Collections Management: # 1 Payment Collection is All About Convenience

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.

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."

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,
  • 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.

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".

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.

When payment collection becomes convenient, the business gets paid faster and gains more confidence in its cash flow.
Notes
Next: Automate Late Payment Charges

      Zoho Campaigns Resources


        • Desk Community Learning Series


        • Digest


        • Functions


        • Meetups


        • Kbase


        • Resources


        • Glossary


        • Desk Marketplace


        • MVP Corner


        • Word of the Day


        • Ask the Experts


          • 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's
          • Community 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 you
          • Community 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 most
          • Introducing: 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

          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

            Zoho Books Resources


              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                Zoho Projects Resources


                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                    Zoho Orchestly Resources


                      Zoho Creator Resources


                        Zoho WorkDrive Resources



                          Zoho CRM Resources

                          • CRM Community Learning Series

                            CRM Community Learning Series


                          • Tips

                            Tips

                          • Functions

                            Functions

                          • Meetups

                            Meetups

                          • Kbase

                            Kbase

                          • Resources

                            Resources

                          • Digest

                            Digest

                          • CRM Marketplace

                            CRM Marketplace

                          • MVP Corner

                            MVP Corner




                            Zoho Writer Writer

                            Get Started. Write Away!

                            Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                              Zoho CRM コンテンツ



                                ご検討中の方

                                  • Recent Topics

                                  • Automation Series: Auto-create Dependent Task on Status Change

                                    In Zoho Projects, you can automatically create and assign a dependent task when a task’s status is updated. This helps teams stay aligned, ensures reviews happen on time, and reduces manual effort. In this post, we’ll walk through an easy setup using
                                  • Languages in Zobot

                                    Hello, I have found a list of supported languages for the Zobot. The information specifies the languages are supported in the following 3 features: SalesIQ supports 34 different languages in the following features. Resources (Articles, FAQs, Small Talks)
                                  • Composite items inside of composite items; bill of materials needed

                                    Hi Zoho and Everyone, I am evaluating whether Zoho Inventory will work for my small business. I grow and harvest herbs and spices but also get from wholesalers. I use all these items to make herbal teas, but also sell them as individual items on my Shopify store and Etsy. I discovered the composite item bundling and am wondering if I could get some assistance since there is no bill of materials: Our herbal company's best selling tea is a sleepytime tea. Sleepytime Tea can be purchased in three weights
                                  • Action required: Reauthorizing your Google account for automatic cloud backup to Google Drive

                                    This is applicable to users who have already configured automatic cloud backup to Google Drive. Hi there! Google has mandated reauthorization of all preconfigured third-party integrations to ensure only the necessary scopes are shared as an improved security
                                  • Zoho CRM Layouts

                                    I have customised all our modules, Leads, Contacts and deals, and within them, I have created lots of different layouts depending on the type of Lead or contact, for example. Since the new Zoho UI came out, they have all disappeared. I have gone into
                                  • Zoho Desk API - Send Reply to CUSTOMERPORTAL

                                    Hello! I'll try to send a reply to Customer Portal, But the response is 500 (INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR in service response). {"Error":"{\"errorCode\":\"INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR\",\"message\":\"An internal server error occurred while performing this operation.\"}"}
                                  • Streamlining E-commerce Photography with AI Background Tools

                                    Hey Zoho Community, I’ve been messing around with ways to make product images less of a headache for fashion brands on Zoho Commerce. You know how boring generic backdrops can get, and how much time traditional photoshoots eat up, right? I tried out this
                                  • WhatsApp IM in Zoho Desk always routes to Admin instead of assigned agent

                                    Hello Zoho Experts, I connected WhatsApp IM to my Zoho Desk account. I only assigned my Customer Service (CS) agent to the WhatsApp channel, and I did NOT include Admin in this channel. However, every new WhatsApp conversation automatically gets assigned
                                  • hide resolution from help centre

                                    to my surprise, i just found out that the resolution text is public in the helpcenter, even if 'notify customer' is off. is there a workaround to that? how do others deal with this? How zoho support does this and I don't think its used by Zoho in the first place. the resolution is meant to be private, not public
                                  • Multiple Cover Letters

                                    We are using the staffing firm edition of Recruit and we have noticed that candidates cannot add more than one cover letter. This is a problem as they might be applying for multiple jobs on our career site and when we submit their application to a client,
                                  • Zoho Analytics + Facebook Ads: Performance Alerts for Active Campaigns

                                    Is it possible with integration of Zoho Analytics with Facebook Ads and set up alerts or notifications for active campaigns when performance drops? For example, triggering a notification if CTR goes below a defined threshold or if other key metrics (like
                                  • Multiple upload field CRM

                                    I desperately need the functionality to add more than one upload field to web to contacts form. How can I do this?
                                  • Workdrive Oauth2 Token Isn't Refreshing

                                    I have set up oauth for a bunch of zoho apis and have never had a problem with oauth. With workdrive i am using the exact same template i usually use for the other zoho apps and it is not working. All requests will work for the first hour then stops so
                                  • Sort by age

                                    It would be very helpful if there was a way to sort by age in the Age column. Please add this function if possible. Thanks!
                                  • Lookup Field Option Not Available in Customization

                                    Hello, I am trying to customize different modules (e.g., Work Orders, Systems, and others), but I am unable to find the Lookup field option in the layout customization. When I go to: Setup → Customization → Modules and Fields → Add Field The Lookup field
                                  • Scheduled sending of a poll and its results

                                    Is there a way to schedule sending a poll to all my users and have the results sent separately to the team?
                                  • Canvas View bug

                                    I would like to report a bug. When clone a canvas view from an existing canvas view, if the original canvas view have canvas button with client script. Then the new create canvas view will have canvas button, it is make sense. But when I try to delete
                                  • How can I import OLM to Yandex Mail easily?

                                    For migrating Mac Outlook OLM data to Yandex Mail efficiently, the Aryson OLM Converter is a reliable professional tool that ensures complete data integrity throughout the process. Unlike manual methods, which can risk inconsistent formatting or missing
                                  • Zoho recruit's blueprint configuration is not functioning as mapped

                                    Current Status: Zoho Blueprint is not functioning as configured. Issue: We are moving a Candidate status in Zoho Recruit "for active file" but we encountered: "Status cannot be changed for records involved in Blueprint." This happens to various client
                                  • Integrating Zoho Suite and apps more with Linux

                                    I just got introduced with Zoho just couple of months ago, and I've already planned to contribute to it, even though it's not an open-source software. Still I have found it's potential to beat the tech giants and still being respective towards data privacy
                                  • How do I edit the Calendar Invite notifications for Interviews in Recruit?

                                    I'm setting up the Zoho Recruit Interview Calendar system but there's some notifications I don't have any control over. I've turned off all Workflows and Automations related to the Calendar Scheduling and it seems that it's the notification that is sent
                                  • Store Submitted Forms as PDF

                                    Hi there, Is there a method to store Form submissions as a PDF in workdrive for archival? I set the form to email the submission to the user and an internal inbox but I'd really love to store the final form as PDF in workdrive automatically. I can't seem
                                  • Important Update: Google Ads & YouTube Ads API Migration

                                    To maintain platform performance and align with Google's newest requirements, we are updating the Google Ads and YouTube Ads integrations by migrating from API v19 to the newer v22, before the official deprecation of v19 on February 11, 2026. Reference:
                                  • Separate Items & Services

                                    Hi, please separate items and services into different categories. Thank you
                                  • Customize Calendar view in Teamspaces Settings

                                    Right now every customization that happens inside of the calendar view inside of CRM is only visible for the specific user. We want to be able to set up calendar views as an admin for specific roles. I would suggest to do that inside of the settings of
                                  • CRM->INVENTORY, sync products as composite items

                                    We have a product team working in the CRM, as it’s more convenient than using Books or Inventory—especially with features like Blueprints being available. Once a product reaches a certain stage, it needs to become visible in Inventory. To achieve this,
                                  • Add an option to disable ZIA suggestions

                                    Currently, ZIA in Zoho Inventory automatically provides suggestions, such as sending order confirmation emails. However, there is no way to disable this feature. In our case, orders are automatically created by customers, and we’ve built a custom workflow
                                  • What's new in Zoho Sheet: Simplify data entry and collaboration

                                    Hello, Zoho Sheet community! Last year, our team was focused on research and development so we could deliver updates that enhance your spreadsheet experience. This year, we’re excited to deliver those enhancements—but we'll be rolling them out incrementally
                                  • Zoho Creator Developer Console | Improved Distribution and Lifecycle Management for apps

                                    Hello everyone, We're excited to introduce new enhancements now in the Zoho Creator Developer Console. These updates strengthen private app distribution through licensing controls and extend environment support across all installed apps, helping teams
                                  • [Webinar] Solving business challenges- Handling the challenge of transitioning to Zoho Writer from legacy tools

                                    Moving to Zoho Writer is a great way to consolidate your business tools and become more agile. With multiple accessibility modes, no-code automation, and extensive integration with business apps and content platforms, Zoho Writer helps solve your organization's
                                  • Feature Request - Gift Cards or Gift Voucher Capability in Zoho Commerce

                                    Hi Zoho Commerce team, I'm comming accross more and more retail businesses who sell gift cards. As there is currently no way to manage this in Zoho Commerce, it is a blocker to addoption. This is particularly popular in Europe and North America. I recently
                                  • Highlight a candidate who is "off limits"

                                    Hello: Is there a way to highlight a candidate who is "off limits"?  I would like to have the ability to make certain candidate and / or Client records highlighted in RED or something like that.   This would be used for example when we may have placed a candidate somewhere and we want everyone in our company to quickly and easily see that they are off limits.  The same would apply when we want to put a client or former client off limits so no one recruits out of there. How can this be done? Cheers,
                                  • Closing off tasks automatically based on project status

                                    Is there a way to close off all open tasks when a project is set as Cancelled?
                                  • CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive

                                    Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage files
                                  • [Free webinar] Understanding connections and datasources in Zoho Creator - Creator Tech Connect

                                    Hello everyone, We’re excited to invite you to another edition of the Creator Tech Connect webinar. About Creator Tech Connect The Creator Tech Connect series is a free monthly webinar featuring in-depth technical sessions designed for developers, administrators,
                                  • Bridge the Gap Between your Service and Finance Teams

                                    In field service, the most expensive distance isn’t the drive to a customer’s home—it’s the gap between a finished job and a paid invoice. Zoho FSM leverages the power of Zoho Invoice to handle and manage billing operations. It enables you to: Instantly
                                  • Direct URL to "View Record"

                                    I would like to create a button (Deluge Script) to jump to the "view record" without passing by the record menu, but I can not aford to find the right url. I don't want the "view record" as a single page. I want the "view record" in the application like the picture below: Thanks in advance for your help
                                  • Live Chat for user

                                    Hi everyone, I’m new to Zoho Creator and wanted to ask if it’s possible to add a live chat option for all logged-in portal users so they can chat internally. I’m trying to create a customer portal similar to a service desk, but for vehicle breakdowns,
                                  • SalesIQ Chat Owner to CRM Lead Owner Mapping

                                    There is no proper mapping between the SalesIQ chat owner and the CRM lead owner. When a chat is assigned to an agent, the lead created in CRM is often assigned to a different user, forcing admins to manually change ownership every time. This creates
                                  • Product line search in quotes

                                    Is there a way to change the search setting when you add a product line to a quote. We have created a field in products called 'Part Number' and I would like when I'm adding a product line to the quote that I can search on that field. At the moment it only searches on product description. In products I can search on the 'Part Number' field Any help welcome.
                                  • Next Page