Having a robust credit control process is key to business survival and growth. Thanks to Know-it, there is an effortless and painless way to ensure your business gets paid.

Businesses up and down the country have, for too long now, suffered issues with late payments and arduous credit management processes. Driven by my determination for businesses right to be paid, Know-it uses innovation to future-proof credit management. Streamlining the credit control process with one single platform, allowing businesses to monitor credit in real-time to spot the early warning signs, minimise business risk, increase cashflow and reduce debtor days. Most importantly this leads to clients getting paid – on time – in full.

Having dedicated over 27 years of service to the commercial debt recovery industry, including building my first business, Darcey Quigley & Co, in 2007, I felt technology had an essential role in helping companies streamline and strengthen their credit control process. 

Our first-hand experience dealing with late payments helped build the foundations of the Know-it platform. We recognised that too many businesses, particularly SMEs, suffered daily losses due to ineffective credit management processes, lack of understating their customers and no access to tools which traditionally are only accessible by larger PLCs 

The purpose of Know-it is to condense the entire credit control process into one easily accessible and straightforward platform. By doing this, Know-it can provide a more transparent and streamlined credit control offering for businesses.

Know-it is a fresh perspective on a traditional process – while the credit control process hasn’t changed over time, our unique platform brings together all credit control functions into one place. By removing the need to access and subscribe to multiple different platforms, our cloud-based platform streamlines the credit control process so you can credit check and monitor, chase for payment, collect overdue unpaid invoices, and more all from one place. It will transform the way businesses view the credit control process, as it will immediately help them save time and costs by providing real-time data, all from the convenience of one easy to use platform.  

Having picked-up valuable experience working in the credit industry during my career, I saw first-hand the issues businesses were experiencing regarding late payments and credit management. The biggest problem facing businesses and their credit departments was the lack of information they were being fed. Not credit checking customers, monitoring their activity, chasing invoices regularly and not knowing what to do when payment is seriously overdue.

The Know-it platform was created to help businesses identify and manage risk before committing to trade with companies they may not have previously had dealings with. When talking about credit control and commercial debt recovery, many people immediately envisage bailiffs entering premises and adopting a strong-arm approach to recovering unpaid debts. The Know-it platform offers a non-aggressive, streamlined approach to credit management and late payments removing the awkwardness when asking for payment!

With the widespread rollout of tax being digitalised, Know-it has arrived at the perfect time to ensure the entire credit control process can be reached all in one place.

Although this platform has been several years in the making, it was not our intention to launch the Know-it platform in the wake of a cost-of-living crisis and not forgetting the pandemic. Still, there is a timely opening for the platform to provide an additional layer of support for vulnerable businesses when they need it most. Until now, support from automated and effective credit management systems has traditionally been out of reach. We hope this pioneering technology will provide businesses with the comprehensive and holistic solution they need to work smarter, just as we begin to return to a sense of normality across the working world.

The Know-it journey will continue to grow across the globe as we have filed for trademarks in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand! We want to show businesses worldwide the power credit management automation has to offer. 

I recently embarked on a week-long visit to Silicon Valley, CA – which consisted of meeting numerous business leaders and learning about their experiences with late payments in the American market. Speaking to global businesses and finding out about how late payments have affected their operations only pushes us harder in our aims and objectives. 

It’s quickly becoming evident that the automated credit management concept is an advancement that financial businesses cannot afford to neglect. Managing costs and minimising risks associated with payment processing is crucial to growth. In addition, this key benefit frees up valuable resources, allowing organisations to concentrate on what matters most — producing customer-focused products and gaining a competitive edge.

To conclude, the Know-it platform can offer businesses a simple, more practical answer for credit management. We strongly believe that the future is automated and are looking forward to partnering with companies, helping them check their customers, chase late payments and subsequently collect any overdue invoices owed to them.

This article was first published by i-Magazine.