How to Reset Your Credit Control Without Starting a War
The late payment files
January is a funny month for small businesses.
Everyone is fresh. Optimistic. Full of good intentions. Gyms are busy, inboxes are quiet, and suddenly every customer believes that this will be the year they pay on time.
As a credit manager, I love January.
Not because people magically change — they don’t — but because January is the one month of the year where you can quietly reset expectations without anyone taking offence.
No threats.
No ultimatums.
And definitely no wars.
Just… a reset.
New year, new ledger
There is something deeply satisfying about opening a new ledger in January.
Clean rows.
Fresh dates.
A dangerous sense of optimism.
But before you pretend last year never happened, it’s worth looking closely at it — particularly at the customers who used to pay on time and quietly stopped doing so.
Late payment rarely begins with bad intent.
It begins with tolerance.
And January is the best time to correct it.
Credit check your customers (yes, even the “good ones”)
One of the most common phrases heard in credit control is:
“We’ve worked with them for years. They’re fine.”
Sometimes that’s true. Sometimes the credit file tells a very different story.
Businesses change. Directors move on. Cash flow tightens. A credit limit that made sense three years ago may now be completely out of step with reality.
A New Year credit review isn’t about punishment — it’s about aligning risk with the present day.
Good credit management means:
- Reviewing credit limits regularly
- Running fresh credit checks on active customers
- Adjusting limits before problems appear, not after
If a customer questions it, the explanation is simple and neutral:
“We review all accounts at the start of the year.”
No accusation.
No confrontation.
Just good practice.
Clear the overdues — or they’ll follow you all year
If an invoice is still unpaid in January, it’s no longer a “Christmas delay”.
It’s a pattern.
Historic overdues have a habit of poisoning everything that comes after them. New invoices feel awkward. Chasing feels personal. And before long, late payment becomes the norm rather than the exception.
January is the right time to draw a clear line.
Not aggressively — clearly.
A calm phrase that works well is:
“Before we move forward with new work this year, we just need to clear the balance from last year.”
Professional.
Measured.
Difficult to argue with.
You’re not dwelling on the past — you’re making space to move forward.
Fix your on-boarding (because most problems start here)
Every experienced credit controller knows this to be true:
Every bad payer began as “just a quick favour”.
No credit check.
No signed terms.
No agreed credit limit.
And no one quite sure who approved the account.
The start of a new year is the perfect moment to tighten onboarding so future problems never make it into the system.
At a minimum, new customers should have:
- A completed credit application
- A credit check
- Clear payment terms issued and acknowledged
- An agreed credit limit
- Close monitoring of early invoices
This isn’t red tape.
It’s protection.
Reset the relationship — without upsetting anyone
This is the part many business owners worry about most — and the part customers usually accept with the least resistance.
You’re not changing the customer.
You’re changing the rules of the relationship.
January provides a natural, non-confrontational moment to say:
“As part of our annual review, we’re tightening up our payment processes this year.”
Or:
“We’ll be issuing statements earlier and following up invoices more promptly going forward.”
When said calmly and consistently, this doesn’t damage relationships — it strengthens them.
Customers value clarity.
What they don’t like is surprise.
Late payment becomes normal when silence becomes policy.
Credit management is a business skill — not a personality trait
One of the biggest misconceptions around credit control is that you need to be a certain type of person to do it well.
You don’t.
Good credit management isn’t about being pushy, confrontational or “good at chasing”. It’s a business skill — like pricing, forecasting or managing suppliers.
The most effective credit processes are:
- Structured, not emotional
- Consistent, not reactive
- Clear, not confrontational
When credit control relies on personality, it becomes uncomfortable and inconsistent. When it relies on process, it becomes routine — and far easier for customers to accept.
That’s why the best results usually come from systems and support, not willpower.
Where CPA fits in
At CPA, we see this every day.
Our role isn’t to replace your relationships — it’s to support them. By helping businesses put clear credit processes in place, we remove the awkwardness from chasing and replace it with calm, professional structure.
From credit checking and ongoing monitoring to supporting overdue accounts when they arise, CPA acts as an extension of your finance function — applying clarity, consistency and care at every stage of the payment cycle.
The result is simple:
- Payments happen earlier
- Relationships stay intact
- And business owners spend less time worrying about who needs chasing next
Because getting paid on time shouldn’t depend on confidence or confrontation — it should depend on good credit management.
Final note from the file
Most customers don’t object to paying on time.
They object to being chased late or getting inconsistent messaging — which is why clarity, applied early, beats confrontation every time.
A January credit control reset isn’t about being tougher.
It’s about being clearer, earlier, and consistent enough that late payment never becomes the default.
And in the long run, that’s how you avoid disputes, damaged relationships… and wars that never needed to start.
