You should call in a credit collection agency sooner rather than later. The longer you wait to begin the collection process on overdue accounts, the...
You should call in a credit collection agency sooner rather than later. The longer you wait to begin the collection process on overdue accounts, the less of a chance you’ll have at recovering your money.
The day after an account becomes overdue, you should place a polite phone call to the customer who owes you money. If that doesn’t work, you may want to send a few reminder letters yourself, or you may want to go directly to a credit collection agency. Base your decision on how much money is owed to you and the history of your relationship with the customer. If it’s the first time you are doing business with them, you’ll want to call in a credit collection agency sooner than you would with a 10-year old customer with a solid credit history.
Most companies call in a credit collection agency once a debt is 60 days to 90 days past due. If you wait much longer than 90 days to begin collecting unpaid receivables, your chance of collecting drops dramatically.
If you discover that your account has gone out of business, find out what type of business it was – a corporation, a partnership, or a proprietorship. If it was a corporation, don’t even bother calling for the help of a collection agency. It is doubtful that you, or any one else, will be able to squeeze the last few nickels out of that client. If the company is a partnership or a proprietorship, you may be able to get the individual owners of the company to pay you out of their own pockets.
If you try to recover an account and fail, consider that bad debt a tax-deductible item (Tax Code IRC 166, Reg. 1.166). You will be able to deduct the cost of the goods sold (but not paid for) as an ordinary business expense. You can’t deduct any lost profits from the sale, nor can you deduct the money owed for services rendered.
Mallory Megan works for a company. Also she composes pieces about finance and business, consumer spending and .
Debt collection agency American Profit Recovery began a fund raising attempt in order to assist people trying to bring relief to the Haiti earthquake victims. American Profit Recovery has chosen the Saint Rock Haiti Foundation which is a charity that provides medical care for the people of Haiti.
There are three different ways in which the debt collection company will raise funds. One will be the dedication of five percent of the revenue from their largest trade show. The cash will come from all sales at the show in addition to any that come in until the end of February.
Employees can contribute by paying to have the chance to dress casually on every Monday in February. Food purchased at their three locations will also go directly to Saint Rock Haiti Foundation.
American Profit Recovery picked Saint Rock Haiti Foundation after one of their team members brought the charity to its attention. And by picking this organization, it will have the opportunity to apply to the Grand Lodge of Masons over in Massachusetts to match their donation, doubling fund raising efforts.
American Profit Recovery is a collection agency with offices in Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Michigan. It was founded in 2004. APR focuses on the collection of third party debt in professional industries such as banking, trades, medical and dental, and lawn care.
APR has a large interest in good business practices and diplomacy with debtors. They work to keep the relationship between client and consumer intact; their goal is to keep the business relationship going.
Recent studies suggest that collection companies that train their collectors in empathy are the latest trend and the most successful. If someone is being contacted by numerous collection agencies, they are more likely to work with the collector that has shown compassion. More debt collection agencies could take a lesson from APR and start giving back to the community.
Mallory Megan works for a company and writes articles on consumer spending, business and finance, and .
