B2B Debt Collections: The Complete Operational Guide
B2B Debt Collections: Everything Consumer Collection Guides Won't Tell You
Why B2B Is a Different Game
B2B debt collection and consumer debt collection share a name and almost nothing else. The legal frameworks differ (the FDCPA doesn't apply to B2B). The amounts differ (commercial invoices average €15,000-€150,000 vs consumer debts averaging €2,000-€5,000). The relationships differ (you likely want to keep doing business with the debtor). The psychology differs (you're dealing with a CFO making a strategic cash flow decision, not an individual in financial distress).
Every guide that treats "debt collection" as a single category is giving you consumer advice in commercial packaging. The strategies, timelines, and escalation paths are fundamentally different.
The B2B Collection Process
Days 1-30: Internal AR management. Payment reminders, phone calls to accounts payable, statement reconciliation. This is not collection — it's credit management. The goal: confirm the invoice is acknowledged and identify any disputes before they become excuses.
Days 30-60: Escalation signals. If your standard AR process hasn't produced payment, shift from administrative to assertive. Formal demand letter citing contractual interest, explicit escalation timeline, and a clear statement that the account will be referred externally if unresolved. This is the decision point where the debtor either pays or commits to non-payment.
Days 60-90: Professional engagement. Refer to a B2B collection specialist. The agency's involvement changes the dynamic: the debtor is now dealing with a third party that has legal escalation capability and no relationship to preserve. Resolution rates for professionally-placed commercial claims at 60-90 days: 65-75%.
Days 90-180: Legal escalation. If amicable collection fails, the agency recommends jurisdictional legal action — payment orders, statutory demands, or litigation depending on the debtor's location and the claim structure.
The Three Things That Make B2B Collection Work
Documentation from day one. Signed contracts, purchase orders, delivery confirmations, invoice acknowledgments, and a paper trail of payment discussions. In B2B litigation, the side with better documentation wins. Verbal agreements are enforceable in theory and impossible to prove in practice.
Timing discipline. Every month of delay after 60 days costs 3-4% of recovery value. The companies that recover the most have automated escalation triggers — not human judgment about "when the time is right."
Jurisdictional competence. A B2B debt owed by a company in Germany requires German collection expertise. A debt owed by a company in Brazil requires Brazilian expertise. There is no universal B2B collection strategy — there are jurisdiction-specific strategies coordinated through a network.
The Relationship Question
The most common objection to B2B collection is "but we want to keep the relationship." Professional collection doesn't end relationships — unpaid invoices do. A debtor who hasn't paid in 90 days is not your business partner. They're your debtor. And a professional collection process, handled diplomatically, often preserves the relationship better than six months of increasingly frustrated internal emails.
The data is clear: B2B claims placed within 60 days recover at 80-90%. Claims placed after 180 days recover at 40-50%. The difference isn't the collection method — it's the timing.
