In economically developed countries, in enterprises and firms that have divisions for managing receivables and payables, whose personnel specialize in resolving disputes related to their occurrence, there is no such problem as “uncollected debt.”

Based on the fact that the mechanism for managing accounts payable involves drawing an analogy with the management of accounts receivable, we will highlight the main conditions for building a management system at industrial enterprises.

• 1. Accountants, lawyers, internal auditors and financial managers involved in maintaining the accounts receivable and accounts payable management system have special professional training and skills in the field of economics, taxes and financial management. The presence of such qualities presupposes, in particular, vigilance, scrupulous and competent keeping of records on “doubtful” accounts, according to which receivables are distributed depending on how late their payment is.
• 2. Development of a form of contract with buyers, customers (consumers of services), which provides for the essential conditions that determine its execution, including the procedure for mutual settlements.
• 3. Assessing the partner’s creditworthiness based on the accumulation and analysis of credit information from various internal and external sources, as well as one’s own experience in communicating with customers and information from the credit institution of a potential business partner.
• 4. Optimal organization of the process of selling products (works, services), including establishing the most favorable period for settlements with counterparty organizations.
• 5. Establishing a maximum amount of possible transactions based on minimizing the number of doubtful debts and maximizing profits.
• 6. Receipt of debts from buyers and timely settlement of accounts payable.
• 7. Timely inventory of payments and obligations with subsequent reconciliation of mutual settlements with debtors and creditors.
• 8. Obtaining the necessary information about the partner from officially published financial statements.
• 9. Predictive assessment of the level of financial stability of the partner.
• 10. Widespread use of discounts for early payment by the buyer of goods (works, services).

To analyze accounts payable and its management mechanisms, it is necessary to consider the turnover ratio (Kob) and the average turnover period of accounts payable. The supplier accounts payable turnover ratio is the ratio of the cost of goods sold to the amount of the corresponding accounts payable. The basis for calculation is not revenue, but cost, since it is this that is formed from resources purchased from suppliers.

In the rest of the analysis, the analysis is carried out similarly to accounts receivable; their turnover periods are compared.

The accounts payable turnover ratio characterizes changes in the commercial loan provided to the enterprise. It is calculated by dividing the sales volume by the average accounts payable for the period. Influence of K vol. on the debts and liabilities of the enterprise is shown in Fig. (2.1).

The average turnover period of accounts payable is the average loan repayment period in days, it is determined by dividing the number of days in a year (365) by Kob.

The increase in accounts payable reflects an increase in free sources of working capital coverage. The amount of accounts payable must be compared with the amount of accounts receivable, since its growth and excess over accounts payable means attracting additional sources of financing.

To properly understand accounts payable management, it is necessary to highlight positive and negative changes in the economic activity of an enterprise associated with changes in accounts payable. For clarity, let's look at the table data

Accounts payable management can be carried out using two main options: optimizing accounts payable and minimizing accounts payable.

Optimization is the search for new solutions with the help of which accounts payable and its changes can have a positive impact on the enterprise (increasing the authorized capital, increasing reserve capital, etc.).

Minimization is a mechanism for managing accounts payable, in which existing accounts payable is reduced to its reduction, up to full repayment.

In this chapter, we studied the theoretical foundations of accounts payable management. We examined the concepts and structure of accounts payable, the main stages of its management, and also studied methods for optimizing accounts payable in an enterprise.

Bachelor of Economic Sciences

Samara State Economic University

Master's student (current)

Vishnyakova Angelina Borisovna, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Applied Management

Annotation:

The ability to provide goods and services on deferred payment terms is always an important competitive advantage. However, accounts receivable, as well as other assets of the enterprise, require constant management and monitoring for effective use. In a situation of economic crisis, many enterprises are faced with various kinds of problems due to a lack of working capital. This article outlines several steps that can help improve the efficiency of accounts receivable management.

The ability to provide goods and services on a deferred payment basis is always an important competitive advantage. However, receivables, as well as other assets of the enterprise, need constant management and monitoring for effective use. In a situation of economic crisis, many enterprises are faced with various kinds of problems in the shortage of working capital. In this article, several steps are formulated that help improve the management of receivables.

Keywords:

optimization; accounts receivable; payment deferment; business; strategy.

optimization; accounts receivable; deferred payment; business; strategy.

UDC 338.2

Introduction: With the transition of the Russian economy to market relations, one of the problems was ensuring effective management of working capital at the enterprise level. Accounts receivable takes up a significant share of the total working capital of most organizations, so it is important to pay attention to the management of this type of asset. In modern market realities, subjects of financial and economic activity quite often encounter problems with the emergence of receivables and, as a consequence, their collection. This process is due to the presence of strong risks when conducting mutual settlements between counterparties based on the results of business transactions. The appearance of receivables results from the existence of contractual relations between counterparties when the moment of transfer of ownership of goods (works, services) and their payment do not coincide in terms of the time factor. Relevance This topic is that one of the main tasks of financial management at enterprises is the effective management of receivables, which should be aimed at optimizing its size, ensuring timely payment of debt, as well as changing the structure of receivables and its refinancing. The scientific novelty of this article is that I am developing certain comprehensive instructions on how to optimize work with overdue receivables, which will have an effect in practice.

In order to achieve the main goals of this article, namely to determine how and by what methods you can effectively manage accounts receivable in an enterprise, it is important to do the following tasks:

• Define what accounts receivable is and its role in the life of the company;
• Identify the main reasons for late payments and the occurrence of receivables;
• Draw up instructions for optimizing accounts receivable.

For most companies, accounts receivable is a result of doing business that will result in customers paying for a product purchased or service rendered. However, a company may not have an explicit strategy for managing accounts receivable. A business loses money without knowing that the reasons may include untimely tracking of payments, a weak or non-existent dispute resolution process for deferred payments, and many others. Accounts receivable management is one of the most common causes of cash shortages.

Accounts receivable are among the company's three largest assets. According to a recent study, one in three small businesses struggles to collect payments from customers, while a whopping 43% have checking accounts over 90 days past due. In the long term, companies that cannot receive payment from their customers on time are forced to draw certain amounts from their cash reserves or turn to external financing. As a result, owners have less money on hand to manage operations, pay employees on time, and ultimately grow their own business effectively.

Accounts receivable management is organized as part of the financial management process and consists of planning, accounting and control. Providing deferments is an additional bonus that the company's clients receive. But it is important to understand that it makes sense to provide it only to the most important target counterparties, without wasting the enterprise’s resources on other untested market segments. There are some ways a company can improve its accounts receivable position and ultimately increase its overall cash flow.

1. Companies need to consider their marketing priorities when dealing with debt. Such a methodology should take into account three important factors: a forecast of the dynamics of market capacity, the company’s final results in the past period and the priority goals that the company sets for itself for the future period.
2. Accounts receivable need to be learned to plan and measure. This problem should be solved by the timely supply of information for planning and control.
3. It is important to follow the procedure for deciding whether to grant a deferment to a new client. Always start by checking that it meets the established criteria. This can be facilitated by various systems for verifying counterparties, for example the paid platform “Counter.Focus”. The economic security department is provided with a full report on the current state of the company, from which it can be concluded whether a deferred payment should be allowed or not.
4. Maintain healthy working relationships and make lasting connections from the very beginning. If you want to avoid delays, also strive to fulfill your obligations on time and develop close working relationships with all your business clients. Also just make a few personal calls to finance departments.
5. In our age of technology, some companies, unfortunately, still use regular Russian mail to send urgent documents. If you want to speed up the process of issuing invoices, you can consider sending them by email using a template. While sending by regular mail may cause your invoices to be delayed for a few more days.
6. Offer multiple bill payment methods. If you want to get paid on time, then give your customers as many options as possible, for example, some prefer to pay their invoices via PayPal or with a credit card. Additionally, you may want to consider using an electronic funds transfer (EFT), which allows customers to make transfers from their bank account to yours if they have the required details.
7. Managing accounts receivable can take a lot of time and energy. One option to reduce your workload while increasing your cash flow is to hire an accounting firm to handle your finances.
8. Set clear rules up front and inform your clients of all the details before signing any agreements.
9. Carefully prepare and check the required package of documents accompanying the transaction.
10. Develop and implement a program for working with overdue debts. It itself may vary depending on a number of circumstances, but the principles of its construction should not be changed, namely:

• All actions of your company to implement the debt collection procedure must immediately reach the senior management of the debtor company.
• For each category of clients, a system of sanctions must be invented, which varies depending on the amount of debt and the length of delay in payment.
• If the situation with the debtor company worsens, a higher level of decision makers should be involved.
• Be sure to record all facts of contacts and negotiations.

In this debt collection business process, the solution to one main issue must be recorded: whether or not to continue shipments in the presence of overdue receivables.

It should be noted that the dynamics and structure of accounts receivable are largely determined by the effectiveness of monitoring and control over the execution of payment orders. It is important to take into account all intermediate results of preliminary, current and subsequent control over receivables.

Preliminary control:

• Determining the possibility of commercial lending
• Formation of an enterprise's credit policy
• Development of a payment calendar, etc.

Current control:

• Immediate shipment to the buyer
• Reminder to debtors about repayment deadlines
• Control of cash receipts, etc.

Subsequent control:

• Comparison of planned and actual accounts receivable indicators
• Assessing the impact of accounts receivable on the overall financial condition
• Budget adjustments, etc.

Accordingly, all proposed activities and steps are exclusively individual for different enterprises. The main thing is to find the right ones specifically for your company, make a forecast for the situation in the future, what the probable value of accounts receivable may be for you, how to effectively free up free cash and prevent the occurrence of bad debts.

Conclusion: Analysis of accounts receivable allows us to conclude whether the company has problems with debtors. The main question becomes whether there is an increase in overdue debt. Effective management of accounts receivable requires the use of a systematic and comprehensive approach, which cannot be reduced to solving any problems taken separately. To effectively strengthen control over receivables, it is advisable to develop and approve regulations on the management and timely control of them, in which the algorithm for working with debt should be described in detail. It should focus on the timely detection of overdue debt, procedures for its collection and the appointment of responsible persons for the implementation of the above measures.

Thus, any work that is related to accounts receivable requires the development of decision-making regulations in more detail, allowing one to assess benefit and risk, as well as compare them with each other.

Bibliography:

1. Artemenko V. G., Ostapova V. V. Analysis of financial statements: textbook. – 5th ed., reprint. – M.: Omega – L, 2013.
2. Babichev S.N., Labzenko A.A. Factoring. - M.: Publisher: Market - DS.2011.
3. Voiko A.V. “Assessing the influence of accounts receivable on the formation of financial results of an enterprise” // Financial Management. -2010. -No. 4.
4. Zhikin A.B. The role of factor analysis in substantiating the enterprise’s needs for managing accounts receivable // Current problems of socio-economic development of Russia. - 2011. -No. 1.
5. Kondrakov N.P. Accounting: Textbook / N.P. Kondrakov. - 7th ed., revised. and additional - M.: NIC INFRA-M, 2014.
6. Petrov A. M. Control over the movement of receivables and payables // Modern accounting, 2014. - No. 9.
7. Rogova E.M., Afanasyeva A.M. Management of receivables of machine-building enterprises. – St. Petersburg, 2015.
8. Sokolova N. A. Management of accounts receivable: methods of collecting obligations // Accounting, 2015. - No. 9.
9. Strazhev V.I. Accounting Theory.-M.: Publisher: Vysshaya Shkola.2012.
10. Sutyagin V. Yu. Accounts receivable: accounting, analysis, assessment and management: Textbook / V. Yu. Sutyagin, M.V. Bespalov. - M.: INFRA-M, 2014.

Reviews:

05/29/2017, 17:40 Borovsky Vladimir Naumovich
Review: The article is good, I recommend it for publication. Sincerely, Borovsky V.N.

- this is the amount of debts owed to the company by legal entities and individuals for products supplied, work performed or services rendered. It is confirmed by contracts or primary accounting documents drawn up in accordance with the requirements of national accounting standards.

The presence of accounts receivable indicates the normal functioning of the company. But, like any type of asset, it must be managed and the formation of overdue assets must be prevented.

Accounts receivable analysis is an important economic tool

Unjustified growth of accounts receivable leads to a constant shortage of funds.

And this in turn leads to negative consequences:

• appearance;
• lack of inventory;
• increasing need for borrowed funds.

And as a result, additional losses arise:

• additional losses in the form of penalties and interest for using loans;
• reduction in production volumes;
• increase in cost;
• decrease in profits.

In order to maintain a stable financial position at the enterprise, it is necessary to conduct a monthly (quarterly) analysis of accounts receivable. In theory, there are many techniques. In practice, financial analysts recommend performing the following complex.

1. Determination of the share of accounts receivable in the total amount of current assets.
2. Assessment of composition and structure.
3. Calculation of the debt repayment period and its turnover.
4. Studying the influence of internal and external factors.
5. Determination of the portion of bad debts in the total volume of accounts receivable.
6. Comparison of accounts payable and receivable volumes.

Based on the information received, it is necessary to draw organizational and managerial conclusions and constantly improve work efficiency.

Management methods

Accounts receivable management involves performing a number of activities:

• operational;
• preliminary verification of potential clients at the stage of pre-contractual work;
• legal support of each transaction;
• reliable accounting;
• through the court.

Competent behavior at the stage of preliminary and contractual work allows you to minimize the risk of non-payment.

To do this you need:

1. Conduct diagnostics of potential counterparties (check the charter, extract, availability of necessary licenses).
2. Check the powers of the persons signing the agreement (passport, power of attorney, protocol).
3. Assess the economic result of the transaction, taking into account currency regulation, tax risks, and payment of additional expenses.

Financiers believe that thanks to software, making payments through the Client-Bank system has become quite simple to ensure daily accounting of accounts receivable. At the same time, this will allow timely identification and take measures. If necessary, remind the client (by phone, fax or email) about an existing debt, check the received payment.

Debt repayment can be done in different ways:

• transfer to current account:
• offset of counter similar claims;
• assignment of claims;
• bill form of payment.

When the payment deadlines specified in the contract have passed and the counterparty has not paid, it is necessary to prepare and send a claim to him. The legislation does not define the exact form. It must indicate:

• full name of the company and contact numbers;
• the circumstances on the basis of which the claim was made;
• evidence confirming the existence of these circumstances with reference to regulations and accompanying documents;
• the applicant's requirement;
• sum;
• list of attached documents.

The letter of claim is signed by the manager or his authorized person. Sent by registered mail with notification. If there is no response from the debtor a statement of claim is prepared and documents are submitted for collection in court. In addition to the principal debt, the statement of claim indicates the amount of penalties and fines.

Typically, financial specialists offer postponing payment dates to a later date, drawing up a payment schedule, reducing penalties, or other options acceptable to both parties.

For example, the payment deadline under the contract is set for April 10, the money was not received in the current account on the specified day, then you need to remind about the debt on April 11 in any possible way (telephone conversations, email). If there is no payment within a month, it makes sense to send a letter of claim.

If the buyer explains the reasons for non-payment and offers other ways to repay the debt, you can draw up a payment schedule with installments or deferred payment. This measure of reducing overdue receivables is used in exceptional cases when the delay is truly justified and does not entirely depend on the buyer (external and economic factors, insufficient financing).

It must be remembered that correctly executed primary accounting documents are also an important trump card in . Therefore, great attention should be paid to meeting the requirements of accounting policies, document flow schedule, financial or credit policy. According to statistics, a large percentage of non-refundable payments occur due to the human factor: didn’t finish checking, forgot, didn’t list.

Internal control, timely inventories and reconciliation of settlements with counterparties are of great importance in the enterprise. In order to increase the efficiency of collecting overdue debts, you can issue an order (instruction) from the manager on the procedure for working with debtors and the persons responsible for this area of ​​work. To increase employee motivation, provide cash payments for particularly high performance results.

Optimization of accounts receivable is an important element of the management system, which allows you to reduce excess debt and eliminate overdue ones.

For this purpose, financial accounting experts recommend:

1. rank debts by timing;
2. compile a register of “aging” accounts;
3. timely forecast possible amounts of bad receivables;
4. quarterly calculate financial ratios and analyze the results obtained;
5. form a base of reliable clients;
6. revise the maximum amount of trade credit;
7. formulate in advance an acceptable settlement procedure for the future period.

For example, the use of the 1C: Accounting software package significantly reduces the time spent on analytical work and errors that arise as a result of transferring data from accounting registers. The output forms of the program allow you to obtain the most useful information and quickly make the right management decisions regarding the debtors of the organization and the release of products with existing debt.

External accounts receivable management

Each enterprise is trying to expand its activities, develop new types, and enter the world market.

In addition to the language barrier, there is a need to study the main features of the legislation of another country, the procedure for concluding transactions and currency regulation. External debt requires special attention.

In order to avoid delays when concluding a contract, it is possible to provide transfer of advance payments, bank guarantee or other progressive forms of payment. To reduce this, you can contact professional lawyers specializing in foreign economic activity. If necessary, they will prepare a legal opinion and analyze foreign economic contracts and other documents.

External debt requires separate accounting. All subtleties and nuances associated with carrying out activities outside the country are indicated in the accounting policies of the enterprise.

Questions related to currency regulation, the transfer procedure can be check with the company's bank. When carrying out foreign economic activity, it will be important to implement measures developed for use on the territory of the country. Only deliberate and reasonable actions will yield results in managing receivables and preventing them from becoming overdue.

Methods for returning receivables

The key to successful business activity of every company is rational, appropriate spending of funds. As a result of mutual settlements with the budget, counterparties, and personnel, an obligation to the organization may be formed. Therefore, it is important to understand how the reduction of accounts receivable affects the economic activity of a legal entity and what methods can be used to achieve the desired results.

Analysis of the reduction in receivables

Accounts receivable (RA) are the total obligations of counterparties to the enterprise under contractual obligations, taken into account in monetary terms. In fact, the amount of receivables characterizes the volume of financial resources withdrawn from the company’s turnover for a certain time. Therefore, the size of the debt has a priority impact on the well-being of the organization, its ability to increase assets, fulfill payments and terms of agreements on time.

It is possible to identify the main reasons for the formation and increase of accounts receivable arrears.

Internal factors

These include:

• Lack of, non-compliance with credit policy.
• Incorrect regulations for working with accounts receivable.
• Irrational spending of finances.
• The tactics for choosing a counterparty for cooperation have not been developed.
• Incorrect transfers.
• Difference in terms of fulfillment of obligations under the terms of the contract.
• There is no system for motivating financial service employees with a focus on positive results.
• Lack of control and debt monitoring.
• Inaccuracies in primary documentation.
• Inaccurate accounting and tax information.

Improper financial management leads to an increase in receivables

External sources

This may include:

• Decrease in solvency, failure of the counterparty's production.
• Unstable economic situation in the country.
• Jumps in currency rates.
• Force majeure circumstances.
• Monopoly in a given area of ​​goods and services.
• Bankruptcy, client liquidation, etc.

The dynamic growth of debt may indicate both the expansion of business activity and short-sighted plans and imprudent mutual settlements with counterparties. Among the advantages of increasing obligations, we highlight the expansion of production, the circle of suppliers, buyers, and the formation of a worthy status in the market. There are much more negative aspects of a high level of PD:

• Deficiency of assets to meet own needs and mandatory urgent payments.
• The risk of non-fulfillment of agreements by the debtor.
• An urgent need to attract borrowed funds to replenish equity capital, accompanied by additional costs.
• Decline in wealth, decrease in the company’s payment function.
• The need to spend additional resources on debt collection (material, temporary, labor), etc.

Reducing total receivables means the following:

• The effective work of the financial and marketing service for contact with clients has been established.
• A clear settlement and payment policy has been organized.
• Good financial turnover has been formed.
• The circle of reliable counterparties with a high level of diligence has been expanded.
• The organization's assets grow, and the opportunity arises to stabilize and strengthen economic activity.
• Additional funds allow us to modernize, reconstruct, and improve the production cycle.
• Risks and costs for claiming RD are reduced.
• It becomes possible to form a positive business reputation.

It is worth considering that the dynamics of reduction in accounts receivable may indicate negative aspects. Particularly dangerous situations for companies:

• Counterparties return the money, refusing to cooperate.
• The accounting department made accounting errors, and a false picture of mutual settlements emerged.
• A sharp decline in the lender's production activity was recorded.
• The debtor is liquidated, the outstanding receivable is written off as expenses, etc.

Receivables' repayment periods may increase or decrease depending on various factors.

Debt reduction factors

The main reasons influencing the reduction of accounts receivable arrears of the organization are put forward:

• The deadline for fulfilling obligations under the terms of the transaction has arrived.
• Contractual relationships have been optimized.
• Encouraging clients to pay off debts by providing discounts, bonuses, and attractive offers.
• Increasing the solvency of the counterparty.
• An internal audit of the state of accounting, tax accounting, and the correctness of transactions was carried out.
• Settlement of mutual claims with clients.
• Strict control over the distribution of financial flows has been introduced.
• Regulations for working with remote sensing have been drawn up and implemented.
• Detailed study of the supply market and the range of potential clients.
• Repayment of debts by alternative ways and means (bills, forgiveness, donation, assignment).
• Application of requirements for additional security for transactions, etc.

Methods for optimizing accounts receivable

An institution can prevent the formation of debt by creating a clear settlement plan. It is important in financial and economic activities to use one’s own funds, then the amount of additional costs is reduced.

The company must carefully select clients for cooperation, thoroughly study and agree on the terms of the transaction. Before signing a contract, the maximum possible set of constituent documents is required, the client’s rating on the market, his solvency and diligence in relation to other organizations and individuals are studied. The company is recommended to use a system of standards for assessing potential clients and employees.

To prevent the growth of receivables, you can expand the staff

Today there are publicly available services for checking counterparties: the tax website, a file of arbitration cases, a register of enforcement proceedings in the FSSP, etc. Additional ways to reduce potential risks can be considered the introduction and application of penalties, clear stages in working with debtors. For example, for debt on utility services, contracts for the population provide for a clause to stop supply if there is a debt to the housing and communal services.

We list measures to reduce the company's existing accounts receivable.

Dedicated customer service

In large enterprises with a large number of counterparties, it is recommended to organize a special marketing and planning department. Officials will engage in a detailed analysis of the state of mutual settlements, develop and implement effective tactics for selecting companies for cooperation. Additionally, employees will select the most favorable conditions, the content of contracts for the future and submit proposals for optimization of existing transactions for consideration.

For example, an urgent need to form a separate service arises among financial and credit institutions when among their many clients there are not only legal entities, but also individuals. In this situation, selection and analysis of the most acceptable contract conditions are required.

To reduce companies' receivables, the bank may impose a large fine for non-fulfillment of obligations. For citizens, among the terms of the transaction, it is possible to include the possibility of the debt being written off without acceptance from the debtor’s personal account if the money is not received by the creditor within the prescribed period.

Revision of payment schedule

The mitigation of the requirements of the agreement will allow the company to reduce economic risks and costs. An alternative option is to provide the defaulter with a deferment (factoring), installment plan, or restructuring. Then the counterparty gains the opportunity to restore solvency, and the creditor as a result achieves full satisfaction of the claims.

Negotiations will help find a solution to avoid an increase in receivables

Let’s say that at the end of the reporting period, a legal entity consumed a certain amount of electricity, but did not transfer funds. For failure to comply with the terms of the contract, the company faces the risk of cutting off the supply of light. Such a measure will lead to a complete stop of activity, so the head of the debtor company negotiates with the supplier and offers to give them a deferment of three weeks. This period is not critical for the lender; moreover, it allows you to receive money and maintain cooperation with the client.

Contact with the debtor

At the stage of pre-trial dispute resolution, it is important to continuously work with the client so as not to delay collection. Initially, the debtor is sent notifications, written claims, and offers to fulfill the obligation within a specific period. Negotiations are carried out with the debtor through a personal meeting, phone call, or email correspondence.

Based on the results of the discussions, the parties can enter into a settlement agreement and reconsider the terms of the deal. A possible option for providing a guarantor to the lender on the part of the borrower is to secure the contract. Thus, under a mortgage lending agreement, the loan recipient provides real estate as collateral.

Incentives for counterparties

High rates of fulfillment of obligations by debtors are recorded with the introduction of an incentive system. The contractor provides a discount on services to the customer for early payment of the advance payment. It is important to pre-calculate the profitability of such activities on the part of the contractor, so that the company’s activities continue to generate profits, and the diligence of clients increases the turnover of funds.

Reward system for financial services

The head of an enterprise can introduce a bonus mechanism for officials not only for a high level of sales, but also for achieving timely fulfillment of contractual obligations by clients. If the service does not perform efficiently, employees lose a certain share of their remuneration. Thus, an integral relationship between the level of professionalism and wages is formed.

Providing discounts can encourage faster payments.

List of untrusted clients

Based on the results of the execution of contracts and the state of mutual settlements, the company’s marketers compile a list of counterparties with whom further cooperation is unacceptable. It is important not to make deliveries or transfer advances to these persons under any circumstances, as the lender risks losing resources.

Trial

If the debtor does not want to make contact, peacefully resolve the dispute, the case is referred to the court. Then the defaulter is held accountable in the form of forced collection of receivables through the seizure of funds and property. The procedure has a lot of negative consequences for the debtor: restrictions on activities, territorial movement, the right to drive transport for individuals, arrest and sale of property.

Let's define the main stages of working with counterparties who have not fulfilled their obligations within the established period:

• Appointment of a personal meeting of managers and authorized representatives.
• Conducting telephone and postal negotiations.
• Submitting a written claim or notification.
• Application of penalties.
• Filing a claim in court.
• Monitoring the execution of the arbitration award by bailiffs.
• Closing accounts receivable.

If peaceful means of resolving the issue are ineffective, the proceedings are transferred to court

The main measures to reduce accounts receivable and work with non-executive debtors are highlighted:

• Organizing sales, increasing capital turnover.
• Classification of debtors.
• Approval of a debt limit for a group of counterparties.
• Forecasting profit and cash.
• Refinancing of obligations.
• Monitoring the financial condition of the defaulter.
• Preparation of a system of benefits and discounts for reliable clients.
• Analysis of the ratio of receivables and payables.
• Finding alternative ways to pay off arrears.
• Submitting claims to court.
• Hedging (insurance) of risks, etc.

Analysis of the procedure for reducing arrears

The result of working with counterparties to fulfill contractual obligations is assessed using the following methods:

• Compiling the dynamics of financial receipts and rating the solvency of clients.
• Formation of periodic reporting with calculation of relevant economic indicators.
• Conducting continuous monitoring and auditing of accounting records.
• Conducting a comparative analysis of the state of mutual settlements in the context of previous periods.
• Diversification of production activities.
• Checking the differentiation of credit policy.
• Monitoring the state of the market economy, exchange rates.
• Assessment of the company's strategic and tactical activities.
• Analysis of the implementation of credit, payment and settlement policies.
• Checking the completeness of debt collection actions, etc.

The steps for assessing receivables are shown in the figure below:

Economic analysis of receivables includes the calculation of the following indicators:

• The share of receivables in the total volume of working capital on the balance sheet.
• The percentage of doubtful and bad debts in the total arrears.
• Structuring obligations by type.
• The value of absolute savings of equity capital.
• The growth rate of accounts receivable in relation to the amount of revenue.
• Investment efficiency.
• Turnover ratio, turnover period.
• Reinforcement rate, etc.

The most popular of the listed standards is the turnover index. It shows how quickly financial resources are returned to the company’s disposal and can again participate in the production cycle.

How do debts arise and how relevant is this problem to the Russian economy? Why don't Russian organizations fulfill their obligations? According to research by various experts, debtors do not pay their obligations for the following reasons:

– due to lack of working capital (no money) – 60%;

– intention to extract additional profit from the current situation (i.e., actually get a free loan) – 30%;

– for no apparent reason – 10%.

For these reasons, all debtors can be divided into three main groups. The first, the “poor,” are debtors who might like to pay, but do not have the means. In other words, they “want to pay, but cannot.” The second group of debtors, the so-called dynamists, are those who pay only when they are very strongly “asked” or “pressured” to do so, i.e. “they can pay, but do not want to.” And finally, the third group is professional scammers. They work purposefully, have a wide arsenal of defense methods, but there are few of them.

The volume of unfulfilled obligations in the Russian economy as of May 2006 is approaching 3 trillion rubles. For comparison: the volume of tax debts is approximately 1 trillion rubles. The ratio of executed writs of execution to initiated enforcement proceedings is about 60%.

Thus, we can conclude that the Russian executive system is not working very effectively. The volume of mutual obligations in the country's economy is enormous, and there are no serious incentives to fulfill obligations. Rather, on the contrary, organizations are incentivized not to fulfill their obligations.

Exclusive expert opinion:

N. Kushim, I. Vishnevskaya, 2K Audit -

Business consultations

Many Russian organizations bear serious risks when faced with the problem of insolvency and unreliability of their partners. Due to the growth of accounts receivable, a shortage of working capital arises, and this already threatens the solvency of the organization itself.

Is it possible to effectively manage debts or at least minimize the negative consequences of their occurrence? And how to do this? First, let's understand the terms.

Debt is any unfulfilled monetary obligation that arose on the grounds provided for by the Civil Code, i.e., an obligation to pay money.

Debtors are individuals or legal entities who, as a result of failure to fulfill any obligations, owe a certain amount of money.

Accounts receivable is the total amount of debt owed by debtors as of a certain date.

Current accounts receivable is the amount of accounts receivable that arises during the execution of a project and will be repaid before its completion or within one year after the balance sheet date.

Long-term accounts receivable - the amount of accounts receivable that do not arise during the course of any project or will be settled one year after the balance sheet date. Repayment of current receivables can be expected in the near future, and long-term receivables in the longer term.

Doubtful debt is a receivable for goods, services or work for which there is doubt that it will ever be repaid by the debtor.

Uncollectible receivables are receivables for which it is certain that they will never be repaid by the debtor or for which the statute of limitations has expired. If in relation to a doubtful debt there are only doubts about its repayment, then for a bad debt there are no doubts that it will never be repaid.

1.2. Pre-contractual measures to reduce the risk of overdue debt

There are pre-contractual measures to reduce the risk of overdue receivables. What needs to be done before concluding an agreement with a potential client in order to minimize the possibility of problems associated with the counterparty’s failure to fulfill its obligations? First, diagnose potential counterparties. In particular, you can ask the counterparty for copies of constituent documents (preferably notarized). If he refuses to provide them, it will look quite suspicious, and you should think about whether it is worth continuing cooperation with this organization if such problems arise already at the stage of concluding the contract.

If the organization decides to continue cooperation, there are other ways to obtain the necessary documents. Thus, copies of constituent documents (charter and constituent agreement) and a current extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE) can be requested from the tax office. To do this, you need to submit a request to the tax office with which the legal entity – the potential counterparty – is registered. A legal entity is registered with the tax office serving the territory where its legal address is located (location of the organization).

The request can be submitted by any person, both legal and natural. The Unified State Register of Legal Entities, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 51 of the Civil Code and paragraph 1 of Article 6 of the Law on State Registration of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs, is open and publicly available. You can request either an extract from this register or copies of the constituent documents (charter and constituent agreement), certified by the stamp of the tax office.

An extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities contains all the basic information about the legal entity, including:

– full and abbreviated name;

– organizational and legal form;

– address (location);

– information about the founders;

– information about the manager (director, general director);

– information about received licenses;

– information about bank accounts.

The extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities contains a lot of other information.

A response to a request in the form of an extract and (or) constituent documents of a legal entity can be received no later than five days from the date of submission of the request to the tax office.

Having received these documents, you can understand that the agreement is planned to be concluded with this organization, find out who its founders and leader are, i.e. the person who has the authority to sign the agreement.

If an organization plans to sign an agreement, according to which the counterparty is obliged to perform work or provide services that are subject to licensing, it is necessary to pay attention to whether it has the necessary licenses.

It is necessary to check the authority of persons to sign the agreement, including checking the passport of the citizen who will directly sign the agreement on the part of the counterparty, and also ask to present the decision of the general meeting of participants or shareholders on the election of the general director (if he signs the agreement) or power of attorney (if the agreement is signed by the person acting on its basis).

It is necessary to carefully study the charter of a potential counterparty, since the constituent documents of a legal entity may limit the powers of the executive body to conclude transactions. In addition, the powers of the executive body may be limited by law. Thus, for a limited liability company, a major transaction is a transaction or several interrelated transactions related to the acquisition, alienation or possibility of alienation by the company, directly or indirectly, of property, the value of which is more than 25% of the value of the company’s property, determined on the basis of financial statements for the last reporting period, preceding the day of making a decision to carry out such transactions. To conclude large transactions, it is necessary to comply with the procedure for their approval provided by law.

The decision to carry out a major transaction is made by the general meeting of the company's participants. If a company has formed a board of directors, making decisions on major transactions related to the acquisition, alienation or possibility of alienation by the company of property, the value of which is from 25 to 50% of the value of the company’s property, may be attributed by the charter to the competence of the board of directors. However, the charter may provide that major transactions do not require a decision from either the general meeting of the company’s participants or the board of directors.

Therefore, if a transaction falls under the characteristics of a major transaction for the counterparty, it is necessary to have minutes of the general meeting of the company’s participants or a decision of the board of directors to approve the major transaction.

For joint-stock companies, a transaction (including a loan, credit, pledge, guarantee) or several interrelated transactions related to the acquisition, alienation or possibility of alienation by the company directly or indirectly of property, the value of which is 25% or more of the book value of the company’s assets, is considered to be large. according to its financial statements as of the last reporting date. The exception is transactions made in the normal course of business of the company, related to the placement by subscription of ordinary shares of the company and the placement of issue-grade securities convertible into ordinary shares of the company.

The following procedure has been established for the approval of major transactions in joint stock companies. A major transaction must be approved by the board of directors (supervisory board) of the company or the general meeting of shareholders. The decision to approve a major transaction, the subject of which is property, the value of which is from 25 to 50% of the book value of the company's assets, is made by all members of the board of directors (supervisory board) unanimously. In this case, the votes of retired members of the board of directors (supervisory board) of the company are not taken into account.

If unanimity of the board of directors (supervisory board) of the company on the issue of approval of a major transaction is not achieved, by decision of the board of directors (supervisory board) this issue may be submitted for decision to the general meeting of shareholders. The decision to approve a major transaction is made by the general meeting of shareholders by a majority vote of shareholders - owners of voting shares participating in the general meeting of shareholders.

The decision to approve a major transaction, the subject of which is property, the value of which is more than 50% of the book value of assets, is made by the general meeting of shareholders with a three-quarters majority vote of shareholders - owners of voting shares participating in the general meeting of shareholders.

Therefore, if a transaction with an organization, which in its organizational and legal form is a joint stock company, is major for it, it is necessary to check the availability of the minutes of the general meeting of shareholders or the decision of the board of directors (supervisory board) to approve the major transaction.

Arbitrage practice

The closed joint-stock company filed a claim with the arbitration court to invalidate the agreement on the assignment of a right (claim) that the company had in connection with the performance of work under a contract, the cost of which was not paid by the customer. The amount of the claim exceeded 25% of the book value of the company's assets, but the decision to conclude the agreement was made solely by the general director. The organization in whose favor the claim was assigned objected to the claim, citing the fact that the agreement does not fall within the scope of Article 79 of the Law on Joint Stock Companies. The arbitration court satisfied the company's claim. The courts of appeal and cassation upheld the decision, recognizing the agreement as a transaction for the alienation of the company’s assets in an amount exceeding 50% of their book value (the transaction amount was 70% of the book value of assets), due to which a decision of the general meeting of shareholders was necessary for its conclusion, adopted by a majority of three-quarters of the votes (information letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated March 13, 2001 No. 62 “Review of the practice of resolving disputes related to the conclusion of major transactions and interested-party transactions by business companies”).

If the person signing the agreement on behalf of the organization acts on the basis not of the charter, but of a power of attorney, it is necessary to pay attention to ensuring that the signing of the agreement does not go beyond the powers listed in the power of attorney. In practice, sometimes there are situations when an organization trusts a citizen to represent its interests when concluding contracts or making other transactions for which the amount of obligations assumed does not exceed a certain amount.

This is a very important point. Verification of the authority of the person signing the contract should not be neglected. If the agreement is signed by a person who does not have the authority to act on behalf of another person, the transaction is considered to be concluded on behalf and in the interests of the person who completed it. This means that the agreement will be signed not with the organization in which the organization is interested in cooperation, but with the citizen who directly signed the agreement. Consequently, an agreement with the organization with which cooperation was intended was not concluded.

Arbitrage practice

LLC "Gidroenergotekhnoservis" filed a claim with the Arbitration Court of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) to recover debt from the Higher School of Music of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) for services provided for the operation and maintenance of a water treatment plant and a biological wastewater treatment plant , as well as losses caused as a result of late payments, totaling 1,022,323 rubles. 89 kopecks The court decision satisfied the claim in the amount of 777,795 rubles. 30 kopecks, the rest of the claim was rejected.

In the protest of the Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, it is proposed to cancel the decision and transfer the case for a new consideration. The Presidium considers that the protest must be satisfied on the following grounds. From the case materials it follows that the chief engineer of the Higher School of Music of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) signed agreements for the operation and maintenance of a water treatment plant and a biological wastewater treatment plant with Hydroenergotekhnoservice LLC. The Higher School of Music of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is a state institution financed from the republican budget.

In civil matters, the head of the school can act on behalf of the school (Article 53 of the Civil Code). The powers to carry out transactions were not transferred to the chief engineer by the charter or individual powers of attorney. In this regard, the court decision is subject to cancellation, and the case is to be transferred for a new trial.

The case was sent for a new trial to the same court (resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation of January 12, 1999 No. 5681/98).

Any serious transaction requires a comprehensive assessment of its economic effect, taking into account tax risks, transportation costs, currency regulation, etc.

When concluding a contract, it is important to take into account all the points. In practice, quite often one can observe cases when partners enter into a deal that is beneficial for all parties, and in the process of its implementation it turns out that one of the partners is forced to pay a tax, the existence of which he did not even suspect, as a result of which the deal becomes unprofitable for him. Or the parties do not provide for transportation costs in the contract, after which disputes arise about who should pay them.

When concluding an agreement, it is necessary to provide for the rights and obligations of the parties as fully as possible and take into account all possible risks. And finally, the most important in such a situation are the preventive conditions of contractual work, including the correct organization of document flow in the organization, i.e., high-quality forms of contracts, endorsement of each contract by lawyers, the procedure for signing invoices and other documents in the process of not only the implementation of contracts, but also the activities of the organization (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Conclusion of a civil contract

1.3. Possible debt management strategy

The choice of one or another debt management strategy depends on many factors taken into account during its formation: the liquidity of the debtor, the nature, volume and duration of the debt, the activity of the opponent, the specific region in which the debtor is located, the specific manager managing the project. The more interrelated factors a manager is able to take into account, the higher the likelihood of successful project implementation.

When filing a claim in court, it is necessary to take into account the location of the debtor and the amount of the debt, since participation in litigation in a court located in another region requires significant costs, which may ultimately cover the amount of the debt. In addition, it is important to pay attention to the liquidity of the debtor, otherwise there is a possibility that after receiving a court decision to collect a certain amount from the debtor, it will turn out that it is impossible to collect it, since he has neither funds in the bank account nor property.

When choosing a debt management strategy, you should not go beyond the protection of civil rights (Figure 2). The choice of how to protect civil rights lies with the creditor. He may choose one or more methods provided by law. However, in some cases, the implementation of one or another protection method may make it impossible to use another method.

Accounts receivable are classified as liquid assets, i.e. they can be easily converted into cash. Consequently, this debt may well be included in the working capital of the organization. Unfortunately, in practice it is not always possible to convert debt into cash. Since preventive measures are almost always more effective and much cheaper, receivables must be managed in a targeted manner.

Rice. 2. Possible ways to protect civil rights

It is important not only to return the money as soon as possible, but also to prevent a further increase in receivables.

The smaller it is, the sooner it is repaid, the lower the organization’s need for working capital and the higher the return on equity.

From the point of view of general marketing policy, accounts receivable are considered as a side effect of sales activities. In order not to lose existing clients and not to scare off future ones, you need to work with receivables carefully. Since in practice most often a situation arises in which the client wants to receive the goods as quickly as possible and pay for it as late as possible, the main emphasis when working with this debt should be placed not on its liquidation as such, but on establishing parity between commercial and financial interests of the organization. As a result, accounts receivable management must sacrifice short-term economic benefits to achieve long-term marketing goals, including maintaining and expanding the customer base.

1.4. Accounts receivable management methods

The size of accounts receivable is influenced by various factors, including market conditions, the scale of the organization’s economic activities, the existing system of mutual settlements with clients, the payment discipline of clients, the quality and consistency of work with this debt. All these factors must be taken into account when forming a credit policy. Only properly organized analytical work with receivables can bring the relationship between an organization and its debtors out of a state of chaos and confusion. Relations with debtors must be systematized.

There are the following main methods for systematizing accounts receivable. It is necessary to form customer credit rating, from which it would also be clear how important each client is to the organization. The criterion for rating the creditworthiness of clients should be the level of risk of non-payment of debt. This criterion, in turn, is determined by the client’s credit history.

– total experience of cooperation with the client;

– average monthly sales volume or cost of services provided to the client;

– the rate of turnover of the client’s receivables;

– amounts and terms of overdue receivables;

– assessment of the client’s importance for the organization (this can be prepared by the manager who is responsible for working with him).

Considering the credit rating of clients, it is necessary to determine criteria for granting a loan, including the terms of deferment of loan repayment; size and procedure for providing discounts; form of penalties.

One of the main methods of systematizing accounts receivable is compiling it classifications on various grounds: by debtors, terms, grounds for debt, etc.

It is necessary to classify existing receivables and evaluate their structure for the following purposes:

– determine the group of VIP clients who provide the organization with the greatest profit and whom it is undesirable to lose;

– identify a group of persistent defaulters from whom debt repayment can be demanded;

– find out the average overdue debt, the duration of its existence;

– determine the types of products or types of services, i.e., the areas of your own business that are most burdened with debt.

An effective method of systematizing accounts receivable is maintaining its registry, paying particular attention to overdue debts. One of the main tasks of the organization is to prevent the transition of receivables from the current category to the overdue category, and from there to uncollectible. This is why the register is maintained.

It is especially important to maintain a register of accounts receivable for VIP clients, since they are the most important clients for the creditor organization and provide the largest volume of sales or volume of services provided. As for the debtor clients from the group of persistent defaulters, it is better for the creditor organization to completely refuse further cooperation with them, unless, of course, this does not contradict its strategic interests.

It is necessary to carry out assessment of the real value and turnover rate of receivables.

Should be installed connection between the staff motivation system and the amount of accounts receivable. Thus, for a certain amount of revenue received from sales, the sales manager may be paid a bonus, and for overdue receivables, a fine in a predetermined amount may be charged.

It is advisable to formalize the system for providing loans and discounts in the form of internal standards of the organization. As a result, terms may vary depending on the customer's credit rating. Discounts, in turn, should be set depending on the assessment of the client’s importance, as well as the debt repayment period. The maximum allowable size is limited by the difference between the current and the estimated minimum acceptable profitability. In this range, clients may be provided with benefits in the form of discounts for the speed of debt repayment (prepayment, payment ahead of schedule, in cash).

The use of certain methods of managing receivables largely depends on the behavior of the debtor. In practice, three options for the debtor’s behavior are possible:

1) decency and punctuality. The debtor intends to repay the debt on time, honestly warns about the delay in payment, and intends to maintain further cooperation with the creditor;

2) indifference. As a rule, the debtor’s behavior is characterized by apathy and indifference; violation of payment deadlines; serious internal corporate problems;

3) dishonesty. The debtor neglects his obligations, is confident in the impunity of his behavior, is clearly not interested in a partnership with the creditor, and is confident that there will be no future relationship with him.

The creditor should also choose methods of influencing the debtor.

Accounts receivable management is based on the use of a large number of financial indicators. Moreover, ideally, the analysis of financial indicators should be carried out not only for the entire amount of receivables, but also for its individual items.

The results obtained during the analysis must be compared with the same indicators for previous periods, as well as with similar indicators in other organizations, of course, if this is possible. Unfortunately, there are no general statistics on accounts receivable turnover in the Russian economy. The maximum that organizations analyze is the inventory turnover ratio (the ratio of sales revenue to the average amount of inventory).

Each organization creates a set of analytical indicators, guided by its own information needs. As a rule, when analyzing accounts receivable, analysts of Russian organizations calculate the following: indicators:

– its total volume;

– volume of overdue debt;

– timeliness of payments;

– its actual turnover (total and separately for clients);

– dynamics of its repayment;

– average payment deferment period;

– average deferment repayment period;

– dynamics of movement of working capital, etc.

The calculation of these indicators allows you to control the outflow and inflow of working capital and maintain the minimum required level of available funds.

As practice shows, most Russian organizations constantly monitor the total volume of accounts receivable. At the same time, they pay much less attention to the timing of its repayment. This is largely due to the lack or imperfection of a receivables management system. Often, the heads of organizations or their divisions cannot obtain the necessary information about the timing of repayment of receivables, since their existing information systems are not able to ensure the formation of an appropriate report.

In addition to the volume and timing of receivables, most often the order of payments, receipts for each group of goods and for each debtor, and the occurrence of a critical level of debt for each debtor are monitored. As for the methods of influencing debtors, for this purpose, penalties, court proceedings, negotiations with debtors, suspension of the shipment of goods or provision of services, as well as changes in previously agreed payment terms are usually used.

In relation to Russian conditions, the following measures can be proposed that are aimed at improving the accounts receivable management system:

– refusal to further cooperate with clients with a low credit rating;

– periodic review of the maximum loan amount;

– using the possibility of paying it with bills of exchange;

– development of an action plan for working with each client, indicating deadlines, responsibilities, cost estimates and the resulting effect;

– entering information about the planned amounts of repayable debt into the organization’s financial plan with subsequent monitoring of its implementation;

– creation of a special group to work with it;

– development and approval of regulations on motivation based on the results achieved by the group working with it.

1.5. Other methods of dealing with non-payments

Unfortunately, in domestic practice, in contrast to international practice, such methods of managing receivables with the participation of banks as factoring, financial risk insurance or debt registration with a bill of exchange are not widespread enough.

Expert opinion

Factoring is the fastest growing segment of the international financial industry. Over the past 15 years, factoring turnover in the world has increased 10 times and reached $1 trillion. (Stepanyan T. // Banking Review, 2006. – No. 3).

Interest factoring is a fee calculated based on the amount of debt expressed as a percentage per annum and paid upon closing of factoring.

Discount factoring is a fee that takes the form of a discount, for example 3% of the debt amount, and is paid when factoring is opened.

Fierce competition in the market forces companies to set low prices by keeping profits at a minimum level. This situation does not allow creditors, in the event of a debt, to pay commissions to banks, and therefore, when working with debtors, to use such methods of managing receivables as factoring or processing the debt with a bill of exchange.

In conditions where, in order to successfully operate and develop in the market, every modern organization needs financial resources and protection from risks, especially in trade operations, factoring is a modern and flexible service that helps the entrepreneur find the right solution using working capital financing against the debtor's debt. It’s hard to come up with a full-fledged alternative to factoring. A short-term loan from a bank to replenish working capital is a one-time operation. In addition, for dynamically developing organizations, everything that can serve as collateral for the bank (production equipment, buildings) has already been registered as collateral for “long-term” loans.

Factoring is the most suitable solution for organizations that, along with an increase in sales volumes, rapidly increase the number of debtors and the costs associated with monitoring them and administering accounts.

However, the legislative framework for factoring is provided only for banks, which allows them to operate normally in this business. Organizations in the real sector of the economy have problems paying VAT. This tax is charged for discount factoring, but not for interest factoring.

In connection with the integration of Russia into the world economy, GDP growth, as well as an increase in foreign investment in the economy of our country, the need for adequate measures to protect against financial risks in business has increased. Russia's lag in the development of financial risk insurance services is due to imperfect legislation. The market for these services is regulated by the norms of the Civil Code, Tax Code, laws on the organization of insurance business, on joint stock companies, on banks and banking activities, on bankruptcy, etc. At the same time, despite the impressive list of regulatory documents regulating insurance activities in the field of financial risk insurance , The Civil Code of the Russian Federation does not contain such a concept as “financial risk”, there is only entrepreneurial risk. And the list of types of insurance established by the Law on the Organization of Insurance Business, on the contrary, contains such a concept as “financial risk insurance”, while each of the above types is specified in separate insurance rules.

In the near future, experts predict a surge in financial risk insurance in Russia, which will attract large foreign companies to the Russian market. At the same time, financial risk insurance should develop subject to the adaptation of Western standards to the Russian market. However, most of the Russian participants in this market will not be able to seriously compete with them.

In modern conditions, other schemes of influence on the debtor are more often used with the involvement of specialized “power” structures. As practice shows, efforts to “knock out” (sometimes literally) debts from unscrupulous debtors do not always give the desired result.

As for bill of exchange schemes, some organizations still try to use them, despite the need to pay for services to the bank. In connection with these circumstances, the main methods of managing accounts receivable in the Russian economy are:

– control of accounts receivable in real time (area of ​​responsibility of IT specialists and sales managers);

– preliminary verification of clients (the scope of responsibility of the security service, whose responsibilities should include collecting information about potential clients and subsequent influence on debtors);

– claims work (carried out by a specially created claims service and includes identifying debtors, structuring receivables, taking measures to collect receivables and, in case of non-payment of debt, applying to the judicial authorities).

The entire debt collection process can be divided into the following main stages:

– analysis of documents and an attempt to pre-trial debt collection;

– judicial procedure;

– enforcement proceedings;

– use of alternative methods of debt repayment.