Instalment ledger that nobody maintains by hand

This is an illustrative pattern, based on how development projects are generally run. It is not any particular client project.

Enquiries in personal phones, availability confirmed by call, instalment schedules in one Excel file for each project, and progress told in the monthly meeting. This is how most developers are running when we are called.

What we checked first

We do not talk about software first. We take one project and follow one buyer from his first enquiry to his last instalment, and see how many people had to be asked in between. The gap we usually find is around three people, all of whom have to be asked before a buyer gets a clear answer about his own payments.

Nobody is hiding anything. The record is just kept in three places.

What we built

One unit inventory with approved rates, an enquiry list with follow-up fixed in the system, and an instalment ledger made from the agreement instead of kept by hand, plus a portal where the buyer checks his own schedule.

How it rolled out

One project first, usually the one selling now, keeping the existing Excel file running beside it until both match.

Where it stands

Availability and price come from the system, overdue instalments are seen on the day they are due, and the buyer can check his own payments without calling the office.