---
title: "How to measure a credit controller's performance"
description: "The numbers that show what a credit controller actually did: calls and reach rate, promises kept, and days to close a case. What each one tells you, the traps in each, and how to compare people fairly."
url: https://www.paidnice.com/blog/measure-credit-controller-performance
---

# How to measure a credit controller's performance: calls, promises kept and days to close

Written by

Ashley Schroder
Personally tested

Co-founder of Paidnice

Ashley tested Paidnice's Team Activity report and traced how calls, reach rate, promises kept and days to close separate a credit controller's effort from the ledger they were given.

Reviewed by Jack Daffron

Co-founder of Paidnice

Published Nov 9, 2026 · 6 min

## Summary

Measure a credit controller on three things they control: activity (calls, how often the customer was reached, texts and emails), outcomes (the amount promised and the share of promises kept) and speed (median days to close an escalation or query). Company numbers such as DSO depend on the ledger they were given, so use those for the team, not the person.

- **Activity:** Calls made, the share where the customer was reached, talk time, texts and emails. Reach rate tells you more than the call count.
- **Outcomes:** Promises kept divided by promises kept plus broken. A high count of promises with a low kept rate means promises are being accepted too easily.
- **Speed:** Median days to close an escalation or a customer query, and how many escalations are past their scheduled date.

You manage two credit controllers, and each works their own customer accounts. On Friday you ask what got done, and the answer is a spreadsheet of call notes and a sense that it was busy.

One team told us that, without a shared report, their manager waits a week to see what a controller has done.

Here is how to measure a credit controller's performance with numbers they actually control, what each number tells you, and how to compare people who work very different ledgers.

## Why is DSO a poor measure of one credit controller?

DSO is a poor measure of one person because it moves with things the controller does not control: sales volume, payment terms and which customers sit on their ledger. A controller given a ledger of slow-paying contractors will show a worse DSO than one given prompt retailers, however hard they work.

Keep DSO, the [collection effectiveness index](https://www.paidnice.com/blog/good-collection-effectiveness-index) and on-time payment for the team and the business. For each person, measure what they did and what it produced, then read those numbers against their own trend.

Free: Payment reminder email templatesCopy the reminder emails for before, on and after the due date.

## What should you measure for each credit controller?

Measure each credit controller at three levels: what they did, what it produced, and how fast they closed cases. One level alone gives a misleading picture.

| Measure | What it tells you | The trap |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Calls made | How much time went on the phone | A high count of unanswered calls looks busy and collects nothing |
| Reach rate (calls where the customer was reached) | Whether calls land at times and on numbers that work | Low reach can mean bad contact data, not a weak controller |
| Talk time | How long real conversations last | Long calls are not always good calls; read it with promises |
| Texts and emails sent by the person | Follow-up outside the phone | Count only messages the person sent, not automated reminders |
| Amount promised | How much money the controller got a date for | Count it as cash only once it is kept |
| Promises kept rate | Whether the dates agreed were realistic | Needs enough resolved promises to mean anything |
| Median days to close | How fast escalations and queries get resolved | Average days are skewed by one long dispute; use the median |
| Escalations past their scheduled date | Work that is overdue for the controller | A spike can mean the person is overloaded, not slow |

## How do you judge calls and reach rate?

Judge calls by reach rate first, then by what the reached calls produced. A credit controller who makes fewer calls but reaches the customer more often is usually working the better list.

When one person's reach rate is far below the rest of the team, look at the numbers they are calling before you look at the person. Out-of-date phone numbers and calls to a general switchboard are common causes, and both are fixable. A second check is the time of day: calls made late on a Friday reach fewer accounts teams.

## How do you measure promises kept?

Divide promises kept by promises kept plus promises broken, for promises whose date has passed in the period. Leave out promises that are still open, and promises that were cancelled.

Read the rate next to the amount promised. A controller with a large promised amount and a low kept rate is accepting dates the customer will not meet. A controller with a high kept rate but a small promised amount may be avoiding the hard calls.

Set a short grace period, such as two working days, before a missed promise counts as broken, so a payment in transit is not marked as a failure.

For the follow-up on a missed date, see [what to do when a customer breaks a promise to pay](https://www.paidnice.com/blog/broken-promise-to-pay).

## How do you measure days to close?

Measure days to close as the median number of days from when an escalation or query is opened to when it is closed, per person. The median shows the typical case. An average lets one six-month dispute hide a controller who closes most cases in three days.

Read it next to escalations past their scheduled date. If days to close rises at the same time as overdue escalations pile up, the controller has more cases than time. That is a workload decision for the manager to make.

## How do you compare credit controllers fairly?

Compare each credit controller with their own last 12 weeks first, and with colleagues only when their ledgers are alike. A controller who covers the largest accounts will make fewer calls and have longer talk time than one who covers many small accounts.

- **Give each person a clear set of accounts.** Assign customers or customer groups to one owner, so every number belongs to someone.
- **Log activity where it happens.** A call that is not logged does not exist in any report. One insurance customer we work with kept notes for every account in a large spreadsheet and wanted promised dates in one place for cash flow.
- **Look at trends, not single weeks.** Holidays, month-end and one large dispute all distort a week.

## How does Paidnice measure each credit controller?

Paidnice's Team Activity report shows what each person did and what it produced, from the work they do in Paidnice. It is on every plan, and you do not need to fill in a spreadsheet for it.

1. **Talk time:** the total time spent on calls, next to the number of phone calls, text messages and external emails.
2. **Promises kept:** promises kept divided by promises kept plus broken, for promises resolved in the period. Open and cancelled promises are left out.
3. **Escalations past scheduled:** escalations whose scheduled date has passed without being closed.

Above those tiles, Team Activity shows activities logged, the share of calls where the customer was reached, and the amount promised to pay on calls. Below them are a chart of activities per week, call outcomes and a team table per person.

The team table shows each person's calls, reach rate, texts, emails, promised amount and kept rate. The report also shows queries resolved, escalations closed and the median days to close per person, with a 12-week trend.

Calls placed with [click to call](https://www.paidnice.com/in-app-calling), on the Pro plan and above, are logged with a summary and transcript, so the call count and talk time fill themselves in. [Escalations](https://www.paidnice.com/escalations) assign a call or a case to an owner on a set day after the due date. See [Team Activity](https://www.paidnice.com/shared-inbox#team-activity) for the full report.

💡 Paidnice insight

When a call summary picks out a payment date, Paidnice creates a task to update the expected payment date, and it waits for approval. The promise is captured from the call itself, so the kept rate does not depend on someone remembering to type it up.

For how a small team splits this work, see [who does what in a credit control team](https://www.paidnice.com/blog/credit-control-team-roles). For the weekly meeting that uses these numbers, see [the weekly AR team review](https://www.paidnice.com/blog/weekly-ar-team-review).

## Frequently asked questions

### What KPIs should a credit controller have?

Give a credit controller KPIs they control: reach rate on calls, the amount promised, the promises kept rate, median days to close escalations and queries, and how many escalations are past their scheduled date. Keep DSO and bad debt as team KPIs.

### What is a good promises kept rate?

There is no published benchmark we would stand behind, and the rate depends on your customers and terms. Track each person's rate over 12 weeks and act when it falls, or when it sits well below the rest of the team on similar accounts.

### Should a credit controller have a cash collected target?

A cash target on its own rewards whoever was given the biggest accounts. If you use one, set it per ledger and pair it with promises kept, so the target does not push people to accept dates that will not be met.

### Can I see each credit controller's activity in Xero?

Not in one report. Xero has no per-person activity log for collections, so calls, promises and notes usually live in a spreadsheet or a separate app. See [how to track overdue invoices in Xero as a team](https://www.paidnice.com/blog/track-overdue-invoices-xero-team).

### How often should I review credit controller performance?

Look at the numbers weekly and judge performance over a quarter. A weekly look catches a missed promise or an overloaded ledger early. A quarter is long enough that holidays and one large dispute do not decide the result.

## Paidnice features in this article

- [**In-app calling** Lets you call customers from Paidnice and keeps a transcript and summary.](https://www.paidnice.com/in-app-calling)
- [**Escalations** Hands a call, a credit stop or a letter to the right person when reminders do not work.](https://www.paidnice.com/escalations)

## About the editorial team

Written by Ashley Schroder Co-founder of Paidnice

Ashley is a co-founder and lead developer of Paidnice and has built accounting software for more than 10 years. He builds the ledger connections that put reminders, late fees and payments into Xero, QuickBooks and ERPs such as NetSuite and Business Central. Before Paidnice he co-founded A2X, ecommerce accounting software for Xero and QuickBooks.

Reviewed by Jack Daffron Co-founder of Paidnice

Jack is a co-founder of Paidnice and has built accounting software for more than 10 years. He builds the product that sends reminders, adds late fees and takes payments for businesses on Xero, QuickBooks and ERPs such as NetSuite and Business Central.

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