Many of our users have switched from email to TakeTurns for their collaborations with people outside their organization. While they enjoy the improvement in personal productivity, they appreciate TakeTurns' ability to maintain the continuity of their collaboration even more. This is because maintaining continuity helps everyone. In the case of accounts receivables, this means helping your internal accountants while improving customer service!
For example, I recently spoke to an accounting director who is responsible for accounts receivables (AR) at a wholesale distributor. She prefers using TakeTurns instead of email to send monthly statements to her customers (retailers).
In accounts receivable collaborations, there are a lot of back-and-forth communications between the seller and the buyer. When this is done in email, many disparate threads are created. Messages, attachments, requests for documentation, questions, and answers get lost, resulting in lots of confusion and frustrated customers. All those dropped threads slow down one of the most important functions of any business: getting paid!
When TakeTurns is used for accounts receivables, each customer’s monthly reconciliation is contained in a single collaboration. All content related to that customer’s recon can be found inside–messages, chats, and all supporting documents (and revisions) are preserved.
Here’s how it works
Here's how the distributor uses TakeTurns to manage their accounts receivables.
Step 1
The distributor invites the retailer to a TakeTurns Collaboration.
The distributor uploads the monthly statements for review by the retailer.
Step 2
The retailer reviews the monthly statements. If the retailer needs proof of invoices or credits, they can make TakeTurns Requests for those documents.
Step 3
The distributor fulfills those requests, supplying everything the customer needs to issue payment.
Subsequent steps
The distributor and retailer trade control (i.e., take turns) until each party is satisfied
Where TakeTurns really shines is when problems arise (which they do every month!)
Prior to using TakeTurns, a simple issue could require dozens of emails over an extended period of time. Things took forever to resolve because everyone would “lose the thread,” which resulted in frequent reset meetings, more email, and increasing acrimony between the distributor and her customers.
However, with TakeTurns things are very different.
For example, in the case of a shortage claim (a common issue), instead of a multitude of messages, there’s a common collaboration both parties access.
- If the customer needs supporting documents, such as tracking information or proof of delivery (POD), they make TakeTurns Document Requests.
- If additional parties are required to resolve the issue–such as the distributor’s shipping department or sales representatives, or the customer’s receiving department–they’re simply added to the collaboration. No more forwarding emails around and having to re-explain the issues over and over again.
- When the issue is resolved, all participants can download an archive of the entire collaboration (with its supporting documentation.)
TakeTurns helps both parties maintain consistency during and after the collaboration is complete. Not only does the distributor (and customer) benefit from a more streamlined process, the customer also receives much better service from the distributor.
Get started today
TakeTurns brings structure, security, and transparency to your collaborations, making it perfect for tasks like accounts receivable. With TakeTurns, you and your parties will know whose turn it is to work, track the full history, and maintain confidentiality. Learn more in our Help Center or follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube. And when you’re ready for chaos-free collaboration: Try Take Turns for free.
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