On Tuesday we held the next Order to Cash network event over at member organisation RSA in Liverpool. It was a fantastic day and great to catch up with members old and new.

After the initial introductions over coffee and yummy pastries Kerstie Blatchly led a group session to explore the early signs of insolvency. The session took a deep dive into the following:

Regular financial analysis
Close monitoring of payment patterns
Maintaining open communication with customers
Credit checks and risk assessment
Alert systems for payment defaults
Flexible payment plans

It was great session exploring the warning signs to watch out for and how we can stay ahead of the curve.

Next up we welcomed Terry Corby, Founder & CEO of UK not-for-profit Good Business Pays who shared an insightful introduction into who they are and what they do plus information on:

Late payments data on businesses and public sector organisations across the UK and insight into which businesses come out top and bottom when it comes to payment times.
What organisations are doing right and wrong, and how others can learn from them.
How he has managed to get some of the country’s biggest businesses to slash their payment times
Seven things’ businesses should do to avoid late and slow payments.

After a lovely networking lunch we welcoming Carol Blackburn, Head of Order to Cash at EG Group to share their journey so far. It was really interesting to see how far they have come in their journey and what they are working on within their teams. Huge thank you to Carol and Umar and the team for sharing.

The next session we focused on payment culture. Terry Corby asked the question - 'So why are late payments still happening'? Terry suggested it comes down to culture. Operating within an organisational culture where late payments are seen as normal, acceptable and even preferred options, it’s easy to see how payment terms can slip. He sees this culture has been 40 years in the making, and feels it’s taking time and effort to break down. Terry shared some useful insights covering the following:

The impact of poor payments culture on businesses (and it doesn't just impact suppliers.)
The latest data from Good Business Pays which celebrates the best payers and shines a light on the worst.
What we can learn from both very good and very bad practice and how businesses can go about changing their culture to make them better payers.

To close out we had an interactive breakout session to explore recruitment and retention in our OTC teams and asked the questions - What do you look for in prospective candidates and what challenges have you faced in finding your forever team member? After you’ve found them, how do you keep them!!? It was a great opportunity for members to connect and share experiences and challenges across the different organisations.

A big thank you to everyone that took the time to join us in Liverpool, thank you to our Network Co-Chairs, Kerstie Blatchly, Paul Quinti and Vicky Darwin, thank you Carol Blackburn and to Terry Corby for your contributions.

All the resources can bee viewed and downloaded from the website and we look forward to seeing you online for the next event on October 10th.