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The credit control procedures proposes a big problem for PVS as they have not been updated in five years. As there is no formal timetable for invoicing or sending reminders for amounts due there could be instances where PVS is not getting paid for their services and continue to provide service to the client even though they have outstanding invoices. This all comes down to their poor credit control procedures. As checking these on an irregular basis could mean that a lot of invoices are left being unpaid and this could possibly lead to PVS having a cash flow problem.

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A control put in place to have proper credit control procedures would be to have updated technology as having a software system that can send out constant reminders and having a set date to invoice would take a lot out of the ad-hoc reviews by a department manager. Also having a regular time on which the credit controls are reviewed for example at the end of the month would ensure that regularly monitoring is going on and that the loss of revenue is mitigated through these credit controls. It would improve cash flow for the company.

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The credit control procedures have not been updated for five years.

This is a weakness because it is clearly indicated that the process hasn't been reviewed recently and likely not implemented to give transparency to the credit control staff.

Furthermore, in those five years there may have been newer methods that are more effective but not utilised as it is not included in the procedure so is likely missed.

Cash flow issues will be a result of a poor procedure in credit control which is a liquidity issue for PVS so therefore is very important that this is treated seriously.

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The credit control procedures should be reviewed more frequenly with all members of the department being involved sharing their thoughts and what has worked well for them.

Set timelines for chasing should also be discussed such as an agreed schedule for when reminders and legal action should take place and agreed by all to make it clear for the credit control team to follow, no clear direction will make the job more difficult for staff and will likely result in errors.

Ad hoc reviews are not the most effective especially if the credit control manager is absent and there is an issue, this could be mitigated by introducing another party of the finance function into this procedure so there is cover if the above was to take place.

Introducing other departments into this new procedure will also help keep the balance of getting paid on time but also preserving customer relationships, ie the Business Development Director would be a good starting point.

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Credit control procedures not constantly updated, last updated 5 year ago. Not reviewing procedures will cause PVS to lose control on the way to collect funds efficiently thus cause cash flow issue.

Not having a formal timetable for invoicing will again cause cash flow problem or even lost in finance because PVS is likely not receive from clients in time or not receive any payment at all.

All the fundamentals procedures such as chasing unpaid amounts, sending reminders to clients are being done in a irregular basis which is a high for the company to lack funds and perhaps go bankrupt.

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Another weakness found from the audit report was that the sensitive client details are held on PVS servers as well as sensitive financial information. These can be accessed by all staff once they have logged onto the system. This is a big weakness as if there is a data breach then client sensitive information could be compromised. Also if anyone can access the sensitive information then there could be instances in where GDPR can be breached and PVS could be liable for this.

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All staff have access to the client information once logged in.

This will be an ethical issue for PVS to start with as all departments are able to see this information which is confidential.

Furthermore, decisions could be made in other department that are swayed by this information which will likely result in poor customer service which will have a negative impact on the reputation of PVS.

Customers will likely not appreciate their financial position being discussed across all departments.

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There should be limited access to credit control information.

Only staff in the credit control department should have access to financial information to perform their duties effectively.

Furthermore, more security controls should be implemented such as date encryption, stronger passwords and strong antivirus software to avoid the risk of hacking and leaking of customer data.

Regular reviews of the notes added to customer accounts should also be reviewed to ensure there is professionalism on the software.

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A control to be put in place for this would be to have a proper firewall and data encryption. As well as having sensitive client information stored on secure servers not just PVS system servers that can be accessed by all staff, as some clients may not want that to be possible. Another control for tis would be to give staff training on the potential issues of data breaches and breaching GDPR and how serious it can be. And to ensure that they abide by the highest standards not only for themselves but their clients too. Having these controls in place would allow the company to properly protected against any potential data breach.

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Staff turnover in the credit control department is high and staff are inputting information incorrectly onto the systems and permanent staff are dealing with customer complaints.

High turnover of staff is not always a good representation of a company and will likely defer new applicants from joining making recruitment more difficult.

The inputting of information incorrectly on documents such as invoicing is also as a poor representation of PVS as it shows incompetence in their finance function, reducing confidence from clients.

Permanent staff are likely unhappy with dealing with customer complaints continuously as this will demotivate them with their other duties, therefore increasing the risk of staff seeking alternative employment which will result in a recruitment drive which is costly.

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To have an effective a way of collecting funds and avoid cash flow issue, PVS invest in technology for instance having a generic emails which reminds customers who are running late with their payments. This could be sent every week. If not funds received then classify these clients like high risk clients.

PVS could think of having a traffic light system into place for any late payments. For instance red if clients do not pay after one month of receiving their services etc or amber for clients being late with their payments for 2 weeks etc...

A regular meeting to go through the collection procedure, review and update when necessary.

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One more weakness is that staff turnover in the credit control department is high. And as a result temporary staff have been hired however they have not been given sufficient training. They are making issues in invoices they produce and making mistakes in setting up clients on plans. As a result staff have to deal with angry clients, rectify the mistakes and work extra hours to clear the backlog od work. The result of this is that staff satisfaction is very low and staff will not feel motivated to work as they are being overworked and simply fixing someone else's mess.

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PVS should consider employing permanent staff with satisfactory training opportunities to retain new recruits. Support should be promised and achieved to give new starters the best start in their careers with PVS.

Furthermore, implementing good training for staff will reduce the risk of mistakes happening with the invoicing for example and therefore representing PVS in a positive light.

Permanent staff will get more job satisfaction as they will have the correct support from their peers and will likely want to stay within their roles if they are happy of the back of this control.

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A control to be put in place would be to give the temporary staff better training as better training would ensure that these mistakes are not made by the temporary staff and that permanent staff do not have to deal with the consequences of their mistakes in their work. With less angry clients and less mistakes as well as having to not work as many hours to fix these mistakes it will greatly improve permanent staff morale. And as a result will likely decrease staff turnover in the credit control department. Also another control put in place would be incentivise permanent staff as if they incetivised to do some extra work they are more likely to stay motivated and not leave therefore decreasing staff turnover aswell.

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Client insensitive data being held on the servers where all staff can access could lead to a breach of data protection which could damage PVS reputation.

An example is that if a staff leaves PVS there is a risk that clients sensitives information could be stole and perhaps being exposed to a rival.

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The inconsistencies across credit control and reception teams around the payment plans is a weakness as there is no clear communication internally and to the customer.

Payment plans are a sensitive subject and need to be handled correctly in order to reduce the risk of affecting cash flows.

Also, customers will likely not appreciated being told separate things from staff at PVS and will raise complaints, damaging PVS reputation and creating costs and losing revenue.

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Another weakness is that PVS' plan is being incorrectly advertised by staff to clients. This could negatively impact the reputation of the company as although the staff say it is three months to defer payments the actual plan was changed to one month. This could come as a shock to clients who also do not receive any documentation. Clients who tend to defer payments usually cant afford it one go, so this flexibility option is a lot better for them however the change of three months to one month and not informing them is wrong and should be address immediately.

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To prevent breach of data, PVS could implement a software to instore clients data with limited access to staff.

For instance only senior vets could have access that software, PVS could also think of protecting any data with password which again will be accessible to limited staff.

Having a more solid way of protecting clients data will allow PVS to create a trusteed clients portfolio who can rely on them protecting their sensible information.

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Non paying customers being offered deferrals by reception staff is a weakness as this will increase the risk of non payment, affecting the liquidity of the business.

If services are being provided without payment then PVS runs the risk of running out of cash and becoming insolvent which is a major concern for the business.

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Regular reviews of payment history and credit must be implemented to new and current customers.

Affordability checks must be carried out and reviews of financial information to ensure no changes have occurred prior to offering more credit so PVS do not have a cash flow issue.

Although a difficult control to mitigate and a slight risk of customer dissatisfaction the risks outweigh if not followed.

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A control to put in place is to have proper documentation given to patients when they sign up this can be given via a physical copy or a digital copy through email so that they are kept up to date and are aware of any changes. Another control for this risk would be to ensure that staff are trained and kept up to date with changes as they are the ones selling these plans and letting clients know about them. This will look bad on the company as even though are still selling the old plans to people. So it is important of any changes that everyone in the business is kept up to date on any change in procedures.

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Staff turnover is already a challenge within the vet industry, to prevent high turnover PVS could may be stop recruiting many temporary staffs PVS could instead recruit staff provide them with an efficient training and keep them. So that it could built reliable and experienced staff, which will be beneficial in long term as cash will be collecting effectively.

If temporary staff are needed, PVS should not delegate tasks such as setting up new clients, instead having those temporary to support to permanent staff with more admin tasks. Setting up new clients should be only done by experienced permanent staff.

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This is a weakness as members who are not paying are still receiving the benefits of customers who are paying. This will cause members who are currently paying to also not pay as the ones who don't pay are still receiving the benefits. This could cause a loss in revenue and could also anger paying customers as non paying customers for the same thing are receiving the same benefits as them which seems really unfair.

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A control to this weakness is to ensure that once there has not been a directly debit payment made then the membership should be frozen in which they can't use any of the benefits of the membership and if the invoice is not paid by a certain date for example 30 days, then their membership is terminated. Also having a technological system in place would greatly help this as it would send out reminders automatically instead of staff doing it manually and having a specific date in which this is done would greatly help PVS have control over the plan members payments.