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To effectively collect the company’s accounts receivable, you must prove to your customers’ AP clerks that you delivered products to their company. To prove this your documents should automatically indicate that someone who works for their company signed your delivery document on the bill of lading or packing list that accompanies your invoice to the company.
Actions to enforce to obtain customers’ signatures that substantiate your company invoices — follow these guidelines:
- Instruct your truckdriver he or she cannot leave the customer’s delivery site without an authorized signature and date.
- Enforce the delivery rules on your internal truck drivers and issue them written warnings when they fail at obtaining customers’ signatures (neglect which jepardizes customer payment). Try imposing cuts their bonus program payouts, poor job reviews or maybe issuing a smaller annual pay increase, etc.
- Ask for a printed name if possible written next to the customer’s signature (your driver can do this in order for others to read this written signature).
- Put the date delivered next to the name.
- Signed and dated packing lists, bills of lading when attached to invoices always help substantiate the billing and more importantly, expedite customer payment.
- Enforce this policy on your contracted freight companies. Call their dispatcher and tell them if their drivers do not get a signature, their firm will not be paid.
- Tell your contracted freight companies to instruct their driver to take a photo of the signed bill of lading or packing list and email it back to your firm so you do not have to wait to bill the customer when it is mailed to you one or two weeks later attached to the freight company’s invoice to your firm
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