Almost every company is forced to face receivables. It is presented in cash, which should be transferred by counterparties in the future. Most often, it occurs when working with a deferred payment or when providing an installment plan and a loan. Such arrears may be standard or bad. If there are no funds from the debtor within the established time period, then the collection of receivables is carried out.
Initially, firms try to solve the problem peacefully using pre-trial methods. If they do not bring the desired result, then the creditor is forced to go to court.
The concept of receivables
It is represented by debt due to the company from counterparties. This debt arises on the basis of various transactions.
For any company, it is important that such debt is not too significant, as it is often difficult to collect it. Often you have to face bad debts altogether, as debtors declare themselves bankrupt or simply cannot return funds due to poor financial condition. Therefore, it is necessary to provide goods on credit exclusively to trusted and reliable companies.
Collection methods
The collection procedure begins after there are no funds from the debtor within the established time frame. Overdue receivables can be charged in a variety of ways. These include:
- The claim method. It involves the voluntary return of funds by the debtor with an accrued penalty, the amount of which is usually prescribed directly in the contract. In this case, the creditor sends the debtor a claim stating the need to return the funds. This method is usually ineffective.
- The court order. It is presented by a forced way to return money. Collection of receivables through the court is considered the most effective. To do this, the company must file a lawsuit in court. In this way, you can not only return your funds and accrued forfeit, but also claim compensation for material damage.
Initially, a claim must be sent to the debtor. The court often does not accept a claim if there is no evidence of using a pre-trial method of resolving the issue.
Do I need to submit a claim?
Many companies believe that if debtors do not return funds in a timely manner, you can immediately go to court to recover money by forced means. In fact, to resolve this issue, a pre-trial dispute resolution method is mandatory. Without this, a court statement is often not accepted.
The features of claims collection of receivables include:
- often in the contract itself drawn up between the two companies, there is a clause indicating the need to use the claim method, so drawing up a claim is an obligatory step;
- banks do not consider claims as a standard, unless evidence is attached to them that the creditor was trying to resolve the issue peacefully;
- if the contract does not contain information about the need to draw up a claim, then it is allowed to file a lawsuit immediately in court.
It is most relevant to immediately go to court if the counterparty is an LLC with a small amount of assets. Under such conditions, after receiving the claim, the company can be quickly liquidated by the owners, so the collection of receivables will become impossible. Therefore, in certain situations, it is optimal to immediately begin the forced procedure for the return of funds.
Claim Rules
If the company acting as a creditor decides to use the original claim method of resolving the issue, then it is important to understand how the claim is drawn up correctly. The collection of receivables is formed taking into account the rules:
- the document must necessarily contain the basic information from the contract on the basis of which the debt appeared;
- the number and details of the agreement are indicated;
- describes the conditions on the basis of which the debt arose, as well as the date when the funds were to be returned;
- In addition, various regulatory acts should be referred to, for example, the provisions of Ch. 30 GK;
- the requirement is indicated, on the basis of which the debtor must return the funds within a specific period;
- negative consequences are given for the counterparty if he does not satisfy the claim requirements presented by the accrual of interest and penalties, the lender goes to court or other significant negative factors.
A free-form document is drawn up, but it must contain all the information on the basis of which the company makes a claim to its debtor. If there is an unrealistic collection of receivables, since the debtor is at the stage of bankruptcy, then usually the transfer of the claim does not lead to the desired result. In this case, the creditor must be entered in the register of creditors.
Debtor acknowledges claim
Rarely enough, debtors respond positively to a claim. Often the lack of payment under the contract is associated with errors in the work of the accountant or other specialists of the company. Under such conditions, after receiving a claim, the organization promptly repays the debt.
If the debtor does not have funds, then he can still in writing agree to the presence of debt. In this case, a simplified procedure for collecting receivables through the court can be used. The materials are considered by the court without the need for the presence of both participants in the process, so the decision is made quickly in favor of the plaintiff. This is because the written recognition of the claim is positive evidence. Additionally, such recognition restores the limitation period.
What to do if there is no reaction?
Most often, creditors have to deal with the fact that debtors do not react in any way to a correctly drawn up claim. In this case, it is required to use coercive measures to collect receivables.
Initially, a private collection service may be applied, if any. Usually, banks have special departments involved in this process. Employees of the institution regularly remind debtors of the presence of debt, and also use claims or personal meetings to influence defaulters.
If no actions bring the desired result, you will have to go to court.
Where is the lawsuit filed?
The judicial procedure for repayment of debt is considered quite complicated. This requires an application for collection of receivables. This lawsuit is filed with the arbitration court. The court can be determined directly by the parties to the agreement when drawing up the contract, therefore, contractual jurisdiction is used. If such information is not available in the contract, then the rules are taken into account:
- as a standard, a claim must be filed at the location of the defendant, represented by the legal address of the enterprise;
- often, the property is the subject of the dispute, in which case a court is selected at the location of the premises;
- if the place of execution is indicated in the contract, then this address is taken into account to determine the court where the claim will be directed;
- if there are complaints to any division of the enterprise, then a statement is sent at its location.
If the plaintiff cannot decide where exactly the application should be sent, then you can take the help of the court.
Rules for making a claim
When forming a claim, it is recommended to take into account some rules that allow you to initially form the correct statement. The basic requirements are as follows:
- overdue receivables are recovered only by means of a written claim;
- the court where this document is being transferred is indicated;
- Provides information about the two parties to the process submitted by the creditor and debtor;
- the requirements of the plaintiff, consisting in the need to return their funds, are entered, and it is additionally recommended to leave links to regulations;
- calculation of the price of the claim and the amount claimed is included;
- it is indicated that the plaintiff used the pre-trial method of collecting debt;
- data are provided on the interim measures used, if they were used in the preparation of the agreement;
- at the end all the documents attached to the claim are listed.
If the above requirements are violated, the application may not be accepted by the judge. Accounts receivable management is a complex process, therefore, in large companies, an appropriate department is formed. Specialists are involved in settlements, debt management, filing claims and preparing claims. Usually they are represented by lawyers representing the interests of the enterprise in court.
What is the state duty paid?
The size of the fee depends on the price of the claim, so you need to calculate it in advance.
It is recommended that the plaintiff, when drawing up the application, indicate that it is the defendant who must cover all legal costs. Typically, such meetings end with the judge taking the side of the plaintiff, so the defendant must not only return the required funds to the creditor, but also pay the legal costs.
How are funds returned?
After a positive judgment is made for the plaintiff, the firm may use various methods to directly return the money. To do this, apply the methods:
- the debtor company can independently return the funds together with compensation and accrued penalties;
- the creditor may apply to the bank, where the debtor has an open current account so that the funds are debited, for which employees of the banking institution only need to submit a writ of execution;
- in the absence of money in the current account, it is advisable to transfer the writ of execution to the bailiffs, who can affect debtors in various ways;
- if there are no funds and assets from the debtor, then a lawsuit may be filed with the court to declare the company bankrupt.
The optimal procedure is chosen by the direct lender.
How long can a debt be repaid?
The collection period for receivables is three years. This period is the limitation period.
This period resumes if the debtor in writing acknowledges the presence of debt. Often there is absolutely no way to repay the debt. In this case, the write-off of receivables is used. This is usually required in situations:
- the debtor is dying;
- the limitation period expires;
- a debtor company declares itself bankrupt;
- a decision is made by the court, on the basis of which the debtor is exempted from paying off debts for various reasons.
The limitation period must be correctly calculated, for which it is advisable to use the information contained in debt reconciliation statements, claims or other official documents.
Debt Management Rules
Each company that has numerous debtors must properly manage accounts receivable. For this, special schedules are drawn up, on the basis of which the refund procedure is regulated. This will help to avoid a situation when the statute of limitations expires, so it will not work to recover the debt.
If the debt is recognized as hopeless for various reasons, the receivables are written off. This situation is considered unpleasant for each company, as it loses its funds. Due to such write-offs, it is possible to slightly reduce the tax base for corporate income tax.
Conclusion
Accounts receivable must be properly regulated by each company. If there are no funds from debtors on time, then you need to use different methods of collecting funds. Only with proper management of receivables can you control debts and return them before the expiration of the limitation period.
A claim or court order is applied for recovery. Most often, the judge requires that companies first try to resolve the issue in a peaceful manner. If there is no desired result after sending the claim to the debtor, then the creditor may apply to the court.