Selling on account without losing track: a credit book that collects

"Write it down, I'll pay at the end of the month." Every baqala, cafeteria and pharmacy in the UAE hears it every day. Selling on account is how a neighbourhood shop keeps its regulars. It is also how shops end up with thousands of dirhams spread over notebooks, family members and promises.

The problem is rarely that customers refuse to pay. It is that nobody knows exactly who owes what, since when, and who was reminded last.

Decide the rules before the first sale

• Terms. How long an account may stay unpaid: the end of the month, 30 days, salary day. Write it down for each customer.
• A limit. The most a customer may owe. When a sale would go over it, the till should either warn the cashier or block the sale until a manager decides.
• Who may sell on account. Not every cashier, not for every customer.

Tell regular customers the rules once, politely. Most are relieved to know where they stand.

One book, not ten notebooks

Every sale on account should be a real sale, with a receipt and VAT, on the customer's account. Every payment — cash, card, bank transfer — is recorded against the account, oldest bill first. The credit book then answers four questions at a glance:

1. Who owes, and how much in total.
2. Since when: today, 1–30 days, 31–60, over 60.
3. How late against their own terms.
4. What was promised: "will pay on the 28th".

Look at it every Saturday morning. The over-60 column is where money is lost; deal with it first.

A statement the customer can read

Disputes start when the customer cannot see the lines. A private statement link, sent by WhatsApp or e-mail, shows each purchase and payment with dates and the balance. It opens on their phone, shows nothing about anyone else, and you can withdraw it at any time.

Reminders that stay polite

Reminding people about money is uncomfortable, so it does not happen until it is too late. Let the system prepare the reminders and keep you in control:

• A rhythm you choose: a few days before the due date, on the day, then every week, and stop after a number of reminders.
• A minimum amount, so nobody is chased for AED 7.
• Quiet hours, so no message goes out at night.
• Words in three tones — friendly, firm, final — in the customer's language, never a threat, always an offer to talk.

E-mails can go by themselves. WhatsApp reminders wait in a list for the cashier, who taps once per customer and sends from the shop's own phone. You decide every message.

When a customer cannot pay

Sometimes the honest answer is a plan. Turn the balance into a few dated payments — see instalments and deposits — rather than letting it grow.

Rules of thumb

• New customers start with a small limit. Raise it after three months of on-time payments.
• Never let one family's account be the largest debt in the shop.
• Collect at the counter: when a customer with a balance buys something, the cashier sees the balance on the screen.

In CreekPOS

The credit book and reminders are in CreekPOS Online from the Retail plan: switch them on in Settings → Credit book, set terms, limits (warn or block, offline too) and your payment details, then use Customers → Credit book, Customers → Reminders to send and Reports → Collections. See the manual and our older article on customer accounts and regulars. Customer accounts themselves are in every plan and in the desktop program.