Small businesses often do not have the resources to collect overdue accounts. A survey conducted by the Credit Research Foundation (CRF) revealed that on average 86.9% of accounts are current, while 0.66% are over 90 days past due. When accounts are over 90 days late, and remain uncollected, these will often need professional handling. 
It is not unusual for small companies to let in-house staff do the collection to save on cost. To successfully collect, a set of company measures will need to be implemented.
First, a detailed credit policy will need to be drawn up. Such set of policy will have to include several aspects – such as the requirements when credit can be extended, the terms and conditions for customers getting products or services through credit, and the actions to be taken when accounts are overdue.
Next, there is also a need to categorize delinquent accounts and prioritize them to properly schedule calls and correspondence preparation, especially since small businesses have few staff to do these tasks.
Another important tip is consistency. The in-house collection team must be consistent in following up customers with delinquent accounts, even if they are busy doing other things. The team should be able to set up specific date and time to call these customers, and do follow up for customers who have made commitment to pay.
But when all these steps have not been effective, small businesses with uncollected accounts that have piled up can obtain the service of debt collection agencies instead of devoting company resources into an activity that may be tedious and with no guarantee of successfully collecting past due accounts.
