We Don't Need No Stinkin' Statements!

I cannot believe that it is the last week in July; where the heck did the month go?  Although 2020 has been a total shit show, this year is really flying by.  At this rate, it will be Christmas before we even realize it.  The Nuthouse continues to be busy and sales have been great considering all that is happening in the world.  The fact that we are still operational and doing well is not lost on us...we are so lucky considering some other businesses are still attempting to find their footing.

Since it is the end of the month, it is time to send out statements and/or late notices to our delinquent customers.  Our sales terms are net 30 but sometimes our customers may take up to 45.  I feel that statements are a good way to remind our customers of amounts due without making phone calls.  I don't think it is a stretch to think that statements should be sent to customers reminding them that they have a balance due to our organization; The Boss on the other hand seems to disagree.

As the statements are coming off the printer, The Boss walks by and watches me as I folded them into envelopes.  He watches for a couple of minutes and asks what am I doing.  I tell him that it is the end of the month, so it is statement time!  He looks at me like I have two heads, shakes his head and says, "we don't send statements here."  Now, we all remember The Boss' idea of  proper accounting practices before I came here (click here for accounting story).  I quickly responded that I have been sending out statements since I started and implemented our accounting program.  I remind him it has aided in cutting down phone calls and increased collecting our past due amounts.  The Boss seemed surprised at my response and again stated that he never sent statements before.  I wanted to say that maybe that would be the reason there were unpaid invoices over one year old when I got here, but I didn't (see I can hold my tongue sometimes).

He watched as I finished the mailing and then asked if I sent them every month (yup, I do).  He then offered to drop them off at the Post Office since he was going there to check the mailbox.  I immediately had this strange vision of him throwing them away and them never making it to the Post Office, so I politely declined and said that I would add postage and get them ready for the mailman's arrival this afternoon. Better safe than sorry!

I swear, if this man had his way, we would still be doing A/R in Microsoft Word and never calling or following up on customers that do not pay.  I don't know how this organization made any money before we had normal business practices in place.  I guess he was fortunate that the majority of his customers were honest and paid at some point.

Rest assured; the monthly statements were picked up by our mailman this afternoon!  Until next time Nutties!