The Cash Flow Problem No One Wants to Own
Late payments cost UK businesses an estimated £22 billion a year. The FSB reports that 50,000 UK businesses close annually due to cash flow problems, and late payment is the single largest contributor.
The irony is that most businesses know which invoices are overdue. The aged debt report exists. The problem is that nobody has time to work it consistently. Your finance team is occupied with month-end, VAT, and management reporting. Your account managers are reluctant to chase their own clients. The result is a collection gap: invoices drift from 30 days to 60 days to 90 days, and by the time someone acts, the relationship has soured and the probability of recovery has dropped.
Hiring a dedicated credit controller in London costs £29,000 in base salary — £42,002 loaded. The role also has notoriously high turnover, because credit control is repetitive, metrics-driven, and often thankless. You hire, train, lose, and repeat.
How Outsourced Credit Control Works
In Treba’s model, a dedicated credit controller in Nairobi is assigned to your business. They work inside your Xero, QuickBooks, or Sage instance via secure VPN and follow your collection procedures exactly — your templates, your escalation policy, your tone of voice.
The scope covers three operational layers. Proactive invoice chasing: every overdue invoice is followed up within 24 hours of due date. Controllers work through the aged debt report daily, contacting debtors by email and phone on a structured schedule — reminder, follow-up, final notice, escalation. Aged debt reporting: weekly summaries with debtor commentary, promised payment dates, and escalation flags, delivered to your FD or finance lead. Payment plan negotiation: for larger overdue balances, the team negotiates structured payment terms within your approved parameters, documents agreements, and tracks installments.
Controllers make outbound calls during UK business hours using VoIP with a UK caller ID. They speak fluent English and are trained in professional debt recovery communication — firm but relationship-preserving.
Protecting Client Relationships While Recovering Cash
The most common objection to outsourced credit control is tone. UK businesses worry that an offshore team will damage relationships with clients they have spent years building.
Treba addresses this at three levels. First, communication templates: you approve every email template and call script before the controller starts. The tone, language, and escalation thresholds are yours — the controller executes them consistently. Second, debtor segmentation: high-value or sensitive accounts can be flagged for a different treatment path — softer language, longer grace periods, direct escalation to your account manager rather than a standard final notice. Third, weekly reporting: you see every contact made, every promise logged, and every escalation triggered. If the approach needs adjusting, you adjust it in real time.
The result is usually an improvement over the status quo, not a risk. A dedicated controller who follows your process consistently is more effective than a finance team that chases invoices inconsistently between other priorities.
The Economics of Outsourced Credit Control
A credit controller in London costs approximately £29,000 in base salary. Adding 13.8% employer NI (£4,002), £5,000 for office space, and £4,000 for recruitment gives a loaded annual cost of £42,002.
Through Treba, a dedicated credit controller in Nairobi costs £10,200 per year loaded. That is a saving of £31,802 per head, or 76%.
Comparison
| Line Item | UK (London) | Treba (Nairobi) | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Salary | £29,000 | Included | |
| Employer’s NI (13.8%) | £4,002 | Included | |
| Office / Equipment | £5,000 | Included | |
| Recruitment / Compliance | £4,000 | Included | |
| Annual Loaded Cost | £42,002 | £10,200 | £31,802 (76%) |
But the economics go beyond the cost of the controller. A 15% reduction in DSO on £1M of receivables means approximately £41,000 of cash recovered earlier each year. The controller pays for themselves four times over through improved cash conversion.
Measuring Impact: The First 90 Days
Credit control outsourcing produces measurable results within 90 days. The key metrics to track are DSO reduction (target: 15–25%), contact rate per invoice (target: 5–7 touches vs. the typical 2–3), aged debt over 60 days as a percentage of total receivables (target: reduction of 30–50%), and cash collected as a percentage of opening aged debt (target: 70–80% clearance).
Treba’s managed services model includes weekly reporting against these KPIs. If targets are not being met, the Team Lead adjusts the contact strategy — increasing call frequency, changing the escalation timeline, or segmenting the debtor list by risk profile.
The 30-day performance guarantee applies: if the controller does not meet agreed standards, Treba replaces them at no cost.
Deployment and Transition
- The onboarding follows the standard 4-phase process:
- Days 1–2: Discovery. Review your debtor ledger, collection procedures, escalation policy, and communication templates.
- Days 3–5: Talent Selection. Match credit controllers from the pre-vetted pool based on experience with your industry and debtor profile.
- Days 5–7: Tech & Compliance Setup. VPN access to your accounting system. VoIP configuration with UK caller ID. DPA execution.
- Days 7–14: Nest Training. Controller works through the current aged debt report under supervision, making initial contacts and logging responses. 100% of contacts are reviewed during this period.
- Day 14+: Go Live. Controller operates the full collection cycle independently. Weekly reporting begins.
Key takeaways
Late payments cost UK businesses £22 billion annually.
Outsourcing credit control to a dedicated controller ensures every overdue invoice is chased consistently.
DSO reduction of 15–25% within 90 days is the standard benchmark for outsourced credit control engagements.
Controllers work inside your accounting system, follow your templates, and use UK VoIP caller IDs.
Client relationships are protected by your approved tone and escalation policy.
Loaded cost drops from £42,002/year (London) to £10,200/year (Nairobi) — a 76% reduction.
A 15% DSO reduction on £1M of receivables recovers approximately £41,000 in earlier cash — the controller pays for themselves four times over.
Written by
Treba Research
Treba editorial team — expert analysis on outsourcing, compliance, and building distributed UK–Kenya teams.
