Artificial intelligence firm Sidetrade provides accounts receivable platform for free

SMEs across the UK are facing increasingly difficult conditions, including lengthening of B2B credit terms, inability to post or receive invoices and reminder letters, unreachable customers due to containment measures, disorganisation of teams not accustomed to working remotely and loss of control over their arrears.

As such, Sidetrade has rescaled its artificial intelligence platform for large businesses and made it available to businesses turning over between £8m and £400m for free until June 30, 2020. The rescaled programme is called CashControl.

The programme handles businesses’ order-to-cash processes, carries out payment recovery actions and adapts strategies according to the changing behaviour of each payer.

“For small businesses to survive, especially in an economic downturn, they must get paid,” Sidetrade chief executive Olivier Novasque said. “The public authorities are right to hold payers, especially large companies, accountable. With the outbreak of the pandemic, SMEs’ first priority was business continuity; the next priority is collecting accounts receivable. The following weeks will see whether or not cash, their lifeblood, comes in.”