Commercial Collections Blog

As our economy continues to slide do you continually set credit limits on your customers and how often do you review your accounts and their balances.

A review of your largest accounts and their month over month balances can shed light on the growing account balance and predict debt collection difficulties.

It is also true that many smaller accounts with increasing balances will add up to a very substantial portion of your DSO. No system is perfect and a good review of all accounts over 30 days will keep you up to date and ready to react to data on each customer.

Technorati Tags agency, business, collection, commercial, debt

• It is more difficult in todays business environment to have business debts collected than ever before.
• It takes resources away from new account billing and collections.
• It may be cost justified by a true cost analysis based on fully burdened internal costs and the external cost.
• It may be of equal cost but the money may come in sooner resulting in better cash flow.
• You may get savings from the change and your freed up staff can get in touch with all the newer delinquent accounts and not let them slide into the not collectable code.

Technorati Tags business, collection, commercial, debt, recovery

• Ignore them.
• Send another invoice.
• Make another phone call.
• Send another reminder.
• Send a letter of demand.
• Call someone else in the company.
• Have someone else from your company call
• Track them down when their phone is disconnected.
• Look for them when your letters are returned.
• Hope.
• Call us today at 1-469-368-6400

Technorati Tags agency, Bad Debt, business, collection, commercial, debt, receivables

When new sales are a bit flat and your cash flow is tight you can improve your cash situation with a harvest of your past due accounts. A review of all delinquent accounts is always a surprise and a bit of a downer. There are always accounts receivables on the list that you see as some of your best customers and also some new accounts as well. The decision to press harder on the accounts is a sales issue and a cash issue at the same time. The correct answer is hard to come by unless your credit policy is tight and uniform. Treat all your customers with respect and follow your own credit policies without exception.

Contact all you past due accounts and stay in touch weekly until their account is up to date. Some accounts will need to be put on credit management awaiting payment and you should have your limits in place so that the decision is relatiely easy. Do not wait forever to get your commercial collection agency involved because collection is their expertise and you can stay fixed on the newer past due accounts

Technorati Tags agency, Bad Debt, business, collection, commercial, debt, receivables, recovery

1. Make sure you process clean, accurate, timely claims.
2. Make sure you have the correct terms on the claim.
3. Followup at thirty days and speak with an agent of the company -keep notes.
4. Send a formal letter at 45 days asking for payment.
5. At 60 days either put the claim out to a professional debt collection agency or file a claim with your attorney.
6. Continue the contact with your agency of choice and let them do their work.

Technorati Tags Bad Debt, business, collection, debt

Your cash flow deserves a full review of your delinquent accounts. Any and all accounts that are over 30 days deserve an examination and the scrutiny that will reveal the accounts that have more than a 50% chance of not being collected without a more intense effort. Waiting for these accounts to spontaneously pay their debts will result in an increased DSO and eventually writeoffs. Face the facts the account is not responding to your effort to collect. Phone calls and letters just are not getting results. It is time to contract with your professional debt collection agency and help your cash flow.

Technorati Tags agency, Bad Debt, collection, commercial, debt, receivables

When trying to collect bad debts from past due business accounts, it may be necessary to hire a commercial collection agency. There are some tips that can help you in this unpleasant endeavor.

First, try to search for an agency that works with small or home based businesses.

Second, find an agency that specializes in the type of collection desired, either individual or commercial.

Third, research the agency to see if they are licensed in the state the debt occurs.

Last, compare costs of different agencies to see the fees charged. Following these four steps will help chose a good collection agency to meet your needs quickly and help you collect the bad debt in a timely manner.

Technorati Tags agency, collection, commercial, debt

• Is your days sales outstanding growing and what are the contributing factors?
• Are your mature accounts not paying at the same rate as before?
• Are you noticing debt piling up on your newer accounts?
• Do your sales people cry that your credit terms are to strict?
• Are you more concerned with your bad debt accounts or your new sales accounts?
• Does your management team now call you about your DSO.
• Are you ready to look for outside assistance for your accounts receivables?
• These are all points of concern that will lead you to a commercial debt collection partner.

Technorati Tags agency, Bad Debt, commercial, debt, receivables, recovery

• The major difference between collecting and not collecting is the intensity of the effort and the amount of time it takes to get past the excuses.
• The issue that is exposed is that of willingness to pay not ability. We find their resources and get payment ahead of other companies.
• We specialize in 10 day collection efforts and we get results with infield collectors that push beyound all the excuses and we collect when others fail.

Technorati Tags business, collection, commercial, debt

The most obvious choice of what account to turn over to a commercial debt collection agency is the oldest  account with the most bad debt.   However the account that is just past 30 days may be the best account to place if they go bankrupt while you wait and while you are chasing the very old accounts. You must do risk analysis on all accounts at 30, 60,90,120, days to keep curent on the accounts to place. Burt Risk Scores can save you time and money.

The goal for reviewing accounts past due is to isolate the accounts who are not going to pay and create a program that forces the issue with that account. Waiting for the demand calls and letters to work on this type of account will get you nowhere and produce nothing tangible, as in cash. Call Burt Collect and get your money.

Technorati Tags Bad Debt, cash, commercial, debt, receivables, recovery