The economic situation has brought troubled times to most companies and has put some in the situation of having to keep a close eye on the cash flow at one time or another. When this boils down to paying or not paying an account presented by a small firm which has done valuable jobs, a decision to put off completion can have a serious effect on the small firm, which may well be in a similar position. The small firm will surely have a much smaller personnel level compared to the large firm and may be family members of the firm owner, which makes the decision over things like delayed salaries tough. However the small firm may well be unsure about having to dive into Debt Collection proceedings without first contacting the large firm to uncover what is happening. The response they receive to this communication should decide if the next move is action or not. If it is action then their thoughts will turn to Debt Collection, but with keeping the good business relationship in the back of their minds. There may well also be cash constraints so going straight for a usual Debt Collection method as legal practices or Debt Collection organisations which have skills in business to business Debt Collection may end up as too costly when the bills come in from them. Besides paying a third party to try and influence the large firm to pay the account at your behest may have nasty repercussions for the small firm especially if such persuasion is of an unethical or high pressure nature.

But how can the small firm handle this Debt Collection difficulty and not spend lots of money in the process and also influence the large firm to pay invoices on time in the future? One not so clear possibility is Debt Collection Software, which can permit the small firm to take on the Debt Collection difficulty themselves. In this way they will have first sight of any Debt Collection Letters before they get posted to the large firm and so they can feel that their business relationship is in their ownership. As they will be new to the Debt Collection game the Debt Collection Software must have a good set of instructions that will take their employees through the ins and outs of the Debt Collection process, especially current laws appertaining to business Debt Collection. At present the “Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 2002” is targeted at companies who delay paying accounts after an agreed settlement date. This law lets the firm which is owed the money the decision of making a one-off charge as compensation for Debt Collection work done previously, and then also to charge daily interest on the late account until it is paid in full. It must be noted that this law only applies if the contract between the two companies does not have a late payment clause.

The Debt Collection Software will need to have a tutorial for Debt Collection Letters so that the employees in the small firm understand what they can and cannot put into the live Debt Collection Letters. How to word the above law will be key to persuading the large firm to treat the small firm better in the future and a good way of doing this is for the Debt Collection Software to provide some templates for Debt Collection Letters at each stage of the process. These could provide a basis for the live Debt Collection Letters, but they will need to be editable to show the small firm name and branding so that they look professional. In this way it is hoped that the small firm can not only secure completion of the present account but also retain their business relationship and ensure that future accounts are paid on time.