At American Profit Recovery we are constantly trying to find ways to reward employees for a job well done.  From shirts for hitting certain milestones to trips to Vegas for referring lasting employees, to our annual Employee Week for everyone we’re always trying to help our employees ”Profit From Our Difference!”

One other annual event is our end of the year awards.  This week I’d like to highlight our winners in Tier II (Our Collectors.)

First, I’d be remiss in mentioning we have an amazing management team who were not eligible to win:  Barry J, Greg D, Mike H and Greg M in MI and Jeff V and Bruce B in NC keep our collection floors running professionally every day.

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So you took my advice http://www.collectionagencyblog.com/?p=124 and requested a free copy of your credit report form one on the National Credit Bureaus. Now you are probably thinking to yourself “What do I do with this?”.

The main thing you want to do with this is check the accuracy of the report. Things to look for may include:

- accounts marked delinquent from collection agencies or an origanal creditor

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Funny thing happened while I was representing American Profit Recovery and their public relations. I, got a call from a credit and collections department. It was from a wire service company I used to distribute press releases across the country for a number of clients. While I don’t dispute the bill, I have never received an invoice and even worse, the transaction is almost six (6) months old. What happened? Did they finally realize I owed them money? Is their accounting system that bad? This is a huge company, not some small operation so I would think their accounting procedures would be up to date.

This is what many businesses are dealing with; ineffective accounting systems. If some businesses are in a cash crunch, they may want to look at their internal processes before blaming the president and congress for their lack of cash flow. (They might have something to do with it but that’s beside the point.) Continue reading »

Hey it’s Dave, the PR guy for American Profit Recovery. Recently, we have been filming a number of people who work at the firm. We really want to show people who is behind the scenes here at APR. I spent the day in Massachusetts recently with two of the owners and a number of other great team members who make this firm what is it; different. We filmed quite a bit and I just let everyone talk about the collection agency in their own words. Now I am a PR guy, but sometimes the best stuff comes from letting people just be themselves. These guys run one of the best collection agencies in the nation and they are passionate about the business model they have in place. It shows… Continue reading »

Not sure? Then Check your credit report today!

The New Year is a great time to do a little check up on your credit. You should be checking your credit report periodically to ensure that there are no signs of identity theft and that nothing negative has been erroneously posted to your credit. As you know, your credit report and credit score is what lenders use to determine IF you get a loan and what type of interest rates you get. The better your score, the better chances of being approved and the better rate you generally get.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act is the Federal Law which protects consumers and their credit. Under Section 612(a)(1)(A) of the FCRA, consumers are entitled to a free copy of their consumer report from each of the nationwide consumer reporting agencies once every 12 months. Addition reports from the agencies can then be purchased. The three major nationwide consumer reporting agencies are TransUnion (www.transunion.com ), Equifax (www.equifax.com), and Experian (http://www.experian.com). You can also go to sites like www.annualcreditreport.com to pull all three. Continue reading »

It’s no Secret, 2008 wasn’t the best year for many businesses.  There is plenty of doom and gloom everywhere, even from industry experts:

http://www.insidearm.com/index.cfm?objectID=8DCDED43-BAEC-21CF-FB0B88EAEDF03610&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=%2findex.cfm%3fobjectID%3d8DCDED43-BAEC-21CF-FB0B88EAEDF03610&utm_content=jeff.dimatteo%40americanprofit.net&utm_campaign=A+Turbulent+Year+for+the+Accounts+Receivable+Management+Industry+and+other+news

However, the new year is a great time to take a look at how your business handles issuing credit, the billing process and the dreaded collections of past due accounts.

Where do you start, you may ask?  Here are some tips on how to clean up your accounts receivable process:

1. Have clearly defined credit and collection policies. If your business doesn’t have them, then sit down and write it out.  Who gets credit?  What type of credit application do you use?  Do you have clearly defined terms?  Is it in writing and do you get it signed if possible?   What do you do at day 30, 60, 90+?   Continue reading »