Collections Management: # 1 Payment Collection is All About Convenience
"Sir, can you come tomorrow? My manager wasn't available for the cheque sign-off", the customer said, avoiding eye contact.
Ravi forced a polite smile, but inside, he felt a sense of defeat. He had already visited the customer's office twice in the last three days. His scooter had become his constant companion, and his diary was filled with handwritten follow-up notes, partial payments and crossed-out reminders.
Ravi forced a polite smile, but inside, he felt a sense of defeat. He had already visited the customer's office twice in the last three days. His scooter had become his constant companion, and his diary was filled with handwritten follow-up notes, partial payments and crossed-out reminders.
It was mid-2005. There were no applications for collecting payment, and no digital follow-up process was available. Collecting payment means physically showing up at the customer's doorstep and waiting until someone hands over a cheque or cash.
The next morning, Ravi drives again.
"Good morning! I just came to check if the cheque...."
"Yes, yes... just wait for a few minutes", the person replied without looking up.
Those few minutes stretched into an hour, and when the cheque finally appeared, it was post-dated. Ravi didn't complain. He tucked the cheque into his diary, hoping it wouldn't bounce and he would remember to follow up on the deposit date. Payment collection was literally a chase back then, and most of you were like Ravi, who was always running behind the defaulters.
Losing Track of Payments
Weeks later, Ravi's manager asks, "Did we get the payment from Mr Kumar?
Ravi opens his diary and scans through pages filled with scribbles. "I think so.. or maybe that was Mr Krishnan. I'll have to check."
Ravi opens his diary and scans through pages filled with scribbles. "I think so.. or maybe that was Mr Krishnan. I'll have to check."
The real problem wasn't collecting the money alone; it was tracking them properly. When everything was manual, the risk wasn't non-payment, it was losing track of who paid, how much they paid and what was remaining. Missing follow-ups will obviously lead to delayed payments, and delayed payments will result in disruptions to cash flow. Most businesses don't fail because customers don't buy; they fail because they don't collect what they've earned, or they collect it too late.
Collection is All About Convenience
Fast forward to today. Nobody wants to sign cheques or wait for someone to pick them up. Customer expects flexibility and speed. Instead of "When can you collect the payment?" the conversation turned into,
"Do you accept UPI?"
"Can I pay using a card?"
"Just send me the payment link."
Modern customers don't want a process; they want a seamless experience. They want convenience. The easier it is for them to pay, the faster you get paid.
For businesses today, collecting payment efficiently requires more than just asking customers to pay. It requests a system that gives complete visibility into,
For businesses today, collecting payment efficiently requires more than just asking customers to pay. It requests a system that gives complete visibility into,
Which payments are collected?
Which ones are still pending?
Which customers need follow-ups?
At the same time, it must allow customers to pay however they prefer, whether in an offline or online mode of payment.
When Convenience Meets Control
Zoho Billing streamlines payment collection by consolidating everything in one place.
Businesses can record payments offline, such as when a customer pays via cash, cheque, or direct bank transfer, without losing track of them. Every payment can be documented with notes or reference details so that nothing slips through the cracks.
Businesses can record payments offline, such as when a customer pays via cash, cheque, or direct bank transfer, without losing track of them. Every payment can be documented with notes or reference details so that nothing slips through the cracks.
In the case of online payment, Zoho Billing moves payment collection from manual to effortless. The varied payment gateway integration that Zoho Billing processes facilitates easy payment collection. You send an invoice, and your customer chooses how to pay. They select a payment mode, such as UPI, Credit/Debit Cards, Net Banking, ACH, and so on, and complete the payment. The invoice acts as more than just a document directing customers to payment processing. No more chasing or follow-up required.
Detailed reporting on Payment collections helps businesses to understand their real business health. It displays invoices that are paid, along with the mode of payment, and unpaid, along with the due/overdue days. Ageing Reports in Zoho Billing provide greater visibility into the payment patterns of individual customers.
Level up with Payment Links
One of the most convenient features is the ability to send payment links. Payment links allow you to collect money without generating an invoice first. You send a link via WhatsApp, SMS, or email, and the customer pays instantly using their preferred payment method.
Consider a customer saying, "I'll confirm the booking, but I can't pay now".
Consider a customer saying, "I'll confirm the booking, but I can't pay now".
You can confidently say, "No problem, I'll send you a payment link. You can pay whenever you're ready within the next 7 days."
A few seconds later, the payment link is sent, and once the customer pays, Zoho Billing automatically updates the record.
Automated Reminders to Follow-up
Zoho Billing streamlines payments and ensures they are made on time. Payment reminders are sent automatically, removing the stress of manual follow-up. You can set multiple reminders based on the due date of an invoice that is sent before, on, or after the due date. By automating this, you no longer chase the customer but cross-check the reports.
Zoho Billing combines the most essential functions, including payment tracking, multiple payment options, secure payment link creation and sending, and automated reminders for overdue payments, among others.
Zoho Billing combines the most essential functions, including payment tracking, multiple payment options, secure payment link creation and sending, and automated reminders for overdue payments, among others.
When payment collection becomes convenient, the business gets paid faster and gains more confidence in its cash flow.
When payment collection becomes convenient, the business gets paid faster and gains more confidence in its cash flow.
Next: Automate Late Payment Charges
Access your files securely from anywhere
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Hari Hara Sudhan. S
Sticky Posts
Community Learning Series | Digest #5 — September 2020
Dear customers, We're happy to bring you the September edition of our #CommunityDigest! Keep track of your subscription KPIs right from your smartphone: Last month, we enhanced our Android mobile app to help our customers get daily updates on their business health. We got to know from a lot of customers that this has made their job much more easier because they no longer have to keep a reminder to manually check on the previous day's revenue or activations. If you have not downloaded it yet, here'sCommunity Learning Series | Digest #4 - August 2020
Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. I'm happy to bring you the fourth edition of our #CommunityDigest with some brand-new updates from us. 1. Daily Business Updates (for Android users) The Zoho Subscriptions Android app has got a cool new update: You can now get a push notification to your smartphone that lets you know how many activations and cancellations have taken place, and what's the net revenue for the previous day. The best part is, you can tell the app when exactly youCommunity Learning Series | Digest #3 - July 2020
Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. We're glad to bring you the July edition of our #CommunityDigest. New community members can view our previous newsletters here. This time, we have two major updates and three interesting topics for you: 1. Zoho Subscriptions Developer Community Since the inception of Zoho Subscriptions, our team believed that the recurring billing platform we provide should be able to offer an extensive API library that empowers businesses to automate mostIntroducing: Community Learning Series | Digest #1 - May 2020
Dear customers, We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Helping businesses manage their customer subscriptions more efficiently has always been, and always will be, our goal at Zoho Subscriptions. We strongly believe this is possible if we grow together as a community and share what we know with each other. To nurture this shared learning experience, here is our brand-new Community Learning Series! Welcome to the first edition of our digest! Each edition of our community digest includes guides
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho CRM Plus Resources
Zoho Books Resources
Zoho Subscriptions Resources
Zoho Projects Resources
Zoho Sprints Resources
Qntrl Resources
Zoho Creator Resources
Zoho CRM Resources
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
Zoho removed ability to see all Scheduled Reports!
If you are not the owner of a scheduled report, Zoho recently removed the capability to see each scheduled report. As an admin who relies on seeing all scheduled reports being sent, this is a terrible update. Now I cannot see ANY scheduled reports...even the ones I am being sent!! This should be a setting for admins to control. This is a bad update.Please can the open tasks be shown in each customer account at the top.
Hi there This has happened before, where the open tasks are no longer visible at the top of the page for each customer in the CRM. They have gone missing previously and were reinstated when I asked so I think it's just after an update that this featureAutomate Backups
This is a feature request. Consider adding an auto backup feature. Where when you turn it on, it will auto backup on the 15-day schedule. For additional consideration, allow for the export of module data via API calls. Thank you for your consideration.GCLID and Zoho Bookings
Is there anyway to embed a Zoho Bookings signup on a landing page and pass the GCLID information? More specifically, can this be done using auto-tagging and not manual tagging the GCLID? I know Zappier has an integration to do this but is there a betterMerge Items
Is there a work around for merging items? We currently have three names for one item, all have had a transaction associated so there is no deleting (just deactivating, which doesn't really help. It still appears so people are continuing to use it). I also can't assign inventory tracking to items used in past transactions, which I don't understand, this is an important feature moving forward.. It would be nice to merge into one item and be able to track inventory. Let me know if this is possible.Create PO from an invoice
We are a hardware and software sales company which receives orders over the internet. We drop ship most of our products from a warehouse outside of our company. Our orders get sync'd into Zoho from our store via onesaas as invoices. It would be greatBlueprint or Validation Rules for Invoices in Zoho Books
Can I implement Blueprint or Validation Rules for Invoices in Zoho Books? Example, use case could be, Agent confirms from client that payment is done, but bank only syncs transactions tomorrow. in this case, Agent can update invoice status to done, andResetting auto-number on new year
Hi everyone! We have an auto-number with prefix "D{YYYY}-", it generates numbers like D2025-1, D2025-2, etc... How can we have it auto-reset at the beginning of the next year, so that it goes to D2026-1? Thanks!Delivery and handling of documents e-stamped using Zoho Sign
Hello everyone! Zoho Sign makes it easy to pay non judicial stamp duty online and automatically attach the digitally generated e-stamp challan to electronic documents. We also manage the delivery of physical e-stamped papers. We periodically receive theseThe Social Wall: December 2025
Hello everyone! As we wrap up the final edition of the Social Wall for 2025, it’s the perfect time to look at what went live during December. QR code generator From paying for coffee to scanning metro tickets, QR codes are everywhere and have made everydayCustom AI solutions with QuickML for Zoho CRM
Hello everyone, Earlier, we introduced Custom AI Solutions in CRM that let you access QuickML for your custom AI needs. Building on that foundation, we’ve now enabled a deeper integration: QuickML models can be seamlessly integrated into CRM, and surfaceHelper Functions and DRY principle
Hello everyone, I believe Deluge should be able to use 'Helper functions' inside the main function. I know I can create different standalones, but this is not helpful and confusing. I don't want 10000 different standalones, and I dont want to have toAdd specific field value to URL
Hi Everyone. I have the following code which is set to run from a subform when the user selects a value from a lookup field "Plant_Key" the URL opens a report but i want the report to be filtered on the matching field/value. so in the report there isIntroducing workflow automation for the Products module
Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're happy to announce a few recent enhancements we've made to Bigin's Products module. The Products module in Bigin now supports Workflows, enabling you to automate routine actions. Along with this update,Power up your Kiosk Studio with Real-Time Data Capture, Client Scripts & More!
Hello Everyone, We’re thrilled to announce a powerful set of enhancements to Kiosk Studio in Zoho CRM. These new updates give you more flexibility, faster record handling, and real-time data capture, making your Kiosk flows smarter and more efficientZia Formula Expression Generator for Formula fields
Hello everyone! Formula fields are super useful when you want your CRM to calculate things for you but writing the expression is where most people slow down. You know what you want, but you’re not fully sure which function to use, how the syntax shouldWhere is the settings option in zoho writer?
hi, my zoho writer on windows has menu fonts too large. where do i find the settings to change this option? my screen resolution is correct and other apps/softwares in windows have no issues. regardsCRM project association via deluge
I have created a workflow in my Zoho CRM for closing a deal. Part of this workflow leverages a deluge script to create a project for our delivery team. Creating the project works great however, after or during the project creation, I would like to associateIssue with Zoho Creator Form Full-Screen View in CRM Related List Integration
Hi Team, We have created a custom application in Zoho Creator and integrated it into Zoho CRM as a related list under the Vendor module, which we have renamed as Consignors. Within the Creator application, there is a form named “Pickup Request.” InsideWrapping up 2025 on a high note: CRM Release Highlights of the year
Dear Customers, 2025 was an eventful year for us at Zoho CRM. We’ve had releases of all sizes and impact, and we are excited to look back, break it down, and rediscover them with you! Before we rewind—we’d like to take a minute and sincerely thank youDirectly Edit, Filter, and Sort Subforms on the Details Page
Hello everyone, As you know, subforms allow you to associate multiple line items with a single record, greatly enhancing your data organization. For example, a sales order subform neatly lists all products, their quantities, amounts, and other relevantCustomer Parent Account or Sub-Customer Account
Some of clients as they have 50 to 300 branches, they required separate account statement with outlet name and number; which means we have to open new account for each branch individually. However, the main issue is that, when they make a payment, theyDrop Down Value
Hi, May I know why Zoho Flow treat this drop down as number and not as string. If so, how can I fetch the right value for filtering. This field is from Creator, in Creator upon checking by default it is a string since it's not a lookup field.Projects custom colors replaced by default orange
Since yesterday, projects uploaded to Zoho, to which I had assigned a custom color, have lost the customization and reverted to the default color (orange). Has anyone else had the same problem? If so, how did you resolve it?How to manage task lists in Zoho Desk?
Hello, I use Zoho Desk for IT customer support. I have a list of standard operating procedures (SOPs), including SOPs for onboarding new users, offboarding users, losing a device, etc. These are lists of tasks to be performed depending on the situation.Creating a Chart from a Report
In Zoho Analytics, is it possible to create a chart from a Pivot View report? We are looking to use Zoho Analytics to replace Excel for Sales reports and would like to be able to show both the table and the chart together.Restrict Users access to login into CRM?
I’m wanting my employees to be able to utilize the Zoho CRM Lookup field within Zoho Forms. For them to use lookup field in Zoho Forms it is my understanding that they need to be licensed for Forms and the CRM. However, I don’t want them to be able toIntroducing Connected Records to bring business context to every aspect of your work in Zoho CRM for Everyone
Hello Everyone, We are excited to unveil phase one of a powerful enhancement to CRM for Everyone - Connected Records, available only in CRM's Nextgen UI. With CRM for Everyone, businesses can onboard all customer-facing teams onto the CRM platform toUnknown table or alias 'A1'
I would like to create a subquery but i am getting the following error: Unknown table or alias 'A1' used in select query. This is the sql statement: SELECT A1.active_paying_customers, A1.active_trial_customers, A1.new_paying_signup, date(A1.date_active_customers),in the Zoho creator i have address field based the customer lookup im selecting the addresss , some times the customer address getting as null i want to show as blank
in the Zoho creator i have address field based the customer lookup im selecting the addresss , some times the customer address getting as null ,i want to show as blank instead of showing null. input.Billing_Address.address_line_1 = ifNUll(input.Customers_Name.Address.address_line_1,"");Question about upgrade and storage space Zoho Notebook
After upgarding my Zoho Notebook plan, I am running into the following issue. I just upgraded from a free Zoho Notebook subscription to Pro Lite after I got a notification in my Window Zoho Notebook desktop app saying that I had run out of space. However,how to add email to existing organization i w
I am already registered my organization and i have an email id. I need one more email id but i can't find anywhere .i want the cheapest email id . how to add ?add zoho account
How to add a zoho mail to previous zoho account? I have twoName changed in settings for mailbox but still not changed when typed in To field
In the email account secretary@ i have updaetd the new staff members details but the old members name still appears when I type secretary@ in the To field. I cant work out where Zoho is finding the old name from. I have deleted the browser cache. If IPrinting to a brother label maker
I see allot of really old unanswered posts asking how to print to a label maker from a zoho creator app. Has their been any progress on providing the capability to create a customized height & width page or print template or whatever to print labels?Sync desktop folders instantly with WorkDrive TrueSync (Beta)
Keeping your important files backed up and accessible has never been easier! With WorkDrive desktop app (TrueSync), you can now automatically sync specific desktop folders to WorkDrive Web, ensuring seamless, real-time updates across devices. Important:Track online, in-office, and client location meetings separately with the new meeting venue option
Hello everyone! We’re excited to announce meeting enhancements in Zoho CRM that bring more clarity and structure to how meetings are categorized. You can now specify the meeting venue to clearly indicate whether a meeting is being held online, at theCalling the new 'Custom API' feature from within a Custom Widget
From what I've learned it is not possible to call an endpoint from the new "Custom API" feature within a Creator Widget. The SDK's doesn't support it yet, when calling it natively you end up with CORS issues or at least I couldn't get it working evenAnnouncing new features in Trident for Mac (1.32.0)
Hello everyone! We’re excited to introduce the latest updates to Trident, which are designed to reinforce email security and protect your inbox from evolving threats. Let’s take a quick look at what’s new. Deliver quarantined emails. Organization adminsMarketing Tip #5: Improve store speed with optimized images
Slow-loading websites can turn visitors away. One of the biggest culprits? Large, uncompressed images. By optimizing your images, your store loads faster and creates a smoother shopping experience leading to higher sales. It also indirectly improves SEO.Next Page