A successful temporary recruitment agency is built on its client base. When you have multiple, high-end companies that rely on you for temporary workers, coming back time and time again whenever they need some extra support, your business will grow exponentially.  

You might be working with a specific type of client, or in a specific sector like healthcare, education, or logistics so that your candidates are all suited for the necessary roles.  

All of this is well and good, and if you have a solid relationship with your clients, business should be booming. However, things can change through no fault of your own, and your clients’ lack of funds could impact your profitability.  

Today we’re going to talk about what to do about clients’ debt, what to expect from debt protection, and why our service is essential for any growing temporary recruitment agency.  

 

What is Bad Debt? 

The temporary recruitment process is universal. A company that needs some support approaches you, you provide them with skilled temporary workers. The client pays you for this service via regular invoices, and you use these funds to pay the workers themselves.  

However, if your client fails to pay their invoices, they have what we call ‘bad debt’. They owe you money, money that you need to keep workers paid on time. Even with recruitment funding in place, this will have a noticeable impact, especially if it isn’t a one-off or you have multiple clients that aren’t paying.  

 

What Causes Bad Debt? 

There are a few reasons why your client can generate bad debt. The most common is an issue with their cash flow; they simply don’t have the funds to pay your invoices. This is a sign of bigger issues within their business, but there isn’t much you can do as a third-party provider other than preventing their problems from affecting you. It can be an isolated issue for that one client, or a bigger issue within their industry or the economy as a whole, in which case multiple clients may be affected.  

Another reason is that they missed the invoice. Communication breakdowns can happen at any time, especially if you aren’t in regular contact with your clients. If your emails are landing in a spam folder or being buried, it’s important to follow up or find another method of getting in touch so that it is paid when you need it.  

The invoices you send might also contain errors. If your team aren’t experienced with invoicing, or it’s one of many admin tasks they need to handle each week, mistakes can be easily missed but can cause major delays when your clients aren’t able to pay them. This will harm your reputation too, which could discourage clients from using your workers again in the future.  

This is why our all-in-one service is vital for temporary recruitment agencies, as providing invoicing support can prevent a number of other issues. But when it comes to preventing bad debt, there are two parts of our service that are more important.  

 

Bad Debt Protection and Credit Control 

Credit control and bad debt protection are two different parts of our service, but they go hand in hand. When you work with Back Office, you’ll have a dedicated credit controller whose main responsibility is to keep tabs on your clients, so that any bad debt is prevented or resolved before it affects you.  

This is done by conducting regular credit checks on your clients. If any are approaching their credit limit, we’ll contact them to give them a heads up, as well as reporting it to you, so we can work together to adjust the limit if you deem it necessary. Keeping you in the loop is important to us; we’ll provide regular reports so you know exactly what to expect each week and will even keep you informed of any upcoming changes within the recruitment industry.  

Communication is a key part of bad debt protection too. If invoices are being missed, either on purpose or accidentally, our human-focused approach will help you build a better relationship with each client. By keeping in regular contact, with the goal of getting to know your clients and their preferences, your invoices will be harder to miss, and any issues with them can be resolved quickly.  

As we said earlier, bad debt protection is helped by improved invoicing. When your invoices are being handled by our professional team, their accuracy will be much improved but will still have all your branding and details on them, so it isn’t obvious that you’re using a 3rd party provider.  

 

The Best Debt Protection Provider 

Debt protection is an essential part of our service, one that the temporary recruitment agencies we work with are always glad of if their clients are struggling with cash flow.  

We’re as invested in your success as you are, and seeing you grow gives us the motivation to continue helping both new and established recruitment agencies to provide the best temporary workers for their clients. Your credit controller will give you the freedom you need to focus on what you do best, and your team will no longer need to handle the time-consuming administrative tasks that take up half the work day.  

We also enjoy getting to know you and your business, building a personal but professional relationship that will last a long time. Both your credit controller and payroll account manager will start to feel like members of your work family, and they’ll help you maintain those clients you worked so hard to find.  

Instead of shopping around and relying on multiple back-office providers to get the support you need, trust one of the best in the business. Our all-in-one service gives you what you need, all for one competitive price.  

To find out more, or if you have any questions about us and what we do, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.