabling teams to focus immediately on priorities.
This organization makes it possible to :
quickly identify the follow-up actions required
organize the work of collection teams more efficiently
improve operational follow-up of customer files
There’s also an option for displaying all planned actions, to keep an overview of the entire recovery plan.
This approach contributes directly to improving the efficiency of the collection process and reducing payment times.
KPIs for rapid analysis of the customer's financial situation
The customer file now includes a block of synthetic KPIs for instant assessment of the customer account situation.
Four key indicators are displayed:
total outstanding
unmatured debt
outstanding due
share of matured outstandings
These indicators enable credit management teams to quickly identify customer accounts requiring special attention and prioritize their collection actions.
By making it easier to analyze outstanding amounts and late payments, these KPIs also help to improve DSO management.
Visibility for sales teams too
The new customer file does not only benefit collection teams.
It has also been designed to be easily readable by sales teams, who can now quickly visualize the status of the customer workstation before any interaction with their customers.
In just a few seconds, a salesperson can identify :
the customer’s position in the dunning scenario
the existence of an outstanding balance
whether there are any disputes
This visibility improves communication between sales and collection teams, avoids sensitive situations when dealing with customers, and facilitates internal coordination.
By reinforcing the flow of information between teams, this development contributes to optimizing the entire order-to-cash process, from sale to collection.
Aston AI: collection software designed to optimize receivables management
In collection software, the ability to quickly analyze a customer’s situation is essential to effectively manage receivables, reduce payment times and improve DSO.
Aston AI ‘s new customer file has been designed to meet this challenge, providing an immediate overview of the customer’s situation and the progress of dunning actions.
With a clear view of outstandings, dunning scenarios and actions to be taken, collection and credit management teams now have a simpler, more effective tool for managing their files.
In this way, the customer file becomes a true center for the management of accounts receivable, enabling improved management of payment terms, reduced DSO and optimization of the entire order-to-cash process, thanks to clearer, more visual and more operational collection software.
