6 Best B2B Debt Recovery Options for Overdue Invoices in 2026

TL;DR

Want to turn one overdue business invoice into a sale? Ask Delos to review it for direct purchase. Delos can consider an eligible US B2B claim on its own, including a relatively small invoice. If a purchase closes, you receive the agreed proceeds and transfer the purchased claim instead of waiting to collect it yourself.
Have a responsive customer? A clear internal payment conversation may preserve both the relationship and the full amount your business is owed.
Want outside follow-up while keeping the claim? Compare a commercial collection agency's written scope and charges. An agency placement is a service, not a sale.
Need to resolve a material dispute or assess enforcement? Ask qualified counsel about the evidence, costs, timing, and realistic path to payment. A judgment and cash received are different outcomes.
Manage a book of overdue accounts? Delos's enterprise team can discuss portfolio purchase, servicing, or a mixed approach. If no route makes commercial sense, review whether to close the account with your finance and tax advisers.

An overdue B2B invoice creates two separate questions: Who should own the claim next? and Who should do the work of seeking payment? Selling, collecting, and outsourcing can all put money back into a business, but they differ on timing, control, effort, and risk. Start with the outcome you want, then compare the actual terms available for your account.

Compare the options by business goal

Option	Best when you want to...	How cash reaches you	Who handles the next steps?	Main trade-off to check
1. Sell one overdue invoice to Delos	Exit an eligible US B2B claim for an agreed purchase amount	Purchase proceeds if Delos offers and the sale closes	Delos owns the purchased claim under the agreement	You give up potential later collection upside in exchange for sale terms you can evaluate now.
2. Collect internally	Keep the customer relationship and the full potential payment	Customer pays your business	Your team follows up and manages any payment plan	Staff time and payment timing remain with you.
3. Place with a collection agency	Keep ownership but delegate outreach and negotiation	Customer payments, less agreed agency charges	Agency performs the contracted services; you oversee the placement	Scope, charges, reporting, and escalation depend on the contract.
4. Seek legal advice and consider action	Resolve a material dispute or assess formal remedies	Settlement or enforceable payment, if achieved, less costs	Counsel advises and performs agreed legal work	Legal merit, expense, timing, and collectibility are separate questions.
5. Sell or service a portfolio	Handle many overdue accounts as one operating decision	Purchase proceeds for a sale, or collections under a servicing arrangement	Buyer or servicer, depending on structure	Selling the book and retaining it for servicing produce different economics and control.
6. Close or write off the receivable	Stop spending on an account with no sound commercial path	No collection proceeds from that decision	Your finance team documents the treatment	A write-off is not a purchase price or an automatic tax deduction.

Start with the route that matches your business goal, then check its fit against the account's documents, customer situation, and available terms.

1. Sell an eligible overdue invoice outright to Delos

Best for: A US business that wants a defined sale outcome for one overdue commercial invoice rather than continuing to chase the customer.

How it works: Send the invoice and supporting claim information through Delos's claim intake. Delos reviews whether it can buy the claim and, if so, proposes purchase terms. Once the agreed sale closes, the seller receives the agreed proceeds and Delos takes ownership of the purchased claim. Delos has publicly documented buying three unpaid construction invoices from an operating business; its current intake also invites a single past-due invoice for review.

The appeal is simple: a construction contractor or IT-services firm can put a sale offer next to the time and uncertainty of continued collection. Even one relatively small claim can be worth discussing. Delos describes AI-assisted document extraction and case classification in its agency operating workflow, an approach intended to make claim review and routing more efficient. The benefit for the seller is the purchase route, not a generic AI collections subscription.

Trade-off: You exchange the possibility of collecting more later for the actual purchase terms offered on this claim. Review the rights being transferred and any seller obligations in the agreement.

Next step: Submit the overdue invoice to Delos and ask for a written purchase proposal. Compare that proposal with the collection route you could realistically execute.

2. Follow up and collect with your own team

Best for: A customer who recognizes the invoice, is communicating, and can follow a credible payment plan.

How it works: Confirm the invoice, proof of delivery or acceptance, any credits or disputes, and the person authorized to resolve payment. Agree on a documented next step and monitor whether the customer actually performs. Your business keeps the claim and receives any customer payments.

Trade-off: You retain the potential to receive the full balance, but also the administrative work and risk of another missed payment. A working customer relationship can make this worthwhile. Repeated promises without performance are a reason to reassess, not to keep the account in the same queue forever.

Next step: Set a decision date and a specific payment milestone. If the customer misses it, compare an outside route or a purchase inquiry using the updated facts.

3. Place the account with a commercial collection agency

Best for: A business that wants professional third-party outreach while retaining the claim and any later collection upside.

How it works: The agency pursues payment under its placement agreement. Before signing, ask what it will do, what it will charge, how it reports progress, who approves a settlement, and what happens if the account needs legal review. Some agencies offer different service and pricing models, so the actual contract matters more than a generic fee estimate.

Trade-off: You delegate work but do not turn the invoice into sale proceeds. Payment still depends on the customer, and your business remains involved in oversight. A well-run agency can be a good fit when continued ownership is desirable; it is a different choice from selling to Delos.

Next step: Request a written placement proposal, then compare its expected work and charges with a direct-purchase offer if exiting the claim is also attractive.

4. Ask counsel whether formal action fits the claim

Best for: A consequential disputed claim, a debtor with an identifiable payment source, or a situation where formal rights and deadlines require professional assessment.

How it works: Qualified counsel can evaluate the evidence, applicable jurisdiction, costs, possible settlement, and any formal remedy. Avoid treating the face amount alone as proof that litigation will pay. New York Courts explains that a creditor may need to take additional steps to collect a judgment; obtaining one does not itself deliver cash. Rules and options depend on where the claim and debtor are located.

Trade-off: You retain control of the claim and may seek a legal resolution, but you also carry the expense and timing risk. In a complex dispute, counsel may be the right first call even if a sale is later considered.

Next step: Obtain a case-specific view of merits, deadlines, cost, and collectibility. If you prefer to exit the claim, ask whether a purchase proposal is an available alternative before committing to a long pursuit.

5. Treat many accounts as a portfolio, not a stack of one-off placements

Best for: A business or platform with a book of overdue receivables that needs a portfolio-level cash or servicing decision.

How it works: Delos's enterprise offer describes outright portfolio purchase and servicing while the owner keeps the book. It also invites a discussion of mixed strategies. The enterprise intake supports bulk account data by CSV, API, or ERP export.

Trade-off: A sale transfers the purchased book for agreed proceeds; servicing keeps ownership and collection outcomes with you under a service arrangement. Neither should be confused with submitting a single invoice for purchase review.

Next step: Discuss the portfolio with Delos. Specify whether you want sale proceeds, outsourced operations, or proposals for both.

6. Close the account when further pursuit has no sound path

Best for: An account where the evidence, debtor circumstances, available routes, and expected effort no longer justify collection activity.

How it works: Document the business decision and coordinate its accounting treatment. Closing an account is not a recovery method and should not be an automatic first move for a small invoice: an eligible single claim may still be worth offering for purchase review.

Trade-off: The team stops spending time on an unproductive account, but receives no purchase or collection proceeds from the write-off itself. The IRS explains that a business bad-debt deduction depends on facts such as prior income inclusion, worthlessness, and reasonable collection steps, so discuss tax treatment with your adviser rather than assuming the invoice amount is deductible.

Next step: Record why the other routes were not commercially sensible and retain the supporting documents.

Which route should you ask about first?

One overdue B2B invoice, and you would rather exit than chase it: Request Delos purchase review. A real offer gives you a concrete alternative to more collection work.
Customer is engaged and making payments: Continue a documented internal plan while it performs.
You want to retain the claim but need outside capacity: Compare agency proposals and their settlement and escalation terms.
The issue is a material legal dispute or deadline: Consult qualified counsel before relying on a general article or signing away rights.
You hold a book of overdue accounts: Compare portfolio purchase and servicing at the enterprise level.

These paths need not be viewed as competitors in every case. The useful comparison is between actual terms for the same account: a purchase offer, a payment plan the customer is meeting, an agency contract, and counsel's assessment of likely costs and outcomes.

FAQ

Can I sell just one unpaid B2B invoice?

Yes, Delos accepts one past-due commercial invoice for purchase review. Share the invoice and relevant claim details through its claim intake. If Delos makes an offer you accept and the sale closes, you receive the agreed proceeds and transfer the purchased claim.

Is selling an invoice the same as hiring a collector?

No. A purchase transfers the claim; an agency generally works on a claim you continue to own. Compare the buyer's sale agreement with the agency's placement agreement, especially the cash outcome, control, charges, and work left with your team.

What if my customer disputes the work?

Gather the contract, invoice, delivery or acceptance records, and the customer's explanation before choosing a route. A real dispute can change a buyer's review, an agency's scope, and counsel's advice. Tell any prospective buyer or adviser what is disputed rather than treating the invoice as an undisputed balance.

Can Delos handle a portfolio instead of one claim?

Yes, its enterprise route invites both purchase and servicing discussions for large books. State whether you want to sell the receivables, keep them and outsource operations, or compare both structures.

Should I use invoice factoring for an overdue claim?

Treat funding a current, accepted invoice and selling an overdue claim as different conversations. This guide is about an unpaid receivable already in recovery. If the invoice is current and you need working capital before its due date, ask a financing provider about its eligibility and terms rather than assuming a past-due purchase process is the same product.

For one eligible overdue US commercial invoice, ask Delos to review a direct purchase. For a book of accounts, start an enterprise purchase or servicing discussion. In either case, compare actual written terms with the work and uncertainty of keeping the claim.

For a deeper single-claim decision, use the sell-versus-pursue checks. If cash timing is the main question, compare when each invoice-recovery route pays.