As an accounts receivable or credit manager, you barely have time to run reports, make phone calls, and send the email messages necessary to follow up with customers and get invoices paid. That’s where having a library of collection letter samples and templates can be a real time-saver. In this article, we provide effective and ready-to-use collection letter templates that you can “steal” to save some time and get those invoices paid as soon as possible.
As the developers of Collect-IT – popular accounts receivable management and collections software – the team here at Dynavistics constructed these letter samples and templates over decades of developing software and building collections workflow into our platform based on customer feedback.
So with no further ado …
But before you write-up and send the first collection letter, it’s important to keep in mind that at this point the invoice is still barely past due. It could be that the customer simply forgot to pay (based on previous email reminders) or someone in their accounting department was out sick or on vacation.
Whatever the case, it’s important that the tone of your letter or email matches the situation in which the invoice has gone just a little bit past due. For now, keep it somewhat light and focused primarily on reminding the customer that the invoice is due and include the following elements:
💡 Want to see a sample? Click to see a sample of the first collection letter
If you’re thinking about how to write a second collection letter, chances are the invoice is still outstanding and your customer has not responded to the first collection letter (above) or the courtesy reminder emails you sent before the due date.
To this point, the communication has been somewhat light because the invoice was either not yet due or barely past due. However now that the invoice is 30 days overdue, the tone of the second collection letter should be a bit more assertive and direct, but should always remain professional.
With that in mind, here are elements to consider when developing a second collection letter template:
💡 Want to see a sample? Click to see a sample of the second collection letter
If you’re now thinking about how to write the third collection letter, chances are the invoice is now about 60 days past-due and your odds of collecting payment is getting worse by the day. Things have gone beyond a point where someone in accounting was on vacation or the customer simply forgot to pay.
For many, the third collection letter is your last formal written communication before sending a final demand letter. The tone is even more assertive and direct than the second letter and should include the actions you plan to take if payment is not received such as placing the customer on credit hold and/or involving a collections agency or lawyer.
With that in mind, here are elements to consider when developing a third collection letter template:
💡 Want to see a sample? Click to see a sample of the third collection letter
Click below to download our Ultimate Guide to AR Collections where you'll find 27 pages of expert advice, best practices, industry benchmarks, and loads of letter templates and call scripts.