Lesson #60
Receivables – Collection Letters function
If you want to send collection letters to clients instead of or in addition to calling them, RB9 includes a set of customizable collection letters. You can print and mail them traditionally, or email them directly from within RB9.
Collection letters are part of RB9’s collection toolbox, making collections easier and more productive. After running the Aged A/R report to find clients who owe you money, use collection letters are part of your efforts to contact them. RB9’s collection form letters automatically include client and invoice details from your RB database. RB9’s collection form letters are fully customizable, and you can create new ones to cover all of your collections’ situations in the Form Templates function.
You can access the Collection Letters function from RB9’s main menu or within the Aged A/R function, which gives you a head start by selecting all of a client’s outstanding invoices for you.
Target your letters
You generate collection letters for one client firm at a time, and you can choose to send letters to either the firm that is responsible for paying for the invoice(s), or the firm that scheduled the job(s) the invoices(s) are billing.
After selecting the firm, you can choose to generate letters regarding invoices for:
- A single contact
- All of the contacts at the firm
- All overdue invoices
- A particular date range
- A single case
- One, some, or all of your company’s business units
Search results listings include all of the search categories plus invoice number, amount, and balance. You can sort your results in the grid by one or more columns in ascending or descending order (but when you exit the function, RB9 will revert back to the default order). Export the list as an Excel spreadsheet or a CSV (comma-separated values) file to edit, share, archive, or print.
Customize letters
When you are contacting a client regarding multiple overdue invoices, you can send one letter to the client that compiles information about all of the selected invoices; or multiple letters, with each letter including information about a single invoice. Whether you are sending letters regarding one invoice or multiple invoices, you choose which collection letter template you want to use and whether you are sending the collection letter(s) via email or print.
Whether emailing or printing collection letters, you can review and edit the contents generated by RB9 before emailing/printing the letter.
When emailing collection letters, you add a custom Subject line, and you can add invoices or other files from your desktop as attachments if desired. RB9 records the email sent in the Email Log function in Tools, so you can refer back to it later. (When emailing collection letters for multiple invoices, we do not recommend using the send one collection letter per invoice option because it will embed multiple collection letters in one email body.)
If email isn’t appropriate for collections, you can have RB9 compose collection letters in a print-friendly format, which you can review and edit in RB9’s word processing interface, then send via traditional methods.
Follow up letters
After sending a client a collection letter, make an entry in the firm’s Collections Notes Log to keep a record of your actions, and set a follow-up reminder date in Collections Follow-up to have RB9 remind you when you should check in with the client again.
NOTE: This is an RB9-only function. It is not included in RB Lite.
TL;DR: Send clients collection letters via email or traditional mail with all relevant details automatically filled in.
RB concepts in this lesson
Business Unit (BU): One of your company’s revenue centers or any entity in your business that you want to track separately.
Contact: Person who works for a firm you do business with.
Firm: Business you provide services to, usually law firms.
Job: Usually the reporting of a deposition, but can also be any kind of service you provide. More >
Notes Logs: Un-editable internal-use only notes entered either by a user or automatically by RB appear in chronological logs.
