Small business debt recovery without an agency

For a sole trader or small-team business with under ~30 overdue accounts, an agency is overkill. Here's the playbook for in-house recovery that actually gets paid.

The cadence

Day -7 (before due): Reminder. "Hi , just a heads up that invoice #X falls due . Let me know if anything's needed."

Day +3 (just after due): Polite chase. "Hi , invoice #X fell due . Could you confirm a payment date? Happy to extend if needed."

Day +14: Firmer chase, payment options. "Hi , invoice #X is now 14 days past due. Could you let me know when we can expect payment? I can also set up a payment plan if cash flow's tight at the moment."

Day +30: Formal. "Hi , the on invoice #X is significantly overdue. We need to settle this — options are: pay in full, agree to a plan, or let me know if there's a dispute. If we don't hear back by we'll need to escalate."

Day +45: Letter of demand. Formal A4 letter, registered post. Reference your terms, the original invoice date, the demand amount, and your next step (recovery handover or tribunal action).

Templates

Keep five templated emails ready: reminder, polite chase, firmer, formal demand, post-demand follow-up. Personalise lightly. Most of the time the polite chase is enough.

Tracking

A spreadsheet works under ~30 active debts. Beyond that, a CRM or dedicated AR tool. Whatever you use, track: invoice, age, last contact, next contact, status.

When to break and call for help

  • More than 30 active overdue accounts — chase becomes a part-time job.
  • A single debt over $10k that's resisting — lawyer's letter or tribunal often shifts it.
  • Customer relationships you can't afford to compromise — platform recovery preserves brand better than aggressive in-house.
  • Hardship cases — structuring sustainable plans is harder than it looks.

What we do for SMBs

Adeva Plus is contingency-only. We charge nothing unless we recover. Many small businesses use us only on the long tail (60+ days past due) while running their own chase on current AR.