Writing Reminder Letters and Collection Letters ‘A reminder letter is a letter that asks if a client has forgotten to pay a bill. It gently reminds clients that they owe payment to a company. If the client does not send Payment, the company sends a collection letter. A collection letter is a letter that ‘asks for a late payment (a collection) from a client. Both reminder letters and collection letters must be clear and firm, but also polite and professional. Before you write the letter, make sure you have all the information about the Problem. if necessary, contact other people in your company. Ask them if they have anything to add. GETTING STARTED 1. Read the e-mails between two co-workers at Santrak Industries. They are waiting for several late payments. 2. Complete the Collection Chart. Write the date a check was received ora letter was sent. Write n/a (not applicable) if a letter did not need to be sent. Write ? if the information is not given. Date: Augnst 18, 20— 11.33.40 a r ‘To: [email protected]_ HG TONICHART: From: [email protected] Client | Invoice(s) Check Reminder/ Subject: Malech payment sent | received {collection sent Safich— -}Gornan Ind, Mayo | (1) | (a) Check receivables. Se i we received payment une 30 | (a) ® from Gornan Industries. I think they two ‘months behind payment. peli ©) (6) [received the check from Maltech this morning Maltech May 30 | (7) ry for July invoice aly 4 Also, Teladyne delivered payment for their last i £9) (10) invoice on July 4 PTO Group | May 1s en2 fay 5 ¥ ‘ec lak Gd eds Back 2 ieee | |AB Alliance Ltd May 1 (13) (14) Date: August 16,20 155641 | elaneiemnl 5) e) — ‘To: jwiley@santak com wuyt | 7) (18) From: [email protected] j Subject: Malech payment [Aborandarai | May 30 72 ee E 0b, | |retadyne mais | 27 |e ___ Gorman hasn't pad the current invoice, They paid a dune 18 | (21) (22) their May invoice on june 30, ie Maltech, however, id not pay May bil [sent them a second notice on July 15. {sent AB Alince several reminder. For their May invoie, I sent remindetson June 30 and July 15, For June, sen a eminer on July 31. What next? s Palacios ¥ -=1)i NOTES ge Cac eC Lp losing >|" We look forward to cont Look at the different elements of a reminder letter or collection letter. ERNE INDUSTRIES 468, PAMUR 3/98 88320 PETALING JAYA SELANGOR, MALAYSIA. ‘August 20, 20— Mr. Kamur Lana ‘Accountant Maltech Medical Equipment 90088 Analayar Road Selangor, Malaysia Dear Mr. Lana: | Your account balance of $2,456 for the invoice dated May 30 was due on June 30, > [_All payments are due, in full, within 30 days of receiving an invoice. | [ Please remit payment no later than August 31. ing our valuable relationship with Maltech. Sincerely yours, Safa Caffey Safiah Caffey ‘AccountantComposing Your Messag Practice 1 to pay it. Itis best to make payments to the original business where you owe money before that business ‘sends your account to a collection agency. ‘The body of a reminder letter or collection letter generally has four parts. Part Content Example Opening Identity the missing Your account balanive of $2,486 for. payment(s). the invoice dated May 30 was due ‘on June 30. 4 Focus Give details about payment. All payments are du in full, within 30 days of receiving an invoice, ‘tion Review future action. Please remit payment no later than August 31. eee Closing Be positive about the We look forward to continuing our business relationship. valuable relationship with Maltech. In each question, two of the sentences are appropriate to use in a reminder letter or collection letter. Circle the letters of the two sentences. 1. Opening a. Our invoice of February 28, for $777.56, has not been paid yet. b. We have not yet received payment on invoice #445-98 for the sum of $1,223.40. c. It is time for you to pay us. 2. Focus a. Payment was due by September 30. b. We find it hard to believe that you haven't paid yet ¢. As we agreed, your credit of $450 cannot be applied against this invoice. 3. Action a. If you would like to discuss terms of payment, please call me. b, Please send the full payment by October 31. ©. Your financial difficulties are not our problem. 4, Closing a. Our invoice of October 6th, for $233.11, has not been paid yet. b. If you do not pay immediately, we will forward this claim toa collection agency. ¢. We look forward to receiving payment immediately.TR Cau 0 Gime Expressions ‘The time expressions no later than, by, on, and within are close in meaning. It is important to use the correct expression so readers understand what they have to do. Look at the explanations below. Well No later than August 31 means payment can be received at any time but Ra es eae Frat beceivadlby that epecine Gate 7 collection letters, itis By August 31 means payment can be received at any time but must be important to be polite and received by that specific date. EET aiwaaiee On August 31 means payment is due on that specific date. who pay late. Within the month of August means payment can be received any time during that month but must be received before the month ends. Practice 2 Choose the words that best complete the sentences. 1. We expect payment by / within May 31 2, Invoices are sent on / no later than. 14 days after we ship the order. 3. The check should be there on /within the week. 4, We will turn this matter over to a collection agency om / within March 3rd if we have not heard from you. 5. Please contact me by/on_ the end of the week to discuss this matter. 6. We sent your first invoice by/on April 22nd. ‘The words the, a, and an are articles. Use the to refer to something specific; use and an to refer to something general or unknown. ‘Your account balance of $2,456 for the invoice dated May 30 was due on June 30. All payments are due, in full, within 30 days of receiving an invoice. Practice 3 Choose the articles that best complete the sentences. 1. This is_a/the fourth reminder we have sent. 2, An/The amount of $5,699 is still due on this account. 3. We look forward to serving you in a/the future. 4. We received an/the empty envelope from your accounting department. 5, We must receive payment by the end of a/the week. 6. Atthis point, a/the partial payment would be better than no payment atall.Look forward to + gerund Use the expression /ook forward to followed by a gerund [-ing verb functioning as a noun] to talk about something positive that will happen in the future. Do not use an infinitive or other verb form. You may also use a noun that is not a gerund. Incorrect _ Infinitive We look forward fo continue our valuable relationship with Maltech, Other verb form We look forward to continued our valuable relationship with Maltech. Correct Gerund We look forward to continuing our valuable relationship with Maltech. Other noun We look forward to our next project with Maltech. Practice 4 Rewrite these incorrect sentences using the expression look forward to + gerund. 1. We look forward to receive payment immediately. 2, Ilook forward to hear from you about this issue. 3. Singalay looks forward to serves you in the future. 4. [look forward to discuss a payment plan that will work for both of us. 5. We look forward to continue our relationship with Gornan Industries. 6. Llook forward to knew your thoughts on this topic. Many companies send a second invoice before they send a collection letter. ‘Often you have to send more than one collection letter before a client sends payment. Each new letter that you send about a late payment should be firmer than the last. a eea deca Complete the sentences in this letter. Use the words below. Accountant credit infull payment balance due invoice reminder ‘TYMAN CONSTRUCTION 720 Las Fetes Rd Pam Coest Aerie 52142 October 30, 20— Ms, Lorena Keeler PO. Box 921197 Palm Goast, FL 32142-1197 | ' | f Dear Ms. Keeler: K Your account (1) of $136.99 for (2) | number 1990-321 was (3) ‘on September 4. } All accounts are due, (4) within 30 days. F ‘This is your second (6) Please remit i 6 immediately t ‘We hope to help you maintain your excellent (7) with | ‘Tyman Construction. Uses j Abdel Aziz i Abdali j (8) } 'Ta deal (1), 2) °) 4 © 6) a @.9) (10) Alejandro Comar sent a collection letter about a late payment. He made ten errors. Find the errors, and write the correct word or punctuation above. Zona E, Hangar 15250 Mbsco DF. coo December 12, 20— Mr. Samuel Augustine Basada Steel Traders 5 State Entry Road New Delhi 110056 India Dear Mr. Augustine: A balance of $1,456 for invoice number 4334-50 was due within June 30, ‘As you know, all accounts are dues within 30 days, ‘This isa filth reminder that we have sent you regarding this invoice. However, we have not receiving payment or any communication from you about this matter, AL this point, we regret that we must turn over this claim to the collection agency. This agency will contact you on the end of the month, ‘We know you are the valued client, and we look forward to settle this account immediately. Goodbye, Algjandre Comar Alejandro Comar Senior AccountantLetter Practice 3 On a separate piece of paper, write a letter to Gornan Industries or Maltech. Use the information in the chart below. 1, Write a collection letter to Gornan Industries about the June 30 invoice. 2. Write a collection letter to Maltech about the May 30 invoice. Client Invoice(s)sent Check rec'd Reminder sent Gorman Ind. May 30 June 30 June 30 July 30 Maltech May 30 July 15 duly 1 August 18 Words and Expressions to Know Look at this list of words and expressions that were used in the unit. Their definitions are in the glossary at the end of the book. collection agency headquarters partial remit notice reminder