Bateleur Holdings subsidiary, Bateleur Strategic Solutions, has completed development work on its innovative Procash software product that provides credit best practice, and will install the prototype at a Cape-based FMCG company in pilot phase later this year.
Procash is ideally suited for FMCG environments where the invoice-to-credit note ratios are high, especially as it manages the proactive collection of debt, monitors the performance of debtors` clerks, and escalates debt queries when necessary. The prototype will be fine-tuned during pilot phase, after which it will be marketed both locally and abroad - most notably in the US and Britain, where particular interest has been expressed.
A director at Bateleur Strategic Solutions, Steve Addison describes Procash as a `credit best practice` product that draws on the best of international practises and combines these with elements that have worked particularly well in the South African context, to deliver a world-class hybrid of the two.
The product is designed to address one of the major challenges facing companies - cash flow - and helps to increase a company`s operational profitability by releasing capital via the debtors` book and the bottom line.
"Procash - or Proactive Cash Collection - does just that. Created specifically for environments where large quantities of invoices are generated, it proactively manages the collection of cash. Workflow is examined, bottlenecks are identified, and customer problems are highlighted. Debtors outstanding are quantified and credit notes and other key financial information are taken into account when deciding how to correct the situation.
"The system also highlights where the high value outstanding money resides, and then logically structures workflows to ensure that credit controllers monitor invoices every step of the way, from delivery to payment.
"The automating of as many processes as possible, as well as providing for regular prompts and the day-to-day monitoring of the status of the debtors` book, allow queries and potential disputes to be identified and resolved long before they become real headaches".
"In such a way, Procash is able to reduce the day sales outstanding - or DSO - in the FMCG environment - and in the process, liberate much-needed cash from the customers` bank into your business," adds Addison.
He further believes Procash takes concepts such as `customer care` to the accounts receivable departments, with credit controllers now equipped with the tools that allow them to operate as customer financial services people, collecting funds, resolving disputes, and, best of all, enhancing customer relationships.
And while the onus is on the customer`s management to see that staff implement changes and that joint ownership of the implementation is achieved, Addison stresses that Bateleur Strategic Solutions follows the process through. The company will regularly return to customer sites to conduct performance audits, at which the system, the people within the system, and the expected actual results in terms of savings generated, are evaluated.
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