Invoice collection

Invoice Collection

Are outstanding invoices causing you undue stress? 

Is chasing unpaid invoices taking up a lot of your time? 

Do you feel like you’re getting nowhere fast with invoice collections? 

Let Direct Route take the pressure of unpaid invoices from you. 

Helping to provide you with the best invoice collection and recovery services around, we help ensure your invoices are paid, and relationships are maintained where possible. 

It only takes a few minutes to pass over any troublesome invoices that are overdue. Call us now on 0330 229 1991 or email us with further information.

Chasing payment, make sure you know what you’re chasing 

Having been in business for a long time, we know that there’s always that one customer who avoids paying their invoice, where you feel like you’ve spent more time chasing them for payment than the time you spent on the job itself! 

We understand that there may be various reasons for the late payment of invoices. And that there is a BIG difference between those that can’t pay and those that WON’T pay – identifying your customer as one that won’t pay is not only frustrating and time-consuming, but it also affects your cash flow. 

That’s why Direct Route provides just that, a direct route to collecting on those outstanding invoices, keeping your cash flowing and your books balancing. 

Why choose an invoice collection and recovery service? 

We work closely with our customers, taking you through all the options available and how we can progress with the outstanding debt. 

For example, our most popular service is where we charge late fees and interest on all outstanding invoices as our fee , helping you recoup the full debt value and going some way to making up for the additional administration costs you have had to incur due to chasing this payment. 

We will also work on a schedule of timings for things such as overdue payment letters, overdue invoice reminder emails, how we approach potential legal action, and more. 

Working with a professional and experienced debt collection agency like Direct Route, who are also full members of the Credit Services Association (the awarding body governing the collection industry), ensures you really have nothing to lose and your overdue payments to gain. 

Let us take the stress and strain out of late payments. Handing over your overdue invoices list is quick and easy.

How we work 

Simply, call or email with details of your late payment problems, including volume and value. 

Our collection team will then put in place a robust collection programme that outlines our proposed contact with the debtor to achieve payment to your account as soon as possible. 

We often find that once your customer receives an initial email/letter of instruction from ourselves, the debt is settled much quicker. 

Our systems also allow you to collect payments before they’re due, and Direct Route can help schedule regular reminders to customers about paying on time and the importance of prompt payment. They’re also set up depending on your requirements to help send statements and reminders etc., nudging your customers and increasing the chances of you getting paid on time, every time. 

We work with you throughout the entire collection and recovery process. From the initial unpaid invoice letter right through to claims court, we’re with you every step of the way. 

Taking the stress out of debt collection, we like to think of ourselves as consistently effective.  

Our diligent collections team gets to work recovering those unpaid invoices immediately, keeping our processes simple, easy to understand, with detailed information and full support.

Our fees 

Our services include zero commission recovery of your overdue invoices, a 10% commission on recovery and even an option to have free legal fees for issue and enforcement. Whatever the issue, we can normally help. 

Direct Route has two very distinct fee options for debt recovery. 

  • Zero commission debt recovery. In this instance, the debtor will be charged a late payment fee with interest accrued during the period also added. These late payment fees and charges will include our recovery fee, hence when the debt is paid in full, you receive the full amount owed, and we receive our fee from the debtor; therefore, there is zero cost to you in hiring us.
  • 10% commission on recovery. For those clients who do not want to charge any late payment fees or interest on the outstanding debt, we charge a 10% commission (payable by you, the client) when the debt has been recovered.

Note: Charges to add do depend on the length of time the debt has been outstanding.

Answering your questions 

Debt collectors often get a bad reputation; however, we like to think we are firm but fair.  

Helping businesses to grow and succeed, maintaining relationships, and supporting business in their everyday operations. 

That’s why good, professional, and experienced debt collectors will: 

  • Not only help to recover overdue invoices, but they will endeavour to maintain good customer relationships.  
  • Identify payment plans and win-win scenarios for all involved.
  • Help to improve cash flow by recovering payment faster. Assigning your unpaid invoices to us sooner rather than later increases the likelihood of payment and reduces risk.
  • Work with businesses of all sizes, recovering invoices overdue ranging from a couple of hundred pounds to tens of thousands. 

Below, we’ve also provided answers to what we find the most common questions linked to overdue invoices: 

Q:  I’m still chasing an invoice after two years. Should I just give up and write it off? 

A:  Not necessarily. Unpaid invoices can be collected up to 6 years after the first invoice was issued. Call us to find out more. 

Q:  I don’t want further expense by using a debt collection service. 

A: We may be able to recover your overdue invoice at zero commission, so you have no further expense.  

Not everyone’s expertise lies with collecting money – let us take care of payments so you can get back to doing what you do best. 

We offer an extensive range of payment methods, so your debtors have a choice of payment options (cash, cheque, credit/debit cards, bankers draft, bacs, and chaps), removing any obstacles and making payment easy and quick. 

You can trust us to work to the highest industry standards and regulations, working as an extension to your own team. 

Register of Outstanding Invoices (ROSI)

Register of Outstanding Invoices (ROSI)

The unique Register of Outstanding Invoices (ROSI) is unparalleled in accelerating the collection of your unpaid debts and prioritising you at the head of your debtor’s queue. www.outstandinginvoices.com

If demand is sent to a debtor company requesting payment of overdue invoices on behalf of one of its clients and the debtor company fails to pay the overdue monies within the deadline specified (generally seven days) an entry is posted on ROSI.

The debtor company is forewarned and notified of the imminent posting of the late invoice information as an important part of the demand process, often resulting in accelerated collection for you.

When the debtor company is considering a number of demands from third-party debt collection agencies or solicitors, those with ROSI warnings are often prioritised in order that the debtor company retains all aspects of their credit rating.

A failure to pay a ROSI demand is therefore considered as highly significant. Research has shown that ROSI increases the likelihood of your debt being paid promptly by more than 50% compared to a demand letter sent without ROSI.

Frequently asked questions

Question #1: 

What is an outstanding invoice?  

Answer: 

A payment that is still owing, i.e., you have sent the invoice after the sale of goods and services, but it has not yet been paid.  

For example, if your invoice requests payment within 30 days, during this period, as the invoice remains unpaid, it is referred to as an outstanding invoice.  

An outstanding invoice can be issued before payment is due to ensure prompt payment and must include details of the products/services purchased, due payment dates, methods of accepted payment, etc. 

Note: You won’t get paid until you send the invoice.  

Question #2

What is the difference between outstanding and overdue invoices?  

Answer:

Outstanding and overdue invoices sound the same; however, they mean two very separate things. 

Outstanding invoices – the company has yet to pay but are within the agreed payment terms, i.e., you are waiting to be paid, but payment is not yet due.  

Overdue invoice – (also known as past due), the company has yet to pay and is now over the agreed payment terms, i.e., your client has missed the payment deadline.  

It is vital that you effectively track outstanding invoices to ensure they don’t become overdue invoices in the future.  

Question #3 

How long can an invoice be outstanding?  

Answer: 

The ideal credit term for receiving payment is within 30 days of an invoice being issued.  (However, it is not uncommon to see outstanding invoices circa 60-90 days.)  

You must agree on payment terms upfront with your customer, shortening or lengthening these terms as required.  

An invoice can be outstanding for up to 6 years, as under the Limitations Act 1980, you can legally chase an unpaid debt from 6 years in the past. So, even if you forget to follow up on an unpaid invoice, you are still entitled to chase payment later on down the line.  

Question #4 

How to collect outstanding invoices?  

Answer: 

Firstly, ensure you have robust credit control processes in place.  

Secondly, make sure you issue an invoice.  You can’t get paid without one.  

Ensure your invoice includes all the payment due dates, details of purchased goods/services, accepted payment methods, etc.  

Check all contact details are correct, and the invoice has successfully been received, reminding the client of the payment due date.  

Send regular statements, follow-up calls/emails, and look to charge late payment fees on all overdue invoices, outsourcing to professional collectors if debts become long overdue.  

Keep a clear paper trail, be polite, and follow up carefully.

Question #5

How to follow up on outstanding invoices

Answer:

Look to agree on all payment terms, including payment dates upfront.  

Ensure you have robust credit control processes in place, ideally, with email templates/letters set up as standard.

After issuing the first invoice, look to send a friendly payment reminder after one week. Then, send another after two weeks, and then a month.

Sending reminders when payments are due helps ensure businesses get paid on time, every time. They also provide clients with an opportunity to contact you if they have any questions or concerns.