With growing insolvencies and payment delays under pressure, accounts receivable management can no longer be driven by looking in the rear-view mirror. By combining robust risk data with agile operational governance, you can turn early warning signs into operational decisions to speed up your cash flow.
Economic uncertainty: how your outstanding receivables become a barometer
When the economic environment deteriorates, the risk is no longer just a ‘macro’ issue: it creeps into the day-to-day reality of your operations, your outstanding receivables, your disputes and your late payments, complicating your credit decisions. And the effect is amplified: a single default can be enough to seriously impact your cash flow.
The current economic climate is highly tense: business failures are on the rise, payment terms are lengthening, and cash flows have been weakened by several years of accumulated shocks. And unlike the post-Covid period — when massive aid and guaranteed loans provided a safety cushion — businesses are now facing turbulence with far more limited reserves.
Advanced indicators confirm the trend:
- input prices are rising faster than selling prices,
- margins are being squeezed,
- the risk of default is affecting sectors as diverse as construction, agri-food and the automotive industry.
In the midst of this complex landscape, managing accounts receivable on an ad hoc basis is no longer sustainable. The time has come for anticipation, based on reliable and actionable data. With one urgent need: to manage accounts receivable in a different way.
Detecting weak signals: data as a radar for the risk of non-payment
Anticipating non-payment means knowing how to read the signals before the situation becomes irreversible. When it comes to managing commercial risk, it is unrealistic to monitor everything: instead, it is better to identify changes without increasing the number of checks. The right approach is to gain a clearer picture of customer accounts using richer indicators drawn from multiple sources, rather than relying solely on a financial report:
- country/sector risks;
- creditworthiness indicators;
- payment behaviour.
Then define a few simple trigger points:
- a drop in credit score;
- a change in payment behaviour;
- outstanding balances exceeding the set limit;
- an accumulation of disputes;
- a deterioration in country or sector risk.
The aim is to spot a break in the trend rather than an absolute level. Associate a graduated response with each signal: limit review, securing of deliveries, preventive reminder, or transition to enhanced monitoring.
Example: a previously stable customer starts paying late and his score deteriorates. Rather than waiting for the next due date, adapt your strategy in real time:
- prioritising reminders for unpaid invoices;
- order validation;
- reduction of exposure;
- request for a deposit.
Urba360, the digital solution from Coface Business Information, generates a Score from 0 to 10 representing the probability of payment default over 12 months, which is particularly effective for standardising risk assessment and comparing counterparties over time.
In addition to public financial data, Coface’s Score integrates unique information gathered upstream, such as:
- balance sheets not yet published,
- payment incidents reported by credit insurers,
- shareholding links,
- country and sector assessments covering more than 200 countries.
This score is updated as soon as a significant factor is detected. It is the same data that Coface uses for its own coverage decisions as a global trade credit insurer: a guarantee of up-to-date information that no balance sheet analysis alone can offer.
Where all other information providers stop, we add the layer specific to our core business as a trade credit insurer: analyses by our economists, trends in payment behaviour, and payment incidents reported by our policyholders. We provide access to real, up-to-date and actionable information on 245 million companies worldwide: insights that are far more precise and valuable than simple balance sheet analyses.
Guillaume Callède, Director of Coface Business Information in France.
From diagnosis to execution: workflows and key indicators
A good risk strategy depends on its ability to be scaled up, and good data is only valuable if it can be applied in everyday tools. This is the whole point of combining solutions from Coface (via Urba 360) and My DSO Manager, a cash and customer risk management platform connected to all ERPs and integrating electronic invoicing. From each customer file, the credit manager has instant access to the Coface score, credit assessment, payment behaviour, and sector and country risks. Customisable alerts are triggered automatically as soon as an indicator deteriorates. The portfolio can be filtered using cross-criteria (receivables over 120 days, poor payer profile, high country risk) and identified customers can be switched to a suitable reminder scenario with a single click.
By translating your risk rules into workflows, you move from case-by-case management to a consistent, traceable and rapid process. When it comes to key performance indicators (KPIs), opt for a decision-making dashboard rather than a collection of metrics. So focus on the essentials:
- changes in DSO (Days Sales outstanding - average payment period);
- ageing balance receivables at risk;
- overdue receivables;
- disputes.
In real time, these indicators stop being just reports and become a powerful dashboard for all your decisions: who to call, what to secure, where to take action. AI-driven automation frees your teams from repetitive tasks so they can focus on cases with real stakes. Nothing escapes your radar: from cash flow forecasting to dispute alerts, the platform acts as a true guardian of your accounts receivable.
This allows us to base our decisions on high-performing key indicators and to benefit from the best of the information provided by both solutions (My DSO and Urba) to take action and have the richest data I need to manage my accounts receivable effectively.
Margaux Bourgeat, Business Developer at My DSO Manager.
Finance, Sales, Credit: aligning decisions, accelerating cash flow
By its very nature, customer risk management is cross-functional: effectively safeguarding against non-payment is therefore rarely a siloed exercise. Finance and credit management teams need sales staff to understand a situation (dispute, delivery, customer assessment), and sales teams need a shared framework (limits, exceptions, next steps).
And yet, the credit manager, the sales representative and the finance team (still too) often use three different sets of data for their analyses. This fragmentation can have serious consequences, such as the (too late) detection of late payments and decisions being made blindly.
The combination of Coface and My DSO Manager solutions centralises information and streamlines coordination: shared alerts, interactive internal emails, consolidated reports. The right person receives the right information at the right time to act before the delay turns into a non-payment.
By 2026, the maturity of Order-to-Cash processes will be a key factor in resilience. Companies that equip themselves properly will gain a decisive head start over those still reacting to events.
You too, strengthen your risk strategy with Coface and My DSO Manager solutions:
- Watch the full webinar Anticipating risks in an uncertain world to see Coface and My DSO Manager tools in action and understand how to deploy them.
Explore all of Coface’s solutions and expertise to manage your commercial risks:
