As a business owner or accounts receivable specialist, you may have some fear around sending an account to a debt collections company. For one thing, you're entrusting a third party with your client relationship and your money and facing potentially unexpected costs. You may also have heard some really bad things about debt collections.  Enterprise Collections LLC has been helping our clients recover debts for years, and we're happy to answer questions and ease any uncertainty.

Read further as we debunk the fears around using B2B debt collections to get you paid.

The process of collecting what's due from customers can go by several names. Accounts receivable, receivables, A/R, accounts receivable collections, debt collections, and more.

(Not to be confused with accounts payable, which is a different part altogether.)

Many of these terms are not interchangeable but actually define different levels or areas of the process of collecting payments. 

What's the difference between accounts receivable and collections?

When you've exhausted time and resources chasing down an unpaid invoice, it's time to send that invoice to third-party collections.  If the client isn't responsive to your efforts to connect or they're refusing to pay or cannot pay, it's time to send the account to third-party collections. If you've written off the account as bad debt, it's still time to send it to third-party collections.

Let us help recover what's owed to your business.

Here's how to work with Enterprise Recovery when clients don't pay.

With the federal reserve raising interest rates for the first time in nearly 30 years, economists are expecting a slow down in business growth. They've been talking about a recession for a few years now but then we were hit with a pandemic that shook up everything from the supply chain to the location of the workforce. If you are growing a freelance business, you're likely concerned about what to do if your own business slows down. Is your business recession ready?

Here are five ways for freelancers to save money.

When your business contracts with another business, there's an expectation that both parties will honor their obligations, including paying on time. If your clients or business partners aren't following through, your accounts receivable department must devote time and resources in an attempt to collect. Or you can outsource the problem to a collections agency that focuses on this type of debt and respects your client/business relationship.

Here's what to look for in a B2B debt collections agency.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But do you know if your collections efforts are broken?

If your business has established in-house (first-party) collections, accounts receivable and/or debt collection agency partners, it is still a good idea to ensure you're leveraging the best resources, technology, and vendor pricing available.

Here's why and how to reassess your in-house collections and B2B collections agency partners.

If you're stalling on the idea of following up on past due invoices, don't fret.  Sometimes it takes a little research to move forward on something that's uncomfortable or unfamiliar. We've pulled together some reasons why you might be hesitant and how to move past those obstacles. 

Here are some pros and cons of sending your clients to collections.

Unpaid invoices are the worst! While it's easy to react negatively to your late or non-paying clients, each invoice may require its own way of dealing with it. You can start proactively, including establishing a consistent invoicing process and following up as quickly as possible. However, if you're lacking the resources or your prevention strategy isn't working, it's time to try something new. 

Here are three ways to recover unpaid invoices.

When your customer accounts become delinquent, they may have a number of reasons for not paying on time. Some of these excuses may be perfectly reasonable and others, not so much. If your in-house accounts receivable or collections department is fielding some of these excuses, here are some tips on how to handle them.

Here's how to respond to delinquent customer excuses for late payments.

If your business sends invoices or bills on credit or at recurring intervals, you likely have customers who pay late or not at all.  Delinquent customer accounts can affect everything from paying business expenses to destroying business relationships. Customers may be paying late due to a number of reasons, including lost invoices, expired credit cards, or the inability to pay. Instead of taking it personally, your business can follow these tips to recover the account in a professional manner. 

Here's how to manage delinquent customers in business.