NEBS One-Write Collection System helps you collect every cent--including finance charges. Write account information once and get three notices that grow stronger on each copy, and all with the right look that gets results.

Most small businesses feel that they are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to late accounts receivable collection. After all, collecting overdue bills can be a balancing act.

On one hand, you don't want to be taken in by deadbeats; on the other hand, you risk losing a valued customer if you pursue overdue bills the wrong way.

Here are some tips to keep this ticklish situation working for you, not against you:

1. Do not ignore overdue receivables. The longer a bill goes past due, the more uncollectible it becomes. According to one survey, you will lose 10% of receivables out more than 60 days; 67% after six months, and up to 78% after a year. Plan action as soon as the receivable reaches the 30-day point.

2. Rebill promptly, within a day, after the first bill is due. This can very often be a copy of the original bill stamped with the words, "Second Notice," or use a one-write collection system. Make the invoice as impersonal and businesslike as possible, and as a constant reminder.

3. Have an employee call to follow-up within 60 days of the original billing. This call should take the form of an inquiry: Did the customer receive the bill? Were there any questions or concerns the customer may have had about the bill or product or service rendered? When might payment be expected? The telephone inquiry should be low-key and non-intimidating.

4. Call personally after the bill has been outstanding for about 70 days. Once again, the call should take the form of an inquiry and more of a demonstration of concern than a demand for payment.

5. Never negotiate the amount of the billing, just the terms. Don't offer to change the terms, except as a last resort, if it looks like the customer will have a problem paying. Insist that the first payment go in the mail today.

6. Handing the bill over to a collection agency should take place only when you are convinced that payment is not going to take place-and you no longer care about losing the customer.