Credit Q&A

Dear Thea, I recently had a customer apply for credit, and their commercial credit report was UGLY. They owe everyone, and they’re past due 90+ days.

I have a customer who has informed us that their company name has changed but everything else is staying the same.

In a recent column you stated “Everyone knows that you don’t get a discount on sales tax. No one offers it because it is a government required item to collect and not part of an optional program.” While I know this is true in many areas, it’s not true here in Washington state.

Dear Thea, We are currently charging late fees for past due invoices. We want to see if there are any guidelines out there for what to charge our customers. Thank you.

Dear Thea, We had a recent inquiry from a prospective customer with poor business credit wanting to use a $10K cash bond to secure a line of credit with us.

If a cow doesn’t produce milk is it a milk dud or an udder failure? If your third-party credit agency isn’t working for you, why are they working for you?

The mechanics lien process and all its related glory is by far the number one topic I get asked most about, and it's the most misunderstood and under-utilized tools in the credit and sales tool kit.

Lack of cashflow is one of the top three reasons businesses fail, along with poor management and partnerships. I would add “making someone else’s problems your problems” to that list.

Take the COVID-19 crisis as a serious wakeup call and revamp, improve, streamline, and update your credit and collections processes.

A virtual filing cabinet is easy to set up. Select a place where it will “live” at your company, such as your shared drive, then password protect it.