Debt Recovery

6 Ways to Enhance your Customer Invoicing Experience

Invoicing is a critical part of the business cycle, but it’s oftentimes the most difficult. Customers expect to be billed for services rendered, of course, but that doesn’t mean they’re excited to receive them. Paying bills is almost universally considered a negative experience, and this is an association that’s hard to escape.

As a result, there’s considerable value in working to make your invoices as painless as possible for your customers. Not only will you find that this improves your customer’s experience of doing business with you, but it will also likely get your invoices paid more rapidly. Try altering your invoicing process to include these suggestions.

Switch to Digital Invoices

Most businesses utilize digital systems for their accounting needs. When you send a paper invoice, you add an extra layer of unnecessary complexity. Your customer has to manually input the details of your invoice into their system. And if they don’t do this immediately, they run the risk of misplacing your invoice and missing a payment.

In many cases, customers can automate the integration of digital invoices, which saves them time. Plus digital invoices can include direct links to online bill payment services, making it quick and easy for your customers to settle their debts.

Accommodate Your Customer’s Preferences

Most of your customers will appreciate digital invoices, but some may still prefer old-fashioned paper bills. While printing paper invoices and mailing them is more difficult for you, it may still be worth doing it if it makes things easier for your customer.

In general, it’s a good idea to try and accommodate your customers if they have specific requirements for their invoices. Sometimes this means including specific information or changing the order of things. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for your customers to pay you, so it’s worth doing a bit of extra work.

Offer Many Different Payment Options

Not only do customers have different payment preferences, but those preferences can change. As an example, a customer that normally prefers to pay using a credit card might opt to pay with a check if their credit card balance is unusually high.

Part of making it easy for your customer to pay you involves making as many different payment options as possible available to them. The more you offer, the more likely it is that each customer will have their preference available, as well as their standard fallback option.

Digital invoices make this extremely easy. As mentioned earlier, you can place direct links for digital payments directly in the invoice. Information for more traditional payment methods can be included in written form in the invoice as well.

Design Your Invoices for Clarity and Brevity

Customers prefer not to have to hunt for information on your invoices. You should work to ensure everything listed is necessary and clearly labeled. If you don’t already, you should include a brief description of the services or products supplied to make it easier for your client to link your invoice with specific purchases.

On that point, be sure to include your customer’s purchase order numbers on your invoices if they supply then to you. This is another way to help your customers match invoices to actions.

Make Sure Your Customer is Aware of Their Payment Terms

You likely have regular terms that you use with most of your customers. These can change, depending on your customer’s preferences and payment histories. Because one customer’s terms may be different from others, it’s important to list them on each invoice.

Not only does this make it easier for you to follow up on outstanding invoices, but it also makes certain that your customer knows when their invoice is due and any discounts or fees that may apply, assuming they pay earlier or later than their due date.

Don’t Sacrifice Customers Because of One Late Payment

As a business owner, you know that there are peaks and valleys. Sometimes you’re flush with cash and other times you’re struggling to pay bills. If you have a customer that is suddenly paying invoices late, talk with them. Don’t assume they’re suddenly irresponsible. There’s likely a good reason why they’re having trouble getting invoices settled. Try and work with them before resorting to more drastic measures.

If you immediately become combative you’ll likely lose someone that would remain a good customer once they get back on their feet. It’s better to reserve more severe measures for customers that consistently abuse their payment terms.

Try these suggestions and you’re likely to find happier customers and better cash flow as a result.

Medical Lab Collection Agency: Recover Unpaid Patient Bills

The “Ghost” in the Billing Cycle: Solving the Lab Revenue Identity Crisis

For medical laboratories, revenue recovery is a unique battle. Unlike a family doctor or a dentist, your patient probably never saw your face or stepped foot in your facility. To them, your bill is a “surprising ghost” that arrives in the mail weeks after their doctor’s visit.

When a patient doesn’t recognize the name on the envelope, they don’t just delay payment—they ignore it. In 2026, with PAMA reimbursement cuts squeezing margins and high-deductible plans shifting costs to patients, your lab cannot afford to let these “ghost bills” haunt your balance sheet.

Exorcise Your Lab’s Bad Debt – Contact Nexa Today

Respectful Treatment: It’s Our Policy, Not Just a Promise

Your patients deserve respect, even in collections. We understand that avoiding harsh tactics is your top priority. That’s why we record and randomly review our calls—to ensure our collectors always maintain our minimal-stress policy and protect your practice’s reputation. We hold ourselves to this standard by recording and auditing our calls, ensuring every collector follows our signature minimal-stress approach to debt resolution.

Nexa is equipped with all 50-state collections license, offering free credit reporting, free litigation, free bankruptcy scrubs, and zero onboarding fees. Secure – SOC 2 Type II & HIPAA compliant. Over 2,000 online reviews rate us 4.85 out of 5.

The Lab Financial Reality (Industry Stats)

$3,500+ Per Panel: For toxicology and molecular labs, a single unpaid genetic screen can wipe out the profit from 100 routine blood draws.
65% Recognition Gap: Nearly two-thirds of patients ignore lab invoices because they don’t associate the “Lab Name” with the “Doctor’s Office” they actually visited.
The 90-Day “Cliff”: Lab debt ages twice as fast as other medical debt. Without an ongoing clinical relationship to maintain, patients deprioritize lab bills almost immediately after the 3-month mark.
30% Data Decay: Approximately 30% of lab requisitions arrive from referring clinics with missing or outdated contact information, making internal collections nearly impossible.

Why Lab Bills Go “Cold” (And How We Heat Them Up)

1. The Identity Crisis (Education vs. Collection)

We don’t just “demand” payment; we educate. Our mediators are trained to bridge the gap, explaining to the patient exactly which test was performed and how it assisted their referring physician’s diagnosis. Once the patient understands the value of the service, the willingness to pay skyrockets.

2. HIPAA-Compliant Recovery & Reputation Protection

In the diagnostic world, your reputation with referring physicians is your most valuable asset. We recover your funds in a 100% HIPAA-compliant manner, ensuring patient data is handled with bank-grade security. Our Reputation Protection strategy means we never use harsh tactics that could lead to a patient complaining back to their doctor—protecting your referral pipeline at all costs.

3. The “Bad Data” Detective Work

If a referring clinic sent you a sample with a missing SSN or an old address, your internal staff is stuck. Nexa uses Advanced Skip Tracing to hunt down the missing pieces of the puzzle, turning “Return to Sender” envelopes into deposited checks.

Specialized Recovery for Modern Labs

We provide expert-level recovery across all diagnostic sectors:

Toxicology & Pain Management: Handling the complexities of recurring testing cycles.
Molecular & Genetic Testing: Recovering high-dollar patient responsibilities for advanced panels.
Clinical & Pathology: High-volume, “small-balance” recovery that adds up to massive annual revenue.
DNA & Paternity: Navigating the sensitive nature of relationship testing with total diplomacy.

The Nexa 2-Step Lab Recovery System

Fixed-Fee Outreach ($15): Best for accounts 60-90 days past due. A third-party “nudge” that preserves the relationship while securing the payment directly to you.
Contingency Mediation: No Recovery, No Fee. For the “hard-to-find” patients and aged debt that requires intensive skip-tracing and professional negotiation.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How do you handle patients who say “I already paid my doctor”?

This is the #1 lab dispute. Our team is trained to explain the difference between professional fees (the doctor) and technical fees (the lab), resolving the confusion without escalating the conflict.

2. Is your process secure?

Absolutely. We prioritize HIPAA compliance in every communication. We use encrypted systems and strict protocols to ensure patient confidentiality is never compromised during the recovery process.

3. Can you work with the limited data we get from EMRs?

Yes. Even if you only have a name and a date of birth, our deep-data skip tracing tools can usually find the current address and contact information needed to initiate recovery.

Need a Collection Agency for your Lab: Contact us

Modern AR Collection Process: Recover More, Spend Less, Protect Relationships

Is Your Current AR Strategy Costing You 50% More Than It Should?

If you are reading this, your Accounts Receivable (AR) process is likely stuck in one of two dangerous places: either you are burning valuable internal hours chasing invoices that are 90+ days past due, or you are handing them over to a traditional collection agency that immediately takes half of your money.

Both options are draining your bottom line.

In today’s economic climate, where interest rates are high and cash flow is king, holding onto bad debt is expensive. But the old way of fixing it—hiring aggressive “break-their-knees” agencies—is obsolete. Modern businesses need a recovery partner that uses data, technology, and Regulation F compliance to get paid without torching customer relationships.

It is time to switch to a model that prioritizes your equity, protects your name on Google, and scales with your growth.

The Problem: Why Traditional “Contingency-Only” Agencies Fail You

Most agencies operate on a “churn and burn” model. They don’t make a dime unless they collect, which sounds good in theory. However, this motivates them to use aggressive tactics immediately, often ignoring the nuances of your customer relationships. Furthermore, they usually charge 33% to 50% on the first dollar collected—even if that debtor would have paid with a simple, firm, third-party letter.

Why switch to us?

Keep your legal risk low while recovering more: We strictly adhere to the latest CFPB Regulation F updates, ensuring you aren’t liable for harassment suits.
Stretch your internal team further without hiring extra staff: Let your accounting team focus on current billing while we handle the backlog.
Protect your brand equity while boosting cash flow: We treat your customers with dignity, preserving the possibility of future business.

The Solution: A 4-Step Intelligent Recovery System

We don’t force you into a high-fee tier immediately. Our system is designed to recover funds at the lowest possible cost to you.

Step 1: First-Party Gentle Reminders (The Extension of Your Team)

Cost: Flat fee of $15 per account.
Action: We act as your internal AR department. Communications go out in your name. This is perfect for early-stage delinquency (30-60 days) where you want to maintain a “customer service” tone.
Result: You keep 100% of the money collected.

Step 2: Third-Party Demands (The Authority Shift)

Cost: Flat fee of $15 per account.
Action: If the debtor ignores you, the tone shifts. We send formal demand letters in our name (NexaCollect). This signals to the debtor that the account has been escalated to a professional agency.
Result: This psychological shift is often all it takes. You still keep 100% of the money collected in this phase. Most of our clients resolve their AR issues here.

Step 3: Intensive Contingency Collections (The Pressure Phase)

Cost: 40% of the amount collected (No fee if we don’t collect).
Action: If demands are ignored, our professional collectors begin intensive phone negotiations, skip-tracing (locating debtors who moved), and credit bureau reporting.
Compliance Note: We utilize modern “7-in-7” call frequency rules to ensure maximum pressure without violating federal harassment laws.

Step 4: Legal Litigation (The Final Hammer)

Cost: 50% of the amount collected.
Action: For debtors with assets who refuse to pay, our nationwide network of attorneys files suit.
Note: We never sue without your explicit permission.

Q&A: Mastering the Modern AR Process

Q: What new laws should I be worried about regarding AR collections?

A: The biggest recent shift is Regulation F (Reg F), implemented by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). It modernized the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).

Call Limits: Debt collectors are now strictly limited to calling a debtor 7 times in 7 days.
Digital Contact: It clarified rules for using email and text messages for collections, requiring clear “opt-out” mechanisms.
Validation: It standardized the “Notice of Debt” validation letter.
Why it matters: If your current agency (or internal team) isn’t strictly following Reg F, your business could be sued for statutory damages. We handle this compliance for you.

Q: My internal team sends emails. Why aren’t they getting paid?

A: “Vendor fatigue.” When a debtor sees an email from your accounting department, they view it as a request they can deprioritize. When they receive a formal demand from a third-party agency, the dynamic changes. It signals consequences—specifically credit damage or legal action. Our data shows a third-party letterhead is up to 5x more effective than an internal email at prompting payment.

Q: How do I know if a debt is “uncollectible”?

A: Don’t guess; let us check. We provide Free Bankruptcy and Litigious Checks.

Bankruptcy: If they filed Chapter 7, you cannot legally pursue them. We identify this instantly so you don’t waste money.
Litigious Defaulters: Some debtors are “professional plaintiffs” who sue agencies for technical violations. We flag these high-risk individuals before we make the first call.

Q: When should I move an account to your service?

A: The “Golden Window” is between 60 and 90 days past due. At this stage, the debt is still fresh enough to recover easily using our low-cost Step 2 letters. Once a debt passes 120 days, the likelihood of full recovery drops significantly, often requiring the more expensive Step 3 contingency service.

Stop Letting Your Invoices Depreciate

Every day an invoice sits unpaid, inflation eats away at its value. Take control of your accounts receivable with a process that is smarter, safer, and significantly more profitable.

Click here to Contact Us and start your recovery campaign.

Concrete Pumping Debt Collection | Get Paid for Every Yard

Don’t Let Your $800,000 Trucks Run on Empty Promises

In the concrete pumping business, your barrier to entry is massive. You are financing $750,000 to $1.2 million for a single large boom pump, paying skilled operators $40+ an hour, and burning diesel at 5 miles per gallon—all before the first yard of concrete hits the hopper.

Yet, according to recent construction finance reports, the concrete industry suffers from one of the longest “Days Sales Outstanding” (DSO) averages in the market: 83 days.

That means you are effectively acting as a bank for your customers for nearly three months.

In 2025, with equipment costs rising and average net profit margins in construction hovering around a thin 5%, you cannot afford to finance your customers’ projects. NexaCollect specializes in construction debt recovery. We help you enforce your contract, navigate lien laws, and get paid for every yard you pump.

The Math of Bad Debt: Why You Can’t “Write It Off”

Many pumpers think, “It’s just a $5,000 invoice, I’ll write it off.” Do the math on what that actually costs you.

If your business operates on a standard 5% net profit margin, writing off a $5,000 debt doesn’t just lose you $5,000. It wipes out the profit from your next $100,000 in revenue.

The Reality: You have to pour 100,000 dollars worth of concrete just to get back to zero.
The Fix: Recovering that money—even paying a fee to do so—is infinitely cheaper than trying to out-work the loss.

The “Pumper’s Paradox”: High Capital, Slow Pay

You provide a critical service that literally supports the project, yet you face unique payment hurdles that other trades don’t understand:

The “Paid-if-Paid” Trap: General Contractors (GCs) love to tell you, “I can’t pay you until the owner pays me.” In many states, this is a bluff used to delay your $15,000 commercial pour payment. We know how to pierce through these contract clauses to demand payment for the work you’ve already completed.
The “Back Charge” Game: Did the ready-mix truck arrive late? Did the finishers let the concrete set too long? Too often, the Pumping Company gets hit with a $2,000 back-charge for delays or “blowout” cleanups that were not your fault. We fight these invalid deductions.
Standby Time Disputes: You bill for standby time, but the site super refuses to sign the ticket. When the invoice arrives, they dispute the hours. We use data and documentation to enforce your signed field tickets.

Why Concrete Pumpers Switch to Nexa

Traditional agencies don’t understand construction. They treat a commercial pour like a credit card bill. That approach fails because it ignores the Mechanic’s Lien leverage.

We Understand “Pre-Lien” Power: Time is your enemy. Lien rights expire quickly (often 60-90 days depending on the state). We act fast to preserve your security rights before they vanish.
Flat-Fee Leverage: You shouldn’t pay 40% commission to collect a bill that is just “slow.” Our Step 2 Flat-Fee service ($15/account) sends a formal, third-party demand that looks and feels like a pre-legal notice. This often gets the check released immediately. You keep 100% of the money.
Reputation Protection: We know you have to work with these GCs again. Our approach is professional and firm, ensuring you get paid without being blacklisted from future bids.

Real World Results: Pumping Profits Back into Your Business

The “Standby Time” Dispute (Commercial Project)

The Issue: A pumping company in Texas was owed $18,000. The GC paid the base rate but refused to pay $4,500 in “excessive” standby time, despite the ready-mix trucks being 2 hours late.
The Fix: We reviewed the signed daily tickets which clearly authorized the wait time. We sent a Step 2 Demand attaching the proof.
The Result: The GC released the full payment to avoid a lien on the property. The pumper recovered 100% of the funds for a nominal flat fee.

The “Ghosting” Homeowner (Residential Pour)

The Issue: A homeowner hired a line pump for a backyard pool/patio project ($2,200) and then stopped answering calls after the pour.
The Fix: We ran a Litigious Check to confirm the homeowner wasn’t bankrupt. We moved to Step 3 immediately due to the lack of a contract.
The Result: Facing a potential hit to their credit score and a lien on their home, the homeowner paid via credit card within 14 days.

FAQ: Concrete & Construction Collections

Q: Can you help if I didn’t send a “Preliminary Notice”?

A: Yes. While a Preliminary Notice (Pre-Lien) is the gold standard for securing lien rights, you still have a valid contract claim. We can pursue the debt as a standard breach of contract collection, even if lien rights have expired.

Q: Do you understand the difference between a Line Pump and a Boom Pump bill?

A: Yes. We know the industry. Whether it’s a dispute over “pipe charges,” “washout fees,” or minimum load charges, we understand your invoice structure and can defend it against low-balling GCs.

Q: Can I charge the customer for the concrete I had to dump?

A: If your contract terms cover “waste” or “failed pours” due to site conditions, absolutely. We help you enforce those specific contract clauses.

Keep Your Cash Flow as Solid as Your Concrete

You did the heavy lifting. You deserve to be paid. Stop letting GCs use your business as a bank.

Click here to Contact Us and start your recovery campaign.

Flat Fee Debt Recovery vs Contingency Collection Differences

Confused between the Flat-fee Collection service and Contingency Collection service? Which one to choose?

Flat-fee is the most amicable way to recover debt, while Contingency collection is more intensive. We will point out the differences in a very easy-to-understand manner.

Flat Fee Collections (✉)	Contingency Collections ( ☏ )
You buy a block of accounts from a collection agency, then keep using them over time. For example: If you think you would be sending collection notices to about 100 people over a period of 2 years, buy 100 accounts.	You do not buy anything in advance. No upfront cost is involved. Collection agency keeps a portion of what they recover. No recovery means no fees.
The amount charged by a collection agency is about $15 per account. Even if you have to recover an Amount Due of as low as $30 or as high as $100,000, the cost per account does not change. You pay a fixed fee of $15 per account. If you buy more accounts, the collection agency will lower your cost per account.	The average contingency fee is about 40%. This means if a collection agency recovers $1000 from your debtor, then they will keep $400 and you will be given $600. You can negotiate a lower fee for higher amounts. For example, if your Amount Due on an account is $100,000 you can ask the collection agency to change only 20%. If your amount is between $10,000 to $100,000 you may ask them to charge 30%. For lower amounts, a contingency fee between 40% to 50% applies.
The debtor pays directly to you, not the collection agency.	The debtor is told to make payments to the collection agency. However, even if the debtor pays you directly, still you are legally bound to return the contingency fee portion to the collection agency.
Best for accounts less than 180 days past due.	Best for accounts over 180 days past due.
Five collection demands (letters) are sent to your debtor.	A human debt collector contacts your debtor multiple times, even offers a payment plan if necessary.
A cheaper way to recover money.	Costlier. However far better than recovering some money rather than writing off the entire amount as a loss.
Always better to start with the fixed fees step. You will save money. Transfer only those accounts for contingency collections that remain unpaid after fixed fee service.	Accounts that are complicated ( ex: foreclosure, disputed ) or those carrying balances over $10,000 should be directly assigned here. Or those over 180 days past due.
More amicable form of collections. Preserve your terms with the debtor.	More intensive than the fixed fee collections. Relations can still be saved, but chances are lower.
You can stop collection activity at any time.	The collection agency decides when to stop.
The next step is Contingency Collections if money is not recovered.	The next step is taking Legal action.
All accounts are skip traced to find the debtor’s latest address. Usually, the USPS change of address service is used.	Advanced skip tracing techniques are used.
For debtors who do not pick their phones, written demands will still reach them. (huge advantage)	If a debtor does not pick up their phone, your collection agency cannot do much. It is often a dead end, they may go credit reporting and that’s it.
Not all collection agencies offer this service.	Nearly all collection agencies offer this service

Need a collection agency that offers both services and can recover money all across USA? Contact us

Take Legal Action for Non-Payment of Invoice: Recover Unpaid Bills

Collecting unpaid accounts receivable is difficult. Whether you are collecting from a consumer of another business, you have multiple avenues to explore and multiple rules and regulations to follow. Sometimes, when all avenues have been exhausted, the only way to give yourself a chance of recovering the money you are owed is through legal action. Using an attorney to help in the debt collection process can be incredibly effective but also comes with its own challenges. Here is what you need to know about taking legal action to recover a debt.

Nearly 20%-25% of all civil lawsuits are related to debt collection.
Only about 25% of debtors attended their court hearing.
7 in 10 cases result in a default judgment because the debtor fails to show up in the court.
With a court order, a debt collector can garnish wages, place liens on the property, and freeze bank accounts.
Between 3 million to 5 million debt claims are filed in US courts.

The Power of Legal Action

Unfortunately, when you are trying to collect on an unpaid invoice, sometimes your best efforts are not enough. Debt collection practices are governed by a certain set of rules and regulations which are meant to limit the amount and type of pressure a debt collector or a debt collection agency can put on a debtor. When these options fail to produce results, the next step is legal action.

Legal action can be an incredibly effective tool in debt collection. It creates intense pressure on a debtor who will not respond to other, less aggressive collection methods. These tools can range from an attorney simply sending recovery demands on law firm letterhead to taking legal action in the court, in front of a judge. An attorney can legal action to recover money owed.

When legal intervention is needed in the debt collection process, it is important that it is used in a way that keeps the most important goal in mind which is collecting the money owed. This is why it makes sense to let a debt collection agency handle any legal action you need to take on a debtor.

Why a Collection Agency Should Handle Legal Action

The best reason to let a debt collection handle the legal process is that it is a lot cheaper and a lot less stressful to do so than when you do it yourself. Pursuing legal action with a debtor yourself means paying a lawyer or law firm astronomical fees to do this for you and taking time to meet and consult with lawyers and possibly even having to spend time giving depositions or in court.

When you work with a debt collection agency, legal action will be included as the final step of their process. They will have lawyers on staff or on retainer who specialize in this type of law and know exactly when and how to best escalate the legal pressure to achieve the ultimate goal of being paid in full. This will save you a lot of money, stress, and time.

The truth is, even if the issue goes to court and a court order is issued in your favor, many debtors will still not pay. This leaves creditors with no more options and they will be forced to eat the loss. When you allow a debt collection agency to work the legal system for you as a tool, not just as a last resort, they can work towards a settlement out of court and your chances of recovering what you are owed are much better.

The other thing you do when you outsource legal action to a debt collection agency is you separate the collections and legal process from your relationship with the client. Just because a customer goes into collections – even to the point of legal actions – doesn’t mean that they can never be a good client again. Even if that does not or cannot happen, using a third party to deal with the collection process can protect your business’s reputation and good name.

Need a Collection Agency to recover money: Contact Us

Conclusion

No one wants to end up in court for anything, let alone an unpaid debt. This is a big reason why legal action, or even the threat of legal action, is such a successful debt collection tool. To make sure you are using this tool in the most effective and efficient way possible, let a debt collection agency handle that part of the collection process.