UNIT 15 – LATE PAYERS

1
December 7, 2017
2

 Getting started
 Vocabulary: Late payers and small businesses
 Reading Texts (A, B, C)
 Grammar workshop – complex sentences
 Grammar workshop – modals
 Talking point
 Vocabulary: Late payers and small businesses
3
Matching

 1 bank charges
 2 bookkeeping
 3 cash
 4 credit limit
 5 credit worthiness
 6 debtor
 Vocabulary: Late payers and small businesses
4
Matching

 factoring
 8 outgoings
 9 overdraft
 10 overtrading
 11 shortfall
5 Ubaciti u prethodna 2

 A calculation of smb’s ability to pay back the money which they have borrowed
 B amount of money that a customer with an account in the bank is temporarily allowed
to owe the bank
 C amount which is less than the level that was expected or needed
 D amounts of money that regularly have to be spent
 E money which is immediately available
 F operating a business while not having enough money to pay creditors and employees
 G smb who owes money
 H sums of money paid by a customer for a bank’s service
 I system of buying debts for less than they are worth and then obtaining payment for
them from the debtors
 J the job of keeping a record of the money that has been spent or received by a business
 K the maximum amount of money a bank will allow you to borrow

6 TEXT A -the impact of late
payments on small businesses
 Late payment continually features in the list of top constraints on
business, and the problem is on the increase. If you are on the
receiving end of late payment, it cannot only have a significant
impact on your cashflow, leading to unauthorized overdrafts and
punitive bank charges, but it can also eat into your precious time
and cause undue stress.
 But what if you regularly make a habit of paying late? What are
the impacts on your business? Research shows that more than
one in ten (13%) of all businesses that have experienced late
payment would never do business with that customer again.
Furthermore, 17% would only do repeat business if they were to
receive cash upfront and a further 2% would have less trust in the
late payer in the future. A staggering 52% do nothing – not out of
choice but because the client’s business is too big and important
for them. The message is clear – if you are paying your suppliers
late, you stand a very good chance of losing their suppliers.
7 TEXT B what can you do if you are suffering
from late payment?

 1 Make sure that you have a process for checking the

credit worthiness of new and existing customers. A
simple and cheap solution is to use a credit-checking
service which, for a small fee, will enable you to assess
the financial standing of your customers.
 2 set credit limits for your customers.
 3 have effective processes in place for sending out
invoices and monitoring payment from your debtors.
In fact, around a third of small businesses only look at
their overdue debtors every month. A simple and cost-
effective way to put your finances in order is to
automate your bookkeeping.
8

 4 work out what would happen to your cashflow and

overdraft if your customers were to pay you late –
could your business afford it? Keep your bank
informed, as they may be able to help, either by
providing an overdraft or suggesting an alternative
way of financing your debtor, such as factoring.
 5 have sound procedures in place to recover overdue
debts. When you contact your customers, record what
has been agreed – when they will pay and whether
you are going to charge interest. If they fail to pay,
consider using a debt-collection service.
9 TEXT C what should you do if
you are a late payer?
 1 paying late generally arises from either lack of cash or
poorly managed finances. If you are having difficulties
with financial management, talk to your accountant.
 2 if you do not have the money, then you need to look at
the root causes as to why you do not have the cash.
These might be:
- Suffering from late payment yourself
- Falling order book. You need to look at how you can
reduce your outgoings.
- Suffering from overtrading. If your business is experiencing
rapid growth, then you may not be able to generate cash
quickly enough to pay your bills. Talk to your bank, as they
may be able to provide overdraft financing.
10

 3 talk to your suppliers. If you cannot pay, give your

suppliers a realistic time when you will be able to pay.
 4 ensure you have budgets and forecasts in place, as
these will show you in advance when you may run out
of money. Contact your bank early to seek funding to
cover your cash shortfall.

11 Grammar workshop – complex
sentences

 According to
 And that
 As
 As a consequence
 However
 Since
 Not only…. but also
 Either …or
 Neither … nor
12

 Complete the letter using one of the following words /

expressions:
according to
and that
as
as a consequence
but also
however
not only
since
which
with whom
13

 Dear Mr Narayan,

 I am writing to remind you that payment on our invoice no. 472/f for the amount of £3,760 is still outstanding.

 ______ my notes on our telephone conversation three weeks ago, you explained to me that your company
was itself suffering from cashflow problems and awaiting payments from some of your suppliers. _____, you
assured me that you expected payment shortly, _____ would mean that they would be in a position to settle
your account with Prudhomme Ltd by the end of the month at the latest.

 Unfortunately, that deadline has now passed, and your failure to pay is beginning to cause our company
serious problems. ______ I indicated during our telephone conversation, the costs to us of your non-payment
have included taking out an overdraft, with the resulting bank charges and interest. ____, I have no choice
but to inform you that ____ do we expect prompt payment of the invoice, ____ you will have to pay interest of
35 per month on all unpaid debts with our company until the invoice is paid.

 I deeply regret having to write to you in this way. _____, until now, you have always been a valued customer
_____ we enjoyed a mutually profitable working relationship. I sincerely hope that this temporary
unpleasantness can be resolved ______ we can return to normal business dealings shortly. Until such time, I
regret to inform you that we are unable to supply you with any further goods.

 Yours sincerely,

 Astrid Kloof

 CREDIT CONTROLLER
14 The underlined words / phrases are formal expressions.
Match them with the following, more informal meanings:

able am very sorry

awkward problem good for both of us

more pay what you owe to

promised quick

said soon

unpaid waiting for

15 Join the sentences using the words given in
brackets:

 The bank has agreed to extend our overdraft for

another month. They normally handle our transactions
(which)
 I regret to inform you that we keep a list of late payers.
We share this information with other suppliers (not only
/ but also)
 We may have to put this matter in the hands of our
lawyer. We would regret having to do so. (which)
 We shall not be supplying you with any further goods. I
informed you about this in my previous letter. (as)
 We should set a credit limit of £5,000. My accountant
tells me this (according to)
16
Modals
Modal verbs to express degrees of certainty
17 PRESENT / FUTURE TIME

 MAY/MIGHT = possible but not certain (It may /might

rain later)
 MUST = this is true because I have evidence (the
company must be profitable because their market
share has reached 50%)
 CAN’T = the negative of must (their market share is
almost 50%. They can’t go bust. They can’t be losing
money)
 SHOULD = I expect this is true (you should find your
new job very enjoyable – it’s totally suited to you)
 COULD = a remote possibility (I don’t know where the
key is. It could be at home, but I don’t think so.)
18

I don’t know where the key is.

 It may be at home.
 It might be at home.
 It could be at home.
 It must be at home.
 It can’t be at home.
 It should be at home.
19 Modal+be+ing

Their market share is almost 50%.

 They can’t be losing money
 They must be earning a lot of money.
 They should be singing.
20 PAST TIME
(modal + have+ past participle)

 She may have been late yesterday.

 She might have been late yesterday.
 She must have been late yesterday.
 She can’t have been late yesterday.
 I should have called her but I forgot.
 I could have arrived on time but I didn’t.
21 Past and continuous

 She might have been waiting for us.

 I must have been chatting to him for 20minutes.
22 Complete the sentences:

 I wonder why they’re going to close this office. We

____ (lose) money - after all, we have record profits
last year.
 I think I ____ (dial) the wrong number. I’m supposed to
be calling Germany, and they keep answering in
Spanish!
 You can’t assume that everyone has read your report.
Some people ___ (not have) time.
 You ___ (find) your trip to Switzerland very interesting. I
found it fascinating the last time I was there.
23 Complete the sentences:

 It’s strange there’s no one in the boardroom. The

meeting ______ (cancel) as it was extremely urgent.
 Is the Japanese delegate here? He _____ (arrive) by
now because his train was due in half an hour ago.
 There’s a rumour going round that they’re going to
close this office, so this ____ (be) our last week here.
 Well, if the meeting hasn’t been cancelled, they ___
(hold) it in another room because it should have
started ten minutes ago.
24 Talking point

 Why do you think some companies are late payers?

 What are the effects on a business of customers who
are late paying their invoices?
 If a business pays its suppliers late, how does this affect
the business relationship?
 How can suppliers deal with late payers?
25

 How should you deal with late payers?(by telephone,

by email, by letter, through a lawyer)
 When should you do so? (immediately a payment
becomes overdue, after a few days, after a month or
two)