If you’re a supplier, wholesaler, or manufacturer, your team probably didn’t sign up to become full-time debt collectors, form chasers, or spreadsheet warriors.

But that’s the reality for many B2B businesses today, bogged down in credit account admin, chasing signatures, tracking overdue invoices, and manually onboarding new customers. And the cost? It’s bigger than you think.

Let’s break down how the admin trap works and how to escape it for good.

The Hidden Time Sink Behind Trade Credit

Trade credit is essential in wholesale. It helps you grow customer relationships, win bigger orders, and move stock faster. But offering credit manually can come with a hidden cost: hours and hours of wasted admin every week.

Here’s what that typically looks like:

• Paper or PDF account applications that go missing or sit unsigned for days
• No consistent credit check process, with some customers slipping through without proper risk assessment
• Manual data entry into your accounting or ERP system
• Spreadsheets of card details or post-it notes with reminders to follow up on late payments
• Chasing customers by phone or email to set up new payment terms or agree to a payment plan
  
  

It’s not just inefficient, it’s risky and it takes your team away from higher-value work like sales, customer service, and growth.

The Real Cost of Manual Credit Management

Let’s put a rough dollar figure on it.

If your team spends just 30 minutes per new customer setting up a credit account, and you onboard 20 new accounts a month, that’s 10 hours gone, not including the ongoing time spent managing late payments or reconciling invoices.

Now add to that:

• The delay in cash coming in due to missing or inconsistent processes
  
• The risk of approving credit to the wrong customer
  
• The strain on relationships when you have to chase someone who’s overdue
  
  

These are all hidden costs that slowly chip away at your margins.

How to Escape the Admin Trap

The good news is: this is 100% solvable and businesses just like yours are fixing it.

PencilPay is designed to streamline trade credit and payments from the moment a customer is onboarded. No more paperwork. No more scattered systems.

Here’s how we help you escape the admin trap:

• Digital credit applications: Customers fill out a smart form that includes automated credit checks, digital signature capture, and direct integration into your systems.
• Built-in approvals: Set your own rules for credit limits, terms, and automated responses.
• Secure payment details: Capture customer card or bank info securely via PCI-compliant methods—no more spreadsheets or manual entry.
• Automated billing and payment plans: Bill customers automatically, set up structured payment plans for overdue accounts, and reduce follow-up admin.
• Works with your ERP: PencilPay integrates with Cin7, Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks, and more—so everything’s connected and your data stays in sync.

Conclusion: Stop Wasting Time, Start Scaling Smarter

Trade credit shouldn’t feel like a full-time job. If your team is drowning in forms, reminders, and overdue invoices, it’s time to fix the process—not just patch the symptoms.

PencilPay gives you a smarter, automated way to manage credit accounts and payments so you can spend more time growing your business and less time chasing admin.

Ready to escape the admin trap? Book a free demo and see how PencilPay can help.