— Receivables management is defined as “the process of making
decisions relating to investment in the trade debtors”.
OBJECTIVES OF RECEIVABLES MANAGEMENT
To reach sales potential.
To survive competition.
Maintaining up-to-date records.
For efficient management of receivables, a concern must adopt a
credit policy.
extent of credit policy – related to decisions such as Credit
standards, length of credit period, cash discount, discount period etc.
Foreign accounts receivable present some additional challenges to a
business that are not present with domestic-based customers.
It is harder for a business to follow any overdue amounts from a business
in another country with a different legal system. One option for a business
is to simply trust the foreign customer to pay within the stated credit period
without demanding additional security, a method known as ‘open account’.
This option means the business faces a level of non-payment risk that
some businesses may find unacceptable.
Reducing investment in foreign accounts receivable
A company can reduce its investment in foreign accounts receivable by
asking for full or part payment in advance of supplying goods. However this
may be refuse to accept by consumers, particularly if competitors do not
ask for payment up front.
Another approach is for the seller (exporter) to arrange for a bank to give
cash for foreign accounts receivable, sooner than the seller would normally
receive payment.
Forfaiting
One method of doing this is forfaiting. Forfaiting involves the purchase of
foreign accounts receivable from the seller by a forfaiter. The forfaiter takes
on all of the credit risk from the transaction (without recourse) and therefore
the forfaiter purchases the receivables from the seller at a discount. The
purchased receivables become a form of debt instrument (such as bills of
exchange) which can be sold on the money market.
The non-recourse side of the transaction makes this an attractive
arrangement for businesses, but as a result the cost of forfaiting is
relatively high.
Forfaiting is usually available for large receivable amounts (over $250,000)
and also is only for major convertible currencies. It is usually only available
for medium-term or longer transactions.
Letter of credit
This is a further way of reducing the investment in foreign accounts
receivable and can give a business a risk-free method of securing payment
for goods or services.
There are a number of steps in arranging a letter of credit:
1. Both parties set the terms for the sale of goods or services
2. The purchaser (importer) requests their bank to issue a letter of credit in
favour of the seller (exporter)
3. The letter of credit is issued to the seller’s bank, guaranteeing payment to
the seller once the conditions specified in the letter have been complied
with. Typically the conditions relate to presenting shipping documentation
and dispatching the goods before a certain date
4. The goods are dispatched to the customer and the shipping documentation
is sent to the purchaser’s bank
5. The bank then issues a banker’s acceptance
6. The seller can either hold the banker’s acceptance until maturity or sell it on
the money market at a discounted value
As can be seen from the above process, letters of credit take up a
significant amount of time and therefore are slow to arrange and must be in
place before the sale occurs. The use of letters of credit may be considered
necessary if there is a high level of non-payment risk.
Customers with a poor or no credit history may not be able to obtain a letter
of credit from their own bank. Letters of credit are costly to customers and
also restrict their flexibility: if they are short of cash when the payment to
the bank is due, the commitment under the letter of credit means that the
payment must be made.
Collection under a letter of credit depends on the conditions in the letter
being fulfilled. Collection only occurs if the seller presents exactly the
documents stated in the conditions. This means that letters of credit
provide protection to both the purchaser and the seller. However, the seller
will not be able to claim payment if, for example, goods have been sent by
air but the letter of credit stated that shipping documents were required.
Countertrading
In a countertrade arrangement, goods or services are exchanged for other
goods or services instead of for cash.
The benefits of countertrading include the fact that it facilitates protection of
foreign currency and can help a business enter foreign markets that it may
not otherwise be able to.
The main disadvantage of countertrading is that the value of the goods or
services received in exchange may be uncertain, especially if the goods
being exchanged experience price unpredictability. Other disadvantages of
countertrade include complex negotiations and logistical issues, particularly
if a countertrade deal involves more than two parties.
Export credit insurance
Export credit insurance protects a business against the risk of non-payment
by a foreign customer. Exporters can protect their foreign accounts
receivable against a number of risks which could result in non-payment.
Export credit insurance usually insures the seller against commercial risks,
such as insolvency of the purchaser or slow payment, and also insures
against certain political risks, for example war, riots, and revolution which
could result in non-payment. It can also protect against currency
inconvertibility and changes in import or export regulations.
Export credit insurance therefore helps reduce the risk of non-payment, but
its’ disadvantages include the relatively high cost of premiums and the fact
that the insurance does not typically cover 100% of the value of the foreign
sales.
Export factoring
An export factor provides the same functions in relation to foreign accounts
receivable as a factor covering domestic accounts receivable and therefore
can help with the cash flow of a business. However, export factoring can be
more costly than export credit insurance and it may not be available for all
countries, particularly developing countries.
Other considerations
The purchaser may be able to get a local bank to guarantee payment to the
exporter, but this may only be suitable in an arrangement where the
purchaser has no power over the exporter.
General policies for foreign accounts receivable
None of the methods detailed above would allow the selling company to
escape from the basic fact that credit should only be given to customers
who are creditworthy.
A seller should insist that any payment is made in a convertible currency
and in a form which the customer’s authorities will permit to become
effective as a payment to the seller. This may mean, for example, that the
sale will be subject to clearance under exchange controls or any import
regulations.