Free Recovery Estimate
How much of your unpaid invoices can you still recover?
Kollecta provides third-party debt collection services that help businesses recover outstanding accounts while maintaining compliance and preserving customer relationships.
Your Situation
Estimated Net Recovery
After 25% contingency feeWhy timing matters
Recoverability declines as an invoice ages. Estimated recovery rate with Kollecta's AI-powered workflows, by debt age.
What is a debt recovery ROI calculator?
A debt recovery ROI calculator estimates how much of an unpaid balance a business can realistically collect, and what is left after collection fees. It applies recovery rate benchmarks tied to how long the invoice has been outstanding, so a company can compare the expected net return against the cost of pursuing the debt.
Why recovery rates fall as invoices age
Age is the strongest single predictor of whether a balance gets collected. Three things change as an account gets older:
- Contact quality drops. Phone numbers, email addresses, and billing contacts go stale, and each failed attempt reduces the chance of reaching the right party.
- Debtor finances shift. A business that could pay at 60 days may have taken on other obligations, entered a payment plan elsewhere, or closed by month twelve.
- Documentation weakens. Purchase orders, delivery confirmations, and signed terms get harder to produce, which makes disputes harder to resolve and claims harder to enforce.
Statute of limitations periods also vary by state and by contract type, and older balances move closer to that limit.
How collection fees work
Most collection pricing falls into two models. Contingency pricing charges a percentage of what is actually recovered, so there is no cost when nothing is collected. The percentage typically rises with debt age and falls with placement volume. Flat fee pricing charges a fixed amount per account regardless of outcome, which tends to suit newer, lower-balance accounts placed in volume. This calculator applies a contingency model to both columns so the comparison isolates the recovery rate difference rather than the pricing difference. Compare the two approaches on third-party debt collection and flat fee collection.
Frequently asked questions
When should a business send an unpaid invoice to collections?
There is no legal deadline. Most companies escalate internally at 30 days past due, send a formal demand letter around 60 days, and place the account with an agency between 90 and 120 days. Recovery rates fall sharply past the 90 day mark, so a fixed internal trigger usually outperforms case-by-case judgment.
What percentage does Kollecta charge a business?
Commercial collection agencies typically charge between 25 and 50 percent of the amount recovered, with older and smaller balances priced at the higher end. Kollecta works on contingency, so there is no fee when nothing is collected. Rates depend on debt age, balance size, and placement volume, and are confirmed in writing before any account is placed.
Will sending a customer to collections damage the relationship?
Not always. A large share of late payments come from billing errors, disputed line items, or internal approval delays rather than an unwillingness to pay, and a neutral third party often surfaces the real blocker faster than continued in-house follow-up. Where the account is genuinely uncollectible, the relationship has usually already ended.
How accurate is this recovery estimate?
It is a benchmark-based estimate, not a prediction for your specific accounts. It applies average recovery rates by debt age to the balance you enter. An account-level review of debtor status, aging detail, and supporting documentation will produce a far tighter number.
See what these numbers look like for your real accounts
Get a free recovery assessment from our team. No cost, no obligation, no long commitment to review your portfolio.