Aged debt action plan & templates
Know what to chase, what to say and when to escalate
Someone hasn’t paid? Start here.
Download the overdue invoice checklist. What to check, what to send, when to call and when to escalate.
Aged debt reduction in under three months
Where collection breaks down
Aged debt grows when the next step isn’t clear
A reminder gets sent. A call is made. A payment is promised. Then a dispute lands, the date slips and nobody is quite sure what should happen next.
Without a clear order of action, overdue accounts sit for weeks, then months. This package gives you a practical collection route, account by account, so every debt has a priority, a next step and a clear point of escalation.
Customers keep promising payment
They sound reasonable. The money still doesn’t land.
Your aged debtor report keeps growing
The numbers are there. The next steps aren’t.
Disputes appear too late
The invoice was ignored until payment became unavoidable.
Chasing is scattered
Emails are sent, calls are made, but no one owns the route through.
Payment plans are too loose
A customer offers instalments and the business accepts without enough structure.
No one knows when
to escalate
The business stays polite for too long, then reacts too late.
Get every overdue account ready for the right next action
Before an overdue account is escalated, you need a clear picture of what’s happened so far: who’s been contacted, what’s been promised, whether there’s a dispute, which deadlines have passed and whether the customer has had a final opportunity to pay.
This is where accounts often stall. Chasing carries on, promises slip and nobody is quite sure when to change approach.
The Aged debt action plan & templates gives you that structure. We review the account, set the next action and give you the wording to chase, query, agree a payment plan, escalate or prepare the debt for formal recovery.
Built from experience across 500+ customers
Before Collect Wise, Paula founded, scaled and sold Franklin James Credit Management, working with more than 500 businesses on overdue debt and collections.
We saw the same problems again and again. Promises weren’t followed up, disputes sat unresolved, chasing became inconsistent and escalation happened far too late.
That experience now sits behind every Collect Wise action plan and template: clear priorities, wording that works in the real world, staged escalation and a proper route from overdue invoice to formal recovery.
The scale of late payment
£26bn in late payments is putting UK businesses under serious pressure
Late payment is still one of the biggest payment problems facing small and medium-sized businesses.
Recent research found that 44% of invoices were paid late, with £112bn locked up in late payments. Government-backed research also estimates that UK businesses are owed £26bn in late payments at any given time, with affected businesses spending an average of 86 hours a year chasing payment.
The issue usually sits in the gaps: unclear terms, weak onboarding, inconsistent chasing, late disputes and no clear escalation point.
That’s the bit Collect Wise helps with.
We help SMEs improve the credit control process, make better collections decisions and deal with overdue invoices in a way that is firm, clear and commercially sensible.
Who this is for
Built for SMEs with overdue invoices and unclear next steps
This package is a good fit if:
- Your aged debtor report is growing
- Customers keep promising payment but nothing lands
- You have several overdue invoices and no clear priority order
- Some invoices may be disputed
- Chasing is happening, but not systematically
- Payment plans are being agreed too loosely
- You're unsure which accounts need firmer action or how to use Letter Before Action wording
Who this is not for: you only have one overdue invoice, the debt is undisputed, you already know you want legal recovery, or you need a debt collection agency to take over immediately. If an account looks ready for formal recovery, we’ll tell you.
What you get
Turn your aged debtor report into a clear collection plan
We review the debt, group accounts by risk and urgency, and identify who needs chasing first. Each account gets a clear next action, so you know what to chase, what to query, what to escalate and what needs firmer action.
Our Process
How it works
1
Send the information
Your aged debtor report, plus a short set of questions on current chasing, disputes and payment history.
2
We review the debt
What needs chasing, querying, flags as higher risk, or needs escalation.
3
You get the action plan
4
You act with more confidence
Get control of the debt you have and the process behind it
After working with 500+ businesses and recovering £25m+ in aged debt, we saw the same problems again and again: promises weren’t followed up, disputes stayed unresolved and nobody had a clear record of what had already been chased.
A debt collection agency is the right next step when an account genuinely needs external recovery. This package helps you work out what can still be resolved in-house, what needs escalating and what needs fixing in your credit control process.
You get a 30-day action plan, practical templates and a clearer route for the debt sitting there now, plus a stronger process for the invoices that come next.
Case study
From growing aged debt to zero outstanding
Range Servant had persistent late payments, growing aged debt and too much time being spent chasing customers.
We strengthened the credit control process, introduced proactive chasing and improved how customer accounts were set up and monitored. Aged debt fell 47% in three months.
By January 2024, it was down to zero.
Aged debt reduction – Go Live Data · 4 months
Aged debt reduction –
CANDDi
Aged debt outstanding –
Range Servant · January 2024
47% Aged Debt Reduction in three months
FREE PRACTICAL RESOURCE
Got an overdue invoice and not sure what to do next?
Download the overdue invoice checklist. A simple step-by-step guide covering what to check, what to send, when to call and when to escalate.
Things You Need to know
Frequently Asked Questions
What credit control service do I need?
If invoices are already overdue, start with the Aged debt action plan & templates. If late payment keeps happening, start with Credit control review & setup. If your team is responsible for chasing payment, start with Credit control training.
Do you collect the debt for us?
Is this the same as outsourced credit control?
No. Collect Wise focuses on practical credit control support, process improvement, templates and training. It is useful for SMEs that want expert help without moving straight into full outsourced credit control.
Can you help with one overdue invoice?
The free overdue invoice checklist is a good starting point for one invoice. The Aged debt action plan & templates is better suited to businesses with several overdue invoices or a growing aged debtor position.
Can you help us set up credit control internally?
Yes. Credit control review & setup is designed for SMEs that want clearer payment terms, invoicing checks, chasing routines, escalation points and internal ownership.
Can you train our team?
Yes. Credit control training is designed for admin, finance and operations teams responsible for chasing payment.