The envelope on the office desk
Some of your customers pay on delivery: takeaways, small shops, market traders. Your drivers collect cash or a cheque at the door, write a receipt from a duplicate book, and bring an envelope back at the end of the run. The next morning someone in accounts opens it, counts it, and tries to match it to the day's invoices.
Usually it is close. Sometimes the envelope is short, and the driver says the customer paid part and would pay the rest next week. Sometimes a customer says they paid when the ledger says they did not. Nobody can prove it either way.
Why collections are hard to reconcile
The driver does not always know what should be collected at each drop, particularly where old balances exist. The paper receipt is the only record, and the carbon copy is hard to read. Part payments, disputed amounts and customers who pay for two deliveries at once all get noted differently by different drivers. So reconciliation is detective work.
| Situation at the door | What often gets recorded |
|---|---|
| Customer pays in full | Receipt, amount matches |
| Customer pays part | Receipt, maybe a note |
| Customer pays an old balance too | One total, not split |
| Customer disputes a line | Nothing, or a verbal message |
| Customer cannot pay | Goods left anyway, or taken back |
What loose cash handling costs
Accounts spend hours matching envelopes to invoices. Shortfalls are hard to trace, which is unfair on honest drivers and hides the rare dishonest one. Customers on cash terms build up balances nobody noticed, which is exactly the risk cash terms were meant to avoid. And the ledger for those customers is rarely right, which makes every statement a debate.
Carrying cash around also has its own risks for drivers, and a clear record of what each driver should be holding at any point in the run is part of looking after them. When the paperwork is vague, the driver is the one left explaining.
The driver collection app we build
- Each driver's run loads onto a phone with the amount to collect at each cash drop, including any overdue balance you want collected.
- At the door, the driver records what was paid, by cash, cheque or card, and against which invoices. Card payments can be taken on a card reader linked to the app, using a provider such as Stripe or SumUp.
- The customer receives a receipt by email or text immediately, showing what was paid and any remaining balance.
- Part payments, disputes and non-payments are recorded with a reason, and your rules decide whether goods are left when a customer cannot pay.
- At the end of the run, the app gives the driver a total to hand in, split by cash and cheques, and the office checks the envelope against it.
- Payments are posted to your accounts system, such as Sage or Xero, against the right invoices.
The rules on when to leave goods without payment, and on what balances to chase at the door, are yours. The app makes sure they are followed and recorded.
What the morning looks like after
Accounts check envelopes against a total rather than rebuilding the day. Differences show up that evening, while the driver still remembers. Customers get a receipt they can keep, which ends most 'I paid that' conversations. Cash customers' balances are visible and chased at the door. Drivers are protected by a clear record of what they collected.
Is this your cash on delivery process?
- Drivers write receipts from a duplicate book.
- Matching cash to invoices takes hours each morning.
- Customers dispute payments and nobody can prove it.
- Cash customers build up balances unnoticed.
- Drivers do not know old balances when they arrive.