Wayfen Blog · 20 October 2026

How to collect money owed by clients: a weekly routine for field sales teams

Selling is only half the job. If you want to know how to collect money owed by clients without damaging good relationships, the answer is rarely a tougher tone. It is a short weekly routine: know exactly who owes what and for how long, decide who collects each account, and stop the problem growing before it starts.

Why money owed by clients gets out of hand

Unpaid invoices rarely become a crisis in one day. A good client pays a little late, then a little later. A field rep gives credit to win an order because nobody told them the client was already overdue. An opening balance from the old system was never checked. Each case looks small, but together they tie up the cash you need for stock, fuel and salaries.

The second cause is unclear ownership. The accounts clerk thinks the field rep is chasing the payment; the field rep thinks it is accounts. The client hears from nobody, and quietly pays the suppliers who do ask.

Step 1: know who owes what, and for how long

Start with a debtor ageing list. For every client, show the total owed and split it into four groups by age: 0–30 days, 31–60 days, 61–90 days and over 90 days. Count the age from the invoice date, and apply each payment to the oldest amount first, so the list matches how your clients think about their account.

Two numbers belong at the top of the list:

Past payment terms: the part that is already late, using each client's own terms (7, 14, 30 or 60 days), not one rule for everyone.
Days sales outstanding (DSO): roughly how many days of sales are unpaid. If your terms are 30 days and DSO is 55, money is arriving almost a month late.

If you are moving from spreadsheets or another system, load each client's opening balance with its date first. Without it, the list starts at zero and the oldest debts, the ones that matter most, are invisible.

Step 2: sort a collect-first list every Monday

Do not try to chase everyone at once. Sort the list by the amount that is past terms, largest first, and pick the top ten to fifteen accounts for the week. Mark the ones that are also over their credit limit. Those are the accounts where a visit this week will bring in the most cash and prevent the biggest losses.

Step 3: give every overdue account one owner

Write down one simple rule: the field rep who manages the client collects from the client. They know the buyer, they visit anyway, and a polite reminder in person works far better than a letter. Accounts with no field rep, or more than 60 days overdue, belong to the manager.

Plan collection visits into the week's routes rather than treating them as extra trips. Our guide to field sales route planning shows how to group visits by area so collections cost almost nothing in fuel.

Step 4: make the conversation easy

Most late payers are not refusing to pay. They are busy, short of cash this week, or waiting for a document. Give field reps a short, respectful script:

Thank the client for their business and mention the invoice number and amount.
Ask when payment will be made, and agree a specific date.
If the client cannot pay in full, agree a part-payment now and a date for the rest.
Record what was agreed, so the next person who calls knows.

Always issue a receipt for every payment, whether cash, bank transfer or mobile money, and record it against the invoice the same day. Our guide to van sales and cash collections covers the daily cash routine.

Step 5: set credit limits that actually hold

Collection is easier when less money goes out on credit in the first place. Give every credit client two settings: a credit limit (the most they may owe at any time) and payment terms (how many days they have to pay). Then apply two rules without exceptions:

A client who is over their limit gets no new credit until they pay down.
A client with an invoice more than 60 days overdue gets no new credit until it is cleared.

Field reps should be able to see a client's balance and limit before they take an order, and any request for credit above the limit should go to a manager for approval rather than being decided on the spot.

Step 6: review collections by field rep every week

Once a week, look at three things for each field rep: how much they sold, how much they collected, and how much their clients owe past terms. A field rep who sells a lot but collects little is not your best performer yet. Praise the ones who keep their accounts clean, and coach the ones whose overdue list keeps growing. Collected cash belongs in your monthly budget vs actuals review as its own line, because a sale is not cash until it is paid.

Common mistakes to avoid

Waiting until month end. By then, 30-day debts have become 60-day debts.
Chasing by size of the whole balance. Chase what is late, not what is large but still within terms.
Two people chasing the same client. One owner per account avoids confusion and embarrassment.
No opening balances. If old debts are not in the system, nobody will ever chase them.

How Wayfen helps

Wayfen's Money owed report builds the ageing list automatically from the sales and payments your field reps log, together with each client's opening balance, credit limit and payment terms. It shows what is past terms, days sales outstanding, which clients are over their limit, a collect-first list with the field rep for each client, and collections by field rep, weakest first. You can download it as a PDF or as an Excel file with live formulas, and set up every client's balance and terms in one go from a spreadsheet.

Frequently asked questions

What is a debtor ageing report?

A debtor ageing report lists every client who owes you money and splits each balance by how long it has been unpaid, usually 0–30, 31–60, 61–90 and over 90 days. The older the money, the harder it is to collect, so the report shows where to act first.

How often should a business follow up on unpaid invoices?

Check the list every week. Contact a client as soon as an invoice passes its payment terms, again after two weeks, and escalate to the manager once it is more than 60 days overdue.

What is a good credit limit for a client?

Start with roughly what the client buys in two to four weeks, and only raise it after several months of paying on time. A client who is over their limit or overdue should not get new credit until the balance is cleared.

What is days sales outstanding (DSO)?

DSO is the average number of days it takes your clients to pay. A simple estimate is the total owed divided by sales over the last 30 days, multiplied by 30. If DSO is longer than your payment terms, money is coming in late.

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