u/BuyerStunning

I've been building a collections/receivables tool for Indian SMEs for the last few months. It's not finished. Some of it works, some is half done, and before I sink more months into it I'd like a reality check on the direction, especially from people who deal with this.

What I'm building it to do:

1. Pull invoices from Zoho Books, or let you upload any Excel/CSV export (Tally, Busy, whatever). Column names wouldn't have to match, it maps them automatically.
2. Read Gmail and WhatsApp replies and pick up payment promises ("we'll clear it Friday") into a timeline.
3. Match incoming bank credits to invoices, and ask you to confirm the ones it isn't confident about instead of guessing.
4. A daily briefing: who to chase today, ranked, with the amount and the reason.
5. Ageing, cash inflow forecast, per customer payment behaviour.
6. Reminders on WhatsApp or email from your own number, in English, Hindi or Hinglish.
7. Ask it questions in plain language ("sabse zyada kaun owe karta hai") and get answers from your actual data.

Three decisions I keep flip-flopping on:
1. Not auto-sending. My plan is that every message needs you to press send. The reasoning: in Indian B2B one badly timed message to a big buyer can cost you the account, so a human should stay in the loop. But it also means the thing doesn't work while you sleep, which is half the point of automating this. Wrong call?
2. Refusing to make up numbers. Every figure the AI shows is computed from your data and verified before it's displayed. If it can't verify, it falls back to a plain summary. It makes the whole thing noticeably less impressive to look at. Worth it?
3. Grading how hard to push per customer. You'd mark an account as "key" and it would never suggest a firm or legal escalation for them, only warm follow ups. Normal accounts escalate. I don't know if that's genuinely useful or if I'm overthinking something owners already do in their head.

What I'd like to know:

1. If you run a business: would something like this change anything, or do you already know all of it and the real problem is somewhere else entirely?
2. What's missing that would make it worth actually using?
3. Is Tally integration table stakes? Right now it's file upload only and I suspect that's a dealbreaker.

Not selling anything, nothing to sign up for, no link. Happy to go into detail on any part of it.

I've been going deep on the delayed payments problem for Indian MSMEs for a few months and I've ended up more confused than when I started. Looking for a reality check from people who actually live this.

The thing I keep running into: every "solution" assumes the supplier just needs to follow up better. Automated reminders, aging reports, dashboards. But every owner I've read about already knows exactly who owes them what. They aren't confused. They're stuck. The only real ways to force payment (legal notice, stop supply) cost you the client, and if that client is 40-60% of your revenue, you eat the delay instead.

The govt built MSME Samadhaan (new cases now go to the ODR portal) for exactly this. 3x bank rate compound interest, 90 day disposal, free to file. Barely anyone uses it, because filing gets read as an act of war and the buyer quietly stops placing orders.

One thing that seems underused: Section 43B(h). Since April 2024, if a buyer doesn't pay a registered micro or small supplier within 45 days (15 if there's no written agreement), the buyer can't claim that expense as a tax deduction. Still unpaid on 31 March and it gets added to their taxable income. Their own CA has to flag it. Only applies if you're a manufacturer or service provider registered on Udyam before the invoice date. Traders are excluded.

What's interesting is it flips who's applying pressure. It's not you begging for money, it's their auditor telling them to close it before year end. Nobody loses face.

What's less interesting is it seems to have backfired for some. CMAI said apparel MSMEs took a 5000-7000 cr hit because retailers just cancelled orders and moved to non-MSME suppliers to dodge the rule.

So, actual questions:

1. ⁠Owners: when a client is 60-90+ days late and you genuinely can't afford to lose them, what has actually worked? Not what should work.
2. ⁠Has anyone used 43B(h) as leverage in a real conversation? Did the money move, or did it damage the account?
3. ⁠Is this even solvable with software, or is it just power asymmetry and no tool changes that?

For context, I've been building something around this idea (calibrating how hard to push based on how much you need the relationship, keeping the legal stuff in reserve instead of firing it). I'm now questioning whether that's a real product or whether I've been naive about how this works on the ground. Not selling anything, no link, genuinely trying to find out if I've been solving an imaginary problem.

I've been going deep on the delayed payments problem for Indian MSMEs for a few months and I've ended up more confused than when I started. Looking for a reality check from people who actually live this.

The thing I keep running into: every "solution" assumes the supplier just needs to follow up better. Automated reminders, aging reports, dashboards. But every owner I've read about already knows exactly who owes them what. They aren't confused. They're stuck. The only real ways to force payment (legal notice, stop supply) cost you the client, and if that client is 40-60% of your revenue, you eat the delay instead.

The govt built MSME Samadhaan (new cases now go to the ODR portal) for exactly this. 3x bank rate compound interest, 90 day disposal, free to file. Barely anyone uses it, because filing gets read as an act of war and the buyer quietly stops placing orders.

One thing that seems underused: Section 43B(h). Since April 2024, if a buyer doesn't pay a registered micro or small supplier within 45 days (15 if there's no written agreement), the buyer can't claim that expense as a tax deduction. Still unpaid on 31 March and it gets added to their taxable income. Their own CA has to flag it. Only applies if you're a manufacturer or service provider registered on Udyam before the invoice date. Traders are excluded.

What's interesting is it flips who's applying pressure. It's not you begging for money, it's their auditor telling them to close it before year end. Nobody loses face.

What's less interesting is it seems to have backfired for some. CMAI said apparel MSMEs took a 5000-7000 cr hit because retailers just cancelled orders and moved to non-MSME suppliers to dodge the rule.

So, actual questions:

1. ⁠Owners: when a client is 60-90+ days late and you genuinely can't afford to lose them, what has actually worked? Not what should work.
2. ⁠Has anyone used 43B(h) as leverage in a real conversation? Did the money move, or did it damage the account?
3. ⁠Is this even solvable with software, or is it just power asymmetry and no tool changes that?

For context, I've been building something around this idea (calibrating how hard to push based on how much you need the relationship, keeping the legal stuff in reserve instead of firing it). I'm now questioning whether that's a real product or whether I've been naive about how this works on the ground. Not selling anything, no link, genuinely trying to find out if I've been solving an imaginary problem.

They add a “service charge” on the bill and mention it as a staff contribution. But when you ask them to remove it, the staff starts arguing or tries to make you feel guilty for requesting its removal.

Gaadi building ke bahar nikalne ka bhi mann nahi karta.

Hey everyone 👋

I’m building Synqlytics, a marketing intelligence tool, and would genuinely love some feedback from people in the marketing space.

If anyone here works in marketing, growth, performance, social media, agencies, or even runs their own brand, would you be open to trying it out and sharing honest feedback?

Still improving the product and real feedback would honestly be super valuable for me 🙌

Skycity mall jab new open hua tha kitna premium lagta tha lekin ab udr jaane ka bhi maan nhi krta