Bill collection is tough when the econmy is sound, but it's especially tough in a recession and can make or break a business. To successfully collect payments on time, companies need a plan in place that includes more than just the threat of a bill collector calling six times per day.

We've provided several articles that may be useful if you find you need to get customers to pay up.

Christina Salerno has an excellent article on bNet.com listing several strategies for effective bill collection. Salerno outlines three steps to get clients to pay up in a down economy. Click here to read this informative article.

Darrell Zahorsky gives collection letter and debt collection mastery tips in his article for the Small Business Info Guide in About.com.

And Joel Walsh provides a handy Small Business Debt Collection Law Sheet in his article for Small Business Brief.com.