You MUST Know Who Your Customer Really Is!

The OFT has confirmed that new guidance on debt collection is in the early stages of being drafted. Draft guidance is expected imminently, but the OFT does not expect to publish final guidelines before the Autumn.

The main issue here is data accuracy, and the guidelines that will eventually arrive will focus on making sure that innocent individuals are not chased for consumer debt on the basis of false or erroneous information given by creditors to debt collection agencies - but the fact is that far too many companies have been far too careless about getting their information right about purely commercial customers for far too long.

There is, of course, rarely an excuse for the existence of inaccurate - or incomplete - data on any customer of any kind at any time, but where commercial customers are concerned, the opportunities for making sure that data is absolutely complete and correct, and the margin for error is so much reduced, that there is no excuse at all for errors of any kind.

But they still happen.

I continue to receive instructions to proceed (for really quite large sums of money!) against companies that do not, and have never, existed. And I still see new account opening forms, fully completed, signed and dated by 'directors' (who afterwards prove to be untraceable!) that show false company names - and false company numbers that lack the odd digit or two.

I've been singing the 'You must know your customer' song for so many years now that I'm sick of hearing it myself - and keeping my temper and my tongue between my teeth and refraining from saying, 'I warned you', or 'It serves you right', is getting harder all the time.

But I can say it here:

If you don't know who your customer is, it's going to serve you right if things go wrong. And I've warned you about it not once, but many times.

Compromise Can Produce the Best of All Possible Outcomes

Jane Bennett, the Forum of Private Business's Head of Compaigns commented on the Queen's Speech today, and stated that it 'didn't appear to contain anything smaller businesses should be unduly concerned about'.

I listened to the Speech - and whilst I haven't had time to absorb it properly, and would like to spend some time mulling over the proposed Bills, I think Ms. Bennett is absolutely right.

What really struck me about Ms. Bennett's comments, though, was her reference to the 'not ideal' compromise reached over National Insurance Contributions.

Parties who mutually agree to 'compromise ' naturally have to accept terms that do not perfectly agree with the original or absolute desires of either or any of them, and therefore no 'compromise' can ever be said to be 'ideal' for either or any of them - but compromise can (and in many cases does) reflect the best of all possible worlds and produce the best of all possible outcomes.

Anybody who has ever been in business since the world began and the first bargain was sealed - whether by way of a handshake or a written contract - knows the price and the value of compromise. Compromise is what business is all about. Actually it's what life is all about. And now it's what politics and government is all about, too.

I think we can all live quite happily with that.

A Fair Balance At Last?

We were expecting the Budget to be a belt-tightening exercise - and it is.

I find that I can't mourn over the fact that Government Ministers will now have to use public transport, walk, or use 'pool' cars. You and I have been using our Oyster Cards, our feet, and 'pool' cars for many years now, and I don't think any of us are the worse off for the exercise - although we could probably do without the disturbing clanking noises that frequently occur whenever one changes gear in a 'pool' car...

And I don't think any of us need mourn too much over the £836M cut to the Department of Business Innovation & Skills either - or, indeed, the cuts to Local Government and many other public sector departments. They are long, long, overdue. The public sector has grown much too fat - and those of us on the outside of it have grown much too lean. It's long past time to strike a fair balance - and perhaps the time has finally come.

Not Perfect - But a Lot Better

I seem to have spent a lot of time watching the news and holding my breath lately but - for the moment - I think I can begin to relax.

The Liberal Democrat and Conservative Coalition has scrapped the planned one per cent hike in National Insurance Contributions for many (I think in most cases, most!) staff members. The hike will still affect staff earning more than £20,800 per annum - but that will allow many businesses to retain employees and/or to take on new staff without worrying about incurring major tax increases.

This is a good beginning - not perfect, but a lot better than we might have expected had the old regime continued unchanged. Perhaps - at last - we will see the unemployment figures begin to drop and signs of real recovery for everyone.

Before we begin to celebrate, though, let's wait for the emergency budget, set for June 22nd. There'll be live coverage for that - Which is certainly going to be keeping us all well up to date on the Which? Money Liveblog and the BBC will be there as usual - so I suppose I shall be glued to the PC yet again.

I have to say, however, that I have hopes for the budget - and for the Coalition, which I think has every chance of working out well.

Well. Nobody Wanted It, But...

...perhaps a hung Parliament is not a bad, but simply a timely and long overdue event.

Change is a good and necessary thing. Nobody likes it, because the known is comfortable and familiar and any change is a step into the dark, but the electoral system as it stands is manifestly unfair, and has been in need of change for a very, very long time.

Changing that system is therefore necessary and for the common good, and that has never been more obvious than it is now in the wake of the recent General Election - which may (at last!) force a change.

Look on the bright side! The hung Parliament has produced two conscientious, well-meaning and energetic young men who may well be able to work together for the common good and who are, moreover (and very importantly) free of any taint of sleaze - a very welcome change!

I don't believe, of course, that those two young men can ever agree upon every point - but I think and hope that they can agree to compromise upon the most important ones and get business on its feet and people back into work.

Free Web Seminars from Accountancy Age and Financial Director

I've been looking at Accountancy Age and Financial Director web seminars.

The seminars are free once you have registered - and interactive if you have the time to attend. Otherwise you can review the recorded events in your own time. One time registration will give you a user name and a password. The URL for particular events will be e-mailed to you afterwards.

The 'Upcoming Events' tab on the site shows nothing at the moment - but there are a number of recorded events available. Not all of them are for everybody - a lot of them are aimed at accountants - but some of them might be immediately useful, and this is certainly a site to keep your eyes and ears on.

I found the site, incidentally, through an e-mail I received from Business Credit Management UK - another source of information it's worth signing up to.