Small Business Debt Collection
You've Been the Collections Department. Time to Hand It Off.
Chasing an unpaid invoice yourself can turn into weeks of calls, emails, and payment promises on top of everything else you do. JSD can take the account over without a complicated onboarding process or a perfectly assembled file. Send what you have. We'll tell you what happens next.
JSD works exclusively with business-to-business (B2B) accounts. We collect unpaid invoices owed by one business to another and do not collect consumer debt.
The Difference
One unpaid invoice can be a big account to a small business.
A large company can absorb an overdue $20,000 receivable in a way a ten-person company can't. When that balance is outstanding, it's usually the owner, the bookkeeper, or a salesperson chasing it between the responsibilities that actually pay the bills, and the chasing itself has a cost even before the invoice gets written off.
This isn't an isolated case. Intuit's 2026 Small Business Late Payments Report found 59% of small businesses now carry at least one invoice 30+ days past due, up from 47% the year before. The math above describes what most small businesses are already living with.
A small receivables department still needs a collection process it can see and trust. Each account deserves an experienced collector who reviews the history, records the work, and reports back clearly. Larger organizations have long expected that discipline from an agency. Smaller businesses have just as much riding on the result.
What We Need
What do you need to send an account to collections?
Four things open a file:
An invoice, an email chain, a contract, a purchase order. Send what you have and JSD handles the intake from there, including the data entry. Nobody needs to rebuild a QuickBooks export into a proprietary format before we'll look at it.
See exactly what JSD needs to open a file
Portfolio Size
A Smaller Portfolio Still Deserves a Serious Collection Process
Large credit departments expect an agency to understand the account before making contact. They expect steady follow-up and reporting that tells them what is happening. A small business has every reason to expect the same care because one unresolved balance can carry far more weight on a smaller ledger.
Waiting for several troubled accounts to accumulate only gives the oldest balance more time to deteriorate. JSD can bring an established commercial collection process to a smaller portfolio and tell you plainly whether the account makes economic sense to pursue.
The Process
What happens after you send it?
Placements are reviewed by hand, and the collector assigned to your account is the one who stays on it through resolution.
You send the account
An invoice, an email chain, a contract, a purchase order. Send what you already have rather than rebuilding it into some proprietary format first.
JSD reviews it
Every placement is checked by hand against what was submitted before it moves forward, not passed through automatically.
A collector is assigned
The person who first contacts your debtor is the one who keeps the account through resolution, rather than a rotating queue.
Contact begins
First contact on a single placement typically happens within 24 to 48 hours, by whichever channel actually reaches the debtor.
The account is worked through resolution
Payment in full, a payment plan, or a documented dispute. The file stays open until it reaches one of those, not until someone stops checking on it.
Getting Paid
What happens when JSD collects the money?
Recovered funds go into a trust account separate from JSD's own operating money while they clear. Remittances go out on a set schedule, and yours shows the recovery, the contingent fee, and the net amount owed to you on each line, sent by check, ACH, or wire.
If your customer pays you directly instead, tell your representative the amount and which invoice it applies to. Collection activity on that balance stops, and the contingent fee owed on that payment settles the normal way, on your next remittance or on an invoice.
See how recovered funds are handledThe Customer Relationship
What happens to my customer relationship?
Sending an account to collections changes the conversation. It doesn't require abandoning the relationship. JSD reads the file, learns the terms behind the invoice, and assigns a real person to the account rather than dropping it into an automated queue.
A customer who owes you money is often still a customer you'd work with again once the balance is settled, and how the account is handled affects whether that stays true.
From Businesses Like Yours
We can work an enterprise portfolio. Your one invoice gets the same attention.
"We are a business to business catalog sales company that generates volumes of smaller, under $1000 accounts but with very sketchy and usually unverified ownership information and yet the collection specialists at JSD manage to collect a great majority of the accounts we turn over to them."
"After having had a few horrific experiences with past agencies I was able to find JSD, in which they have collected on 3 accounts that I had completely written off."
Timing
When should I stop chasing it myself?
FAQ
Small business debt collection, answered plainly.
- Can a small business use an enterprise-capable collection agency?
- Yes. JSD gives a smaller book of business the disciplined review and experienced collector assignment that larger credit departments expect, supported by documented activity and clear reporting.
- Do I need a large portfolio to work with JSD?
- No. JSD works with small businesses that need experienced commercial collection capability without carrying the cost of an enterprise credit department of their own.
- Is there a minimum amount for collection?
- Fit depends on the balance, documentation, age, and circumstances of the account. Accounts under $200 are generally a poor fit for contingency collection, and JSD will say so plainly rather than encourage an uneconomical placement.
- What information do I need to place an account?
- Four things: the business name, the address, the amount owed, and the invoice date. An invoice, an email chain, a contract, or a purchase order works fine as backup. Send what you already have and JSD handles the data entry, then reviews the submission and follows up with you before the account is placed.
- How quickly does a collection agency start working an account?
- A collector is assigned before contact goes out, and first contact on a single-account placement typically happens within 24 to 48 hours.
- How much does small business debt collection cost?
- JSD works on a contingent fee, calculated as a percentage of what's recovered. There's no fee on money that never comes back, so a fee only applies against an actual recovery.
- What happens if my customer pays me directly?
- Tell your account representative the amount and which invoice it applies to. Collection activity on that balance stops, and the contingent fee owed on that payment settles on your next remittance or on an invoice.
- How do I receive money recovered by JSD?
- Recovered funds sit in a separate trust account while they clear, then remit to you on a set schedule by check, ACH, or wire. Your remittance shows the recovery, the fee, and the net amount on each line.
- Can JSD collect from a business in another state?
- Yes. JSD handles commercial accounts involving businesses across the United States.
- Does JSD collect consumer debts?
- No. JSD collects business-to-business accounts only, one company owing another company for goods or services delivered.
Get Started
Bring Enterprise Collection Capability to Your Receivables
Tell us where the account stands and what has happened so far. JSD will review the circumstances, explain whether professional collection makes sense, and show you what an established commercial collection process would look like for your business.
Related reading: how JSD works a commercial account.
Memberships & Accreditations
Request an Account Review
A serious process starts with a clear review
Share the business name, balance, invoice date, and a brief account history. We'll tell you directly whether collection makes sense and what the next step would be.