When an Invoice to a Customer is Overdue – AN ACTION LIST!!!

Suppliers… It’s Time To Take Action!

These are actions that you, as an exporter, supplier or manufacturer can take yourself when an invoice is due, before seeking professional services.

Remember to act IMMEDIATELY when the invoice is due! Do Not Delay!

Step 1

• Issue a maximum of 2 written reminders.
• Do not write “first reminder”, or similar, as this makes it clear there will be others.
• Clearly state that the consequence of non-payment is the initiation of escalated steps.
• You can start with a “friendly reminder” that is amicable attempt to get invoice paid and then follow up with a more formal notice.

Step 2

• Follow up with a telephone call.
• This discussion should focus solely on settlement of the invoice, do not discuss other matters in this conversation.
• Refer directly to the overdue invoice and find out the reason for delay of payment.
• Ask the customer when payment will be made. Insist on a concrete response.
• Follow up your phone conversation with an email or letter outlining the agreements discussed. This will be useful if you have to escalate this matter legally.

Forgot to Pay, Cannot Pay, Refuse to Pay

The usual 3 reasons for a person not paying are, “forgot to pay”, “cannot pay” or “refuse to pay”. In the following steps we will tell you how to handle each scenario.

Forgot to Pay: Obviously, to maintain good working relationships, you would want to give the debtor a chance to pay such as time extension of few more days.

Cannot Pay: Perhaps you should consider a payment plan or give a discounted price or agree on barter option.

Refuse to Pay: If the customer refuses to pay, you may want to initiate legal action immediately. If the customer is simply ignoring your requests for settlement, appointing a third party service provider may put some pressure on the debtor to settle.

I Have Followed Steps 1 & 2… The Debtor Still Won’t Pay…

So what to do if, despite your efforts, the debtor still won’t pay?

Then it’s time for you to hire third party service providers who are active in the country where your debtor is located!

How does we work @Recoupex?

Upon receiving your documentation (copy of invoice due, last correspondence with debtor, and last known contact details of debtor) a legal demand is issued within 24 hours.

With our global network of attorneys, we are able to act worldwide and conduct a full asset and liability investigation of your debtor.

You receive a report from our attorneys with an update on your claim twice a month.

You will not be asked to pay any lawyer, court or other fees, and if we do not manage to collect your money, there is NO CHARGE to you.

Once we have recovered your money, we deduct our fee of 20% and pay the rest to you without any delay!