Controlling your supplier payments is one of the keys to better managing your cash flow. Find out here what good practices to put in place and what digital tools to use for optimal management.
Optimize the management of your supplier payments: Best practices and digital tools
Generating more turnover is good. But if you have not sufficiently anticipated your supplier receivables you can quickly damage your cash flow. Managing supplier payment deadlines is therefore an essential lever to ensure the financial health of your company.
Effective management of these deadlines not only strengthens the relationship with your suppliers, but also optimizes your cash flow.
Here are some best practices and digital tools to help you achieve these goals.
1. Analyze your cash flow needs
First of all, establish a precise analysis of your cash flow needs.
Identify incoming and outgoing financial flows, as well as crucial moments, when you must honor your commitments to suppliers.
Tools like Pennylane , QuickBooks or even Sage Business Cloud give you a clear view of your cash flow.
2. Communicate with your suppliers
Transparency is the key to a healthy supplier relationship. A supplier warns, it's less hassle!
Communicate regularly with your partners to discuss payment deadlines and possible adjustments.
Use dedicated Purchase-to-pay or even Source-to-Pay tools such as Tradeshift, Coupa or Ariba Network to facilitate these exchanges.
Netsuite and Odoo also integrate advanced features to manage and automate your Purchase-to-pay processes.
3. Automate invoice management
Automating the receipt and processing of invoices is a major asset that has become essential in the digital age.
Software like Pennylane, Odoo or QuickBooks offer advanced features to automatically scan, account for and classify your supplier invoices.
An effective approach to reduce the risk of errors and facilitate the processing of your supplier invoices.
4. Use integrated accounting management software
Integrated accounting management software provides complete visibility into the state of your finances.
Here too, Pennylane, Odoo or QuickBooks allow you to monitor your obligations to suppliers in real time and anticipate future payments.
5. Implement a payment management policy
Establish a clear policy for managing supplier payments.
Set terms and conditions, as well as specific deadlines.
Make sure the entire finance and accounting team understands it and follows it rigorously.
6. Opt for electronic payment solutions
Electronic payment solutions offer speed and security.
Tools like Qonto for example enable smooth transactions and reduce delays linked to payments by check or traditional transfer.
7. Evaluate your performance and adjust your strategy
There are a significant number of KPIs that you can track to better manage your supplier payments.
The average time and cost of processing an invoice, the average time and cost of paying an invoice, the percentage of suppliers under contract also called Linear Performance Pricing (LPP)... the KPIs are numerous.
The important thing is to regularly monitor your payment deadline management indicators. By analyzing your performance you can adjust your strategy accordingly.
By implementing these best practices and using the appropriate digital tools, you will optimize your supplier payment times while consolidating your cash flow.
This will strengthen the financial stability of your business and foster long-lasting relationships with your business partners.
To find out which tool is best suited to your needs and your business app ecosystem, ask us !
Blendy, French digital accountant supports its clients on cash flow issues, whether to automate and thus optimize the payment of your customers and your supplier receivables.
Contact our teams to find out how we can help you optimize the management of your supplier payments.
With Blendy , French digital accountant take advantage of all the advantages of digital accounting to accelerate your finance process and develop your business.
Pennylane , Dext , QuickBooks and Stripe experts, we support digital and IT service companies, e-Commerce, SaaS, SMBs, in France and internationally .