Recently I spoke with Megan G., Product Owner here at Computers Unlimited. At last year's Users Group, Megan spoke to TIMS Software users in an open forum setting asking for their input on A/R Collections Worklist and whether they believed it would benefit their business. She received a definite "Yes!" Here are some of her thoughts on the new *TIMS Collections Worklist. 

Gayle:  Megan, last year, you introduced A/R Collections Worklist to our customers. The response was overwhelming; what do you plan on talking about during your A/R Collections session this year?

Megan: Last year's session was an outline of what this application could look like, just showing images in a PowerPoint presentation. This year, I am really excited to show users a live demonstration of the brand new application now that is developed—TIMS Collections Worklist.

Gayle: What made you decide to add this A/R component? 

Megan: Our users have collection departments responsible for following up on past due A/R. The typical process is the collection supervisor runs some sort of aging report (via Diver^®, cubes, or a custom report) weekly or monthly, then distributes that report to their collection team. Collectors then work from those reports manually adding customer notes in TIMS, documenting what they did to work the account, and the current status of the A/R. They also often mark the row in the report as "worked," sometimes duplicating the note information that is in the spreadsheet. During the collection process, in addition to making phone calls, the collector may send collection forms like past due letters, credit applications, auto-pay records, issue credit release numbers, and write-off the A/R if it is deemed uncollectible or was billed in error.

This process is time-consuming and extremely manual, for both the supervisor running and distributing the reports, and for the collectors working from a report.

• The collector is logging their work in TIMS Software and Excel^®, wasting time with dual entry.
• The data is stale at the end of the month, resulting in collectors working accounts they don't need to work.
• There is no way to track what the outcome of this work is; how many touches until payment.
• There is no visibility on what is effective, what isn't, and how much time and money is spent on the collection process.

We saw an opportunity to provide huge efficiency gains for an under-served part of the industrial gas business by providing an interactive worklist application that would replace the manual collection process.

Gayle: This is a great module to add to a distributor's tool bag. How does it work and what outcomes are expected?

Megan: The goal is simply to get paid, and to get paid faster! The Collections Worklist solves three problems to meet that goal.

1.  The current process is manual and time-consuming. Working from the worklist will greatly reduce the time it takes the collector to work the account and to document activity, allowing them to work more accounts in a single day than they had previously.

2.  Prior to the Collections Worklist, there was little to no analytics available to monitor collection outcomes and performance. Their activity simply was not recorded in TIMS. Every action taken in TIMS Collections Worklist is logged and reportable, allowing you to track the collector performance and workload, set collection goals and reward improvement.

3.  The collections supervisor spends too much time generating and distributing these collection reports to the collection staff. The worklist will save the supervisor hours per month, allowing them to focus on duties that are more impactful.

*TIMS Collections Worklist is standard in TIMS 7 with a service pack. Our sales consultants will be happy to tell you more. Click here to setup a personalized demo.

Register for Users Group below, and make sure to sign up for the "A/R Collections Worklist Preview" session on Tuesday, September 10th at 9:30 a.m.

Want more details? Click below to get registered. You'll have access to the full agenda, along with the registration form and hotel information. You'll also have the opportunity to sign up for a special all-day, in-depth Business Intelligence (BI) class on Wednesday, September 11th, and register for a specialized training session in the Hands-On Room.