Recovering money that is owed to your business can be a difficult process. Most of the time, debtors will not return your calls and rebut any attempts you make to contact them. You can be stumped at this stage and it may seem as if you may have to write it off as a bad decision but there are some options you can pursue instead of giving up.

You will not be able to write off all debts as this can slow the cash flow to the company and decrease inventory turnover. Your credit rating as a company can take a hit as a result and it will affect the reputation of the company negatively. So you have to act quickly when there is a debtor that is not paying what you are owed. To prevent situations like this from happening, you have to send invoices on time and make sure your accounting system can quickly spot overdue accounts and notify those who can take action. Before you take action, such as contacting a Gold Coast debt collector, you have to check if you have done everything you can on your side such as sending the invoice to the right person and having a contract with the debtor that clearly states when payments are to be made. Make sure you act within a month of an overdue invoice to ensure that the matter can be dealt with promptly.

While outside help can be considered, there are some methods you can try on your own to recover the debt. You have to consider the history with the customer and think of the best way to act. You need to reach out to the customer before you hire a commercial debt collection agency. This will help you get an idea of why the payment has not been made. Maybe there was an error with the invoice where the customer has not received it or the payment conditions were not clear to them. Sometimes the customer may not have received the goods due to an error in management. If they have an issue with cash flow, you can discuss their willingness to work with a repayment schedule that is fair for both parties. Contacting them by phone will be the best way to get an idea of the customer’s side and make them understand your position.

You can also send a debt collection letter to the customer that highlights the amount that has to be paid and the consequences of non-payment. You should still remain polite and professional in order to maintain a good relationship with the customer still. If your attempts have not yielded positive results with the customer, you need to consider whether you want to further attempt recovery or whether to walk away from the situation. The latter can be considered if the owed amount is small and doesn’t affect your company’s finances. This will help preserve the business relationship if you have worked with the customer for a long time. The other option is to hire a debt collection agency that will collect the debt on your behalf. They will generally act as a middleman between you and the customer.