The importance of getting PPS registrations right

The Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) will mark its seventh anniversary in January 2019, meaning many registrations will need to be renewed. There is hesitation from some businesses around how best to approach the renewal exercise. This is unsurprising given many businesses are unaware of the register, what they should be using it for, and the dire consequences of not registering their personal property should they look to recover some assets from a customer which has gone bust.

There is a distinct lack of education, particularly amongst smaller businesses, about what it takes to get PPSR right. In many cases, small businesses may not even have a dedicated finance manager on staff. Instead, small businesses often outsource the financial elements of their business to an accountant, or the business owner will take on the finance role themselves, whether or not they have the relevant expertise.

In these cases, the small business owner rarely has the in-depth knowledge required to successfully register all relevant interests on the PPSR.

Add to this the sheer volume of registrations many businesses need to review and renew, and it’s easy to understand why so many organisations are either struggling to register their interests or simply not bothering to register at all, leaving themselves exposed to significant losses in the event a customer  becomes insolvent.

Avoiding the most common mistakes

There are a number of steps during the PPS registration process that regularly trip people up. Some of the most common errors include: grantor (debtor) identification; property identification; errors in serial numbers; and errors in identifying the class of goods.

To gain a clearer understanding of their PPSR situation, businesses should ask themselves the following questions when beginning the PPSR renewal process:

• Can I be 100% sure the description of my collateral on my registration will stand up if I needed to contest it with an insolvency practitioner or in court?
• Have I done a thorough assessment of my data, to ensure all my customer information is up-to-date?
• Do I feel confident that I fully understand the PPSR process, or am I just following a pre-set series of steps by rote?
• How much time do I want to spend manually registering or renewing potentially hundreds or thousands of interests?  

Due to the complexity of the registration process, it’s almost inevitable that some human error will occur if businesses are registering their interests manually and without aid.

There’s no such thing as a ‘set and forget’ PPS registration strategy. But starting the process early and engaging a PPSR specialist can help simplify the process from the outset, and make it clear what is required and how long it will take.

Speak to Equifax. We can work with you to accurately and efficiently setup, monitor and maintain your PPS registrations.

Email us to organise for a PPSR Specialist to call you and chat through your requirements.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is general in nature and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Therefore, you should consider whether the information is appropriate to your circumstance before acting on it, and where appropriate, seek professional advice from a finance professional such as an adviser.