CREDIT MANAGEMENT
How To Settle A dispute
About Money Owed
By Wasilwa Miriongi
D
One of the many challenges business
owners face is tactfully, but firmly,
securing payment from customers who
have disputed an invoice which as a result
is well long overdue. this handful of more contentious invoice
cases by attempting to reach an amicable
On countless occasions we have heard payment agreement with the customer as
of business owners at a loss with how to quickly as possible.
recoup one particular, often substantial,
invoice. In our experience approximately Often many millions of shillings are
1 in 10 invoices fall into this category as a left sitting on accounts ledgers because
result of a dispute of one kind or another. companies do not have adequate complaint
management systems in place. I have seen
When this happens, it is tempting to many millions of shillings simply written
ignore these invoice headaches (effectively off, as the client has simply not been
writing them off ) in order to avoid bothered with responding to complaints or
customer conflict and hopefully contain dispute.
the problem so that it doesn’t affect future
prompt payment for other invoices. This Repeatedly, we see situations where a debt
may seem reasonable, but it is a credit has been left for so long that the client and
customer relationship has broken down.
control trap that should be avoided.
These long standing unsettled invoices
commonly arise when the customer
disputes the amount, or is unhappy with
the quality of service/goods, or received By letting these invoices linger all that
happens is that it deepens the customers’
unwillingness to settle the bill. Instead,
what we advise is acting decisively on
uring the Institute Of Credit
Management Kenya, meeting
held recently, one of the
presenters remarked that most of the
credit managers keep in their books debts
up to even more than three years simply
because they are disputed, this brought
out the reality that many in the credit
department and organizations as a whole
lack invoice dispute handling knowledge
or mechanism.
the goods late and so refuses to pay.
Repeatedly, we see situations where a debt has
been left for so long that the client and custom-
er relationship has broken down. Usually this
happens because someone is not dealing with
complaints or the client is simply not respond-
ing at all to their customer, burying their head
in the sand so to say.
76 MAL23/18 ISSUE
Usually this happens because someone is
not dealing with complaints or the client
is simply not responding at all to their
customer, burying their head in the sand so
to say.
I reckon a good percentage of debts can
be avoided if you have a decent dispute
resolution mechanism in place. A simple
paragraph in your documentation or a
process customers can follow on your
website regarding complaints resolution is
all that is needed.
Prevention Tips
If you are not currently in an invoice dispute,