Credit Policy for businesses and how to extend credit and manage credit risk

The most popular excuse used by debtors is "I never got the invoice!"

Now try to forget that they came into your store and picked up their product or had their service done, and try to forget that they had to place the order and receive it, so should know they owe you the money. 

The most frustrating part of this popular excuse is that it implies that payment would have been made and probably made on time if only the invoice had been received.

This is an attempt by the customer to put the blame on you.  It is your fault I did not pay you because you did not send me an invoice.

As ridiculous as that sounds, this happens more frequently than any other excuse.  Check your customers mailing addresses, try to fax or email invoices if you can. Call when invoices are mailed to alert the customer it is coming and to verify that there were no problems, such as pricing, delivery etc.

By identifying this problem before this can happen to you, you can have steps and procedures in place to avoid this excuse in the future.