Build a handoff your agency can actually use.

An aging spreadsheet gives an agency the balances. A useful handoff also gives the facts behind them. Organize the portfolio so the agency can distinguish a documented unpaid account from a billing problem that still needs your team.

1. Build one master list.

Use one row per account and a consistent customer identifier. Include the customer’s legal business name, contact information, unpaid balance, invoice dates, due dates, and last payment. Reconcile credits and partial payments before transfer.

• Legal business name and relevant trading name
• Business address and known customer or payables contacts
• Invoice identifiers, issue dates, and due dates
• Original charges, payments, credits, and current balance
• Last substantive contact and next promised payment date
• Dispute status and amount disputed, if any
• Previous agency or attorney involvement
• Internal account owner and contact for questions

2. Put the supporting documents behind each row.

Give each account a folder using the same identifier as the master list. Include the agreement or accepted terms, invoices, evidence of delivery or completion, and relevant communications. Preserve the originals and identify which document supports each amount.

3. Write a short account history.

The collector should not have to reconstruct the whole story from an email archive. Summarize the work, why the balance is owed, payment promises, known objections, and previous attempts. Keep customer statements distinct from your team’s interpretation.

4. Flag exceptions before contact begins.

Separate genuine disputes, possible duplicate placements, accounts already with counsel, and any relevant proceedings you know about. Ask the agency how it wants those files routed and reviewed. Give it the context needed to avoid working from an incomplete balance.

5. Agree on the operating rules.

Name who can approve a settlement, who answers a document request, and who updates the balance when a customer pays you directly. Decide how customer relationship concerns will be communicated. Agree on a reporting and remittance schedule.

6. Set the first portfolio review.

At the review, ask which files have payments, verified disputes, missing information, broken commitments, or recommended next steps. Track actual net receipts and meaningful account progress. Use that information to decide what to keep placing.

Use these eight questions to assess the agency’s proposal.