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6–3 Collect Receivables through Lockboxes
tion through a Web site. This access is usually free, requires no special software
besides an Internet browser, and can be accessed at once, if the user is connected
to a direct-access Internet connection, such as a DSL, cable, or T1 phone line.
The better Web sites are also heavily engineered to be easy to read, with on-line,
automated help text to walk the user through the screens. This is becoming such a
powerful tool that users should consider switching their bank accounts to those
financial institutions that offer this service.
Cost: Installation time:

6–2 AVOID DELAYS IN CHECK POSTING

When there is a sudden influx of checks, the accounting staff may require an
extra day to post them all against the accounts receivable database. This delay
can also occur when the payments being made are slightly different from the
invoices that they are paying, which requires some delay while the differences are
reconciled. Though these problems can create a real bottleneck in the accounting
department, they also result in a lengthening of the time interval before the
checks are deposited at the bank, which in turn results in lost investment income.
To avoid this problem, the accounting staff can photocopy checks as they
arrive, so that postings can be done from the copies, rather than the original
checks. This allows the deposit to be made at once, rather than later. The main
problem with this approach is the danger that a check will not be copied or that
the copy will be lost, which results in a missing posting to the accounts receivable
database. This problem leads to downstream collections and research problems
involving backtracking to find the missing checks. This problem can be avoided
through proper reconciliation procedures that match the total number of copied
checks to the total number of actual checks, as well as the total amount posted to
the total amount on the copied checks.

Cost: Installation time:

6–3 COLLECT RECEIVABLES THROUGH
LOCKBOXES
There are a number of problems associated with receiving all customer payments
at a company location. For example, checks can be lost or delayed in the mailroom,
given to the wrong accounting person for further processing, or delayed in transit
from the company to the bank. It is also necessary for the mailroom staff to log in
all received checks, which are later compared to the deposit slip sent out by the
accounting staff to ensure that all received checks have been deposited—this is a
nonvalue-added step, though it is necessary to provide some control over received