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Let’s begin this blog with a short story…

One cold Christmas, Scrooge forgets to pay his suppliers on time…

Three ghosts visit him – the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future.

The Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge on a journey through inboxes filled with unread repeat requests for payment.

Then, the Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge one of his suppliers, who has had a challenging year because of COVID and who is waiting desperately for payment. Their supply chain is at risk and they might struggle to pay their staff. Their business could even go under.

Finally, The Ghost of Christmas Future terrifies Scrooge by showing him visions of what might happen to his company if that all-important supplier goes bust. All those longstanding relationships and all that knowledge, experience, and resource vanish into the foggy night!

Or what if the shoe was on the other foot?

The ghosts’ journey through time teaches Scrooge the error of his ways. He has learnt a very important lesson. From now on, he pays all his suppliers on time, especially the small ones.

Knowing he has supported his fellow business owners, he enjoys his own Christmas so much more.

Support your local community

2020 has been a tough year for everyone but it has taught us many valuable lessons. One of the greatest ones has been the importance of looking out for one another. As lockdown has made our worlds smaller, community has come into sharp focus.

Supporting others in the business community is vital right now, as many feel the pinch of all the rules, restrictions, closures, and losses that have defined the pandemic. As a recruitment agency in Basingstoke, we hear stories of this struggle every day. We’re all in this together and need to look out for one another.

Be kind, pay on time

This might feel hard to do when we’re facing challenges within our own business. Teams might be shrinking, processes could have become more complicated, cashflow might be slower. But helping each other doesn’t have to mean grand gestures of charity or investment of extra time – it can be done in small, practical ways.

Perhaps the most simple way is to pay your suppliers on time before Christmas.

We know the festive season and end of year is super-busy for some of you, so here are 3 tips to help you do that.

1.Appoint a Christmas helper

We know you’re no Scrooge, you’re just busy and so is your team. So much of the time, unpaid invoices are just the result of not having someone around to process the invoice and get authorisation for payment.

But an innocuous case of disorganisation on the part of your business could create serious cashflow issues for your supplier. The ripple of effect of that is an unhealthy supply chain for everyone – so it pays you to pay them.

Our experienced recruitment team can find you temporary or permanent finance staff to equip your accounts payable department with efficiency that Santa himself will envy.

2.Plan ahead

The end of the month is typically when invoices get dealt with. This poses a problem in December when some of your accounts payable staff are likely to take holiday for festive plans and school holidays. As we are all too well aware, midwinter germs mean there might be more people off sick as well.

An invoice left unpaid until January because you’re short-staffed could mean your supplier can’t pay their staff on time before Christmas. In fact, most businesses want to be able to pay staff early to help them cover the costs of gifts, food, and travelling to see family. Those things feel especially important for Christmas 2020.

Talk to our finance recruitment experts if you need an extra pair of hands and we’ll find you someone to get on top of paying those invoices.

3.Get savvy with systems

Whichever system you use to manage payment of invoices, make sure your staff are trained on its full functionality. You’ll be surprised at how much can be automated, providing valuable time-savings during busy or understaffed periods.

If you usually regard the time between Christmas and New Year as a quiet time, beware of when you might schedule system maintenance. If there’s a backlog of invoices, or any last-minute arrivals, it could prevent timely payment.

Finance software is evolving at a rapid rate, so if you need fresh talent to help you bring in more modern systems that will streamline your processes, we can introduce you to those candidates.

Better days are coming to town

A lot has been said about kindness this year and the festive season is the perfect time to put those kinder intentions into action by paying suppliers on time. That way, we can all look forward to not just a happy Christmas – but hopefully a healthier and more prosperous local economy next year.

Recruiting for finance jobs in Basingstoke? We are here to help. Call us today on 01256 799127 or email maxine@wotestreetpeople.co.uk