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When to Seek Help With Overdue Accounts

By Marti Childs and Jeff March

     Pioneering television variety-show host Art Linkletter, who had a knack for humorous interviews with children, asked one young guest what he wanted to be when he grew up.
     “An evangelist, like Billy Graham,” the kid replied.
     Linkletter asked the youngster what he considered most important about an evangelist’s work.
     “Getting a big collection,” piped up the tyke.
     The same wisdom applies to business. A sale is not complete until the customer’s check has cleared the bank. Far too often, that doesn’t occur soon enough — if at all. Collection agents, civil litigation attorneys and company controllers use varying techniques to encourage payment of overdue accounts — and to avoid debt-recovery problems in the first place.             
     “Our terms are net 10. But our first red flag is when they slip over into the 30-day column,” says Brenda Hernandez, controller for CalStaff Companies Inc., a Sacramento staffing organization (www.calstaff.com).  

Continued...

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