The Access Group partners with Experian to help business’ combine financial and commercial data to assess credit risk

The new feature means businesses can more accurately assess the financial position and payment history of customers, significantly reducing credit risk, boosting opportunity for new business and providing a clearer picture of cash flow.

Late payments have long been a hindrance on cash flow for businesses across all sectors. According to Experian’s own Payment Performance data, businesses in the UK in December 2021 were paying invoices, on average, 12 days later than the agreed payment date against unpaid bills totalling over £5.9 billion. It is a real key challenge for finance teams looking to accurately forecast future cash flow.

Users of The Access Group’s finance and accounting software are now able to combine internal customer and supplier data with Experian’s Credit Risk Data to optimise credit terms. It gives businesses the opportunity to segment all customers, as well as suppliers and partners to identify payment history and build product and marketing strategies and campaigns that are more effective.

Brendan Flattery, managing director, ERP, at The Access Group, believes this insight is essential for businesses to forecast and project cash flow more accurately. He says:

“Cash flow is vital to all businesses, but especially small and medium enterprises who might not have the same access to cash as large businesses. It’s all well and good if your business is growing, sales are going up and demand is there, but if you aren’t regularly getting paid on time by a number of customers, it threatens all of the above.

“By teaming up with Experian, our customers can use its credit risk data to get a full understanding of their customer portfolio and where the payment risks lie. It means businesses can optimise payment terms to suit their customers - but that doesn’t just refer to reducing risk, they can also support customers who may have their own cash flow challenges to contend with. We saw lots of great examples of collaboration throughout the pandemic and this new combined insight can both protect businesses from payment risk but also encourage honest conversations and enable a collaborative approach to payments, reducing the amount of invoice chasing.

“Through The Access Group’s finance management suite, as part of Access Workspace, all teams from marketing, to sales, to finance in a business, have the same single view of this data. This means sales teams can upsell to customers who present a low-risk, marketing teams can aim campaigns at these same customers and your customer care and finance team can work closely with clients who might need help with payments.

“This new functionality is so important to cash flow, that The Access Group is using it to support our own customer and supplier relationships.”

Speaking on the launch of The Access Group’s new accounting feature, James McGarva, managing director of business information at Experian, says credit risk insights provide two key benefits to The Access Group customers:

“The principles of Experian’s credit risk data are two-fold. Where should I reign in trade credit limits or alter terms to reduce risk? And where can I increase trade credit limits or offer more favourable terms to win more business? Managing risk is key, but it's also an incredible tool for upselling and growing business too.

“Combining the client's internal data with Experian’s external view of their customers and suppliers enables them to have a more 360-degree view and thus be more proactive in their engagements through an optimised risk strategy.

“Overall, having a better all-round view on their client base is essential to managing cash flow and financial risks. This is the first time our data is being incorporated into a financial management solution and we are delighted to be able to support The Access Group and its customers.”

Currently, 2,400 customers across a number of sectors including manufacturing, retail, professional services, care and not-for-profit, use The Access Group’s finance management suite.