Can you collect on a retainer or monthly service agreement the client stopped paying?

Yes. Unpaid retainers and monthly service agreements are among the most common accounts we see from agencies and consultants. We review the agreement first, since the term, notice requirements and payment schedule determine what is still owed.

What if the client ended the agreement early without paying?

If the agreement has a minimum term or notice requirement and the client walked away without honoring it, the remaining balance may still be owed. We read the termination and notice language before contacting the client, so the conversation is about what they signed.

Do you collect from individuals or only from businesses?

JSD is B2B only. We collect commercial accounts owed by businesses, and we do not take consumer debt or accounts owed by individuals for personal, family or household services. If your client engaged you on behalf of a company, the account is a good fit.

Will you take a single unpaid invoice?

Yes. JSD accepts single accounts and has no hard minimum. Balances under $200 are generally a poor fit for contingency collection, and we will tell you before placement if recovery costs are likely to outweigh the return.

JSD works on contingency, so you pay a percentage of what we recover and nothing if we recover nothing. Rates range from 10% to 50%, depending mostly on how old the account is and how large the balance is. The one cost outside the contingency fee is court and filing costs on accounts that go to suit, which you approve before anything is filed.

Can you send an attorney demand letter before anything else?

Yes. A demand letter on attorney letterhead often moves a client who has ignored every invoice reminder, and you decide afterward whether the account goes any further.

Our contract says the client pays collection costs. Does that help?

Yes. Send the agreement with the placement. When the client agreed to cover collection costs, we pursue those costs along with the balance.

What if the client says they weren’t happy with the work?

Dissatisfaction raised only after the invoice came due is common on service accounts. We compare it against the record of what was delivered and what the client said about it at the time. Disputes that can be answered with documents are accounts we work every day.

Do you work with freelancers and firms outside the US?

Yes. JSD accepts placements from independent contractors and firms outside the United States against US businesses, on the same contingency terms.

Industry Focus

Professional Services and Agency Collections for Unpaid Retainers and Service Agreements

The work is done, the invoice went out, and the client has stopped answering. JSD recovers past-due balances for marketing and creative agencies, consultants, law firms, coaches, engineers and independent contractors whose clients stopped paying partway through an agreement or never paid the final invoice.

Contingency only, with no upfront fees and single accounts welcome.

B2B only. We collect commercial accounts owed by businesses. We do not collect consumer debt, and we do not work accounts owed by individuals for personal, family or household services.

B2B Accounts OnlyNo Recovery, No FeeAgreements Reviewed Before Contact

The Account

The client paid the first month, then went quiet.

Most unpaid service accounts start the same way. The client signs a monthly or fixed-term agreement, pays the first invoice, sometimes the second, and then the payments stop. The emails get shorter. Then they stop being answered. Weeks later, someone on their side is describing the engagement as something it never was.

Service work makes this easy for a client to do. There is nothing to repossess and nothing sitting in a warehouse. The campaign already ran and the deliverables are already in use. All that remains is an invoice and a client hoping you will decide it isn’t worth chasing.

Past-Due Balances We Help Recover

Monthly retainer balances

Fixed-term service agreements

Final project invoices

Early termination balances

Marketing and creative agency invoices

Consulting and advisory fees

Law firm and legal services invoices

Engineering and design invoices

Coaching and training program fees

Independent contractor invoices

Content, design and production invoices

Statement of work balances

Common Problems

Where service payments get stuck.

Service accounts are rarely refused outright. They stall: a promise of payment, a retainer that quietly stops, a contact who stops answering. There is no product to withhold and no delivery to hold back, so the leverage is in the agreement and the record of what the client asked for and used. The approach depends on which of these situations you are actually in.

A signed service agreement and statement of work on a consultant's desk

The retainer that stops after month one or two

A monthly agreement that paid on time at the start, then went silent with months left on the term. The contract usually answers what is still owed. The client is counting on nobody reading it.

The early exit with no notice

A six- or twelve-month agreement the client simply stopped honoring, with no termination notice and no payment for the remaining term. Notice clauses and minimum-term language decide these accounts.

“It’s being processed”

Every follow-up gets a promise: payment is in the next run, accounting has it, it was sent last week. Each promise buys the client another month. Those messages are also evidence, because a client who keeps promising to pay is admitting the balance.

The final invoice after the work was used

The project shipped, the content ran, the report was delivered, and the last invoice is the one nobody pays. Proof that the client used the work is often the strongest document in the file.

The client who went dark

Calls go to voicemail and emails go unanswered, or the client blocks you outright. At that point the account needs someone other than you making contact, and that change alone moves many of them.

When to Escalate

Situation	Next step
30 to 45 days late	Confirm the invoice was received and contact the person who approves payment
60 to 90 days late	Move from reminders to formal demand
Retainer stopped partway through the term	Pull the agreement and review the minimum-term and notice clauses
Client keeps promising payment	Save those messages and place the account
Final invoice unpaid after the work was used	Gather proof of delivery and use, then place the account
Client has gone dark	Bring in a third party to make contact

Documentation

The agreement is the account.

On a service account, the client’s memory of the scope is the weakest evidence in the file, and it is the one they will lean on hardest. We start with what was written down.

What we read in the contract. Before anyone contacts your client, we review the payment terms, any minimum term or notice requirement, whether the client agreed to cover collection costs, and which state’s law governs the agreement, including any arbitration or mediation clause. Those terms shape what we can pursue and how we approach the first conversation.

No signed contract? Many service relationships run on a proposal and an email thread. When the emails show the agreed price and the client accepted the work, that is often enough to work the account. Send what you have and we will tell you plainly what is recoverable.

Documents That Help

What helps most

The signed agreement, engagement letter or statement of work
Every invoice, with payment history showing what was paid and when
Proof the work was delivered and used: files, reports, live campaigns, published content
Correspondence, especially emails where the client promised to pay or acknowledged the balance

Cross-Border Accounts

Independent contractors and firms outside the US.

A large share of service collections come from consultants and agencies overseas who did work for a US company and were never paid. Distance makes it easy for the client to stop responding, and hard for you to apply any pressure from another time zone.

JSD accepts placements from creditors outside the United States against US businesses, and the same contingency terms apply. We work the account in the debtor’s time zone, under the governing law your agreement names. See our international collections page for how overseas placements work.

Creditors outside the US welcomeUS business debtorsSame contingency terms

The Process

What happens after you place a service account.

We read the agreement.

Payment terms, minimum term, notice clauses and any collection-cost language, before any contact.

We verify the business and find the decision maker.

The person who signed your agreement is often the person avoiding you, so we work to reach whoever can actually authorize payment.

We work toward payment.

In full where possible, or through a settlement or payment arrangement within the authority you have given us.

We escalate when you approve it.

An attorney demand letter through our network of outside commercial collection attorneys, and litigation referral only with your sign-off.

Get Started

Start with a free account review

Send us the agreement and the invoices. We will tell you directly what is recoverable and what isn’t, and explain the process before anything is placed.

FAQ

Common questions about professional services and agency collections.

Can you collect on a retainer or monthly service agreement the client stopped paying?: Yes. Unpaid retainers and monthly service agreements are among the most common accounts we see from agencies and consultants. We review the agreement first, since the term, notice requirements and payment schedule determine what is still owed.
What if the client ended the agreement early without paying?: If the agreement has a minimum term or notice requirement and the client walked away without honoring it, the remaining balance may still be owed. We read the termination and notice language before contacting the client, so the conversation is about what they signed.
Do you collect from individuals or only from businesses?: JSD is B2B only. We collect commercial accounts owed by businesses, and we do not take consumer debt or accounts owed by individuals for personal, family or household services. If your client engaged you on behalf of a company, the account is a good fit.
Will you take a single unpaid invoice?: Yes. JSD accepts single accounts and has no hard minimum. Balances under $200 are generally a poor fit for contingency collection, and we will tell you before placement if recovery costs are likely to outweigh the return.
What does it cost?: JSD works on contingency, so you pay a percentage of what we recover and nothing if we recover nothing. Rates range from 10% to 50%, depending mostly on how old the account is and how large the balance is. The one cost outside the contingency fee is court and filing costs on accounts that go to suit, which you approve before anything is filed.
How much do collection agencies charge?
Can you send an attorney demand letter before anything else?: Yes. A demand letter on attorney letterhead often moves a client who has ignored every invoice reminder, and you decide afterward whether the account goes any further.
10-day demand letter
Our contract says the client pays collection costs. Does that help?: Yes. Send the agreement with the placement. When the client agreed to cover collection costs, we pursue those costs along with the balance.
What if the client says they weren’t happy with the work?: Dissatisfaction raised only after the invoice came due is common on service accounts. We compare it against the record of what was delivered and what the client said about it at the time. Disputes that can be answered with documents are accounts we work every day.
Do you work with freelancers and firms outside the US?: Yes. JSD accepts placements from independent contractors and firms outside the United States against US businesses, on the same contingency terms.
International collections

Ready to place an account?

Send us the agreement and invoices. We will review the file and tell you what is recoverable before anything is placed.

Start a free placement review