Debtors & Creditors Checklist

• Signed contracts, estimates, applications, or membership agreements - Invoices, statements, delivery records, and completion records - Payment receipts, bank entries, card records, and refund details - Emails, letters, text messages, call notes, and returned mail - Credit applications, identity checks, and business registration details - Security agreements, guarantees, purchase orders, and change orders - Prior collection notices, dispute responses, and settlement offers

Choose a single working file. A spreadsheet can track intake fields and balances; a document system can hold supporting records. Keep the account number consistent across both. A practical file name is AC-1047_Riverstone-LLC_2026-09-03, using the internal account number, debtor name, and intake date.

Separate verified facts from items needing confirmation. Mark each field as confirmed, unclear, or missing. Do not treat an address copied from an old invoice as current merely because it appears in the file.

Set the review date before work begins. A file opened on September 3, 2026, should show when the balance, contact information, and payment history were last checked. This matters when interest, fees, addresses, or account status can change.

Use the Clean-Slate Intake Map in four passes:

• Identify the debtor and responsible parties. - Rebuild the debt from its source documents. - Match the balance to the payment record. - Index the evidence supporting every material fact.

If local law, contract terms, or internal policy requires a particular notice or validation step, flag that requirement for the responsible reviewer. Intake should expose those issues, not silently resolve them.

Checklist Items

Debtor identity and contact details

☐ Record the debtor’s full legal name.

☐ Record every trading name used on the account.

☐ Confirm whether the debtor is an individual or business.

☐ Record the debtor’s business registration number.

☐ Record the debtor’s date of birth only when permitted.

☐ Record the debtor’s verified mailing address.

☐ Record the debtor’s physical address when different.

☐ Record each verified email address.

☐ Record each verified telephone number.

☐ Identify the preferred contact channel.

☐ Record the date each contact detail was verified.

☐ Identify the person who supplied each contact detail.

☐ Check for duplicate accounts under similar names.

☐ Link related account numbers without merging separate debts.

For a business account, identify the legal entity separately from its trading name. “Riverstone Plumbing” may be the shop name, while the contract names Riverstone Plumbing LLC. Use the contract’s legal name for the account record and retain the trading name for searching and contact work.

Responsible parties and authority

☐ Identify each contract signatory.

☐ Identify each authorized account contact.

☐ Identify each personal guarantor.

☐ Record each guarantor’s signed guarantee date.

☐ Confirm the guarantee covers this specific debt.

☐ Record each co-obligor or joint debtor.

☐ Identify the current owner of the account relationship.

☐ Record who approved the original credit terms.

☐ Confirm the contact person can discuss account details.

☐ Separate a billing contact from a liable party.

☐ Record authority limits for settlement discussions.

☐ Flag missing signatures before making legal conclusions.

Do not assume the person who placed an order is personally liable. An employee may have ordered $2,400 of materials for a company without becoming the debtor. Record the order contact, then trace liability to the contract, guarantee, application, or other supporting record.

Debt source and transaction facts

☐ Record the contract or account opening date.

☐ Identify the goods, services, loan, or charge involved.

☐ Record the invoice, statement, or account reference.

☐ Record the original principal amount.

☐ Record the agreed payment due date.

☐ Record the date performance or delivery occurred.

☐ Match delivered goods to delivery records.

☐ Match completed services to completion records.

☐ Record approved change orders separately.

☐ Record returned goods and approved credits.

☐ Identify disputed line items precisely.

☐ Record the contract’s governing terms.

☐ Record agreed interest or late-charge terms.

☐ Flag terms that require legal review.

☐ Record the date the account became overdue.

☐ Calculate the age from the contractual due date.

A debt record should explain its own origin. “Past due: $8,750” is not enough. The file should show, for example, three invoices totaling $10,000, a $1,250 payment, the agreed due dates, and the resulting principal balance of $8,750.

Balance reconstruction

☐ List every invoice included in the balance.

☐ List every payment received.

☐ Match payments to invoices or account credits.

☐ Record payment dates and payment methods.

☐ Record reversed, rejected, or stopped payments.

☐ Record refunds and unapplied cash.

☐ Separate principal from interest.

☐ Separate approved fees from collection costs.

☐ Apply credits using the stated contract method.

☐ Recalculate the balance from source records.

☐ Record the calculation date.

☐ Identify the person who checked the calculation.

☐ Preserve the calculation worksheet.

☐ Compare the worksheet with the accounting ledger.

☐ Explain every difference between records.

Use a simple balance formula:

Amount claimed = principal + permitted interest + permitted fees − payments − credits.

Do not add an amount merely because the accounting system displays it. A ledger may include a late fee that the contract does not authorize, or it may show a payment in a suspense account that should reduce the claim. Put unsupported amounts in a review queue rather than presenting them as due.

Evidence index

☐ Assign a unique reference to every source document.

☐ Record each document’s date and document type.

☐ Record the document’s source.

☐ Confirm the document relates to this debtor.

☐ Confirm the document covers this transaction.

☐ Check signatures, initials, and acceptance records.

☐ Check attachments referenced by the contract.

☐ Preserve original email metadata when available.

☐ Preserve complete message threads, not isolated excerpts.

☐ Record delivery, receipt, or completion confirmation.

☐ Identify missing documents explicitly.

☐ Note alterations, gaps, or conflicting versions.

☐ Store documents in read-only format when appropriate.

☐ Restrict access to authorized personnel.

☐ Record every later addition to the evidence file.

A useful evidence index can contain five columns: reference number, date, document type, fact supported, and status. For example, E-04 | 2026-05-12 | Delivery ticket | 18 units delivered | Confirmed. This lets a reviewer move from a balance line to the record supporting it.

Contact and dispute history

☐ Record every collection contact by date.

☐ Record the channel used for each contact.

☐ Record the person contacted.

☐ Summarize the debtor’s response accurately.

☐ Record any promise-to-pay date.

☐ Record the promised amount.

☐ Record whether the promise was kept.

☐ Capture each dispute in the debtor’s own terms.

☐ Identify the invoice or line item disputed.

☐ Attach documents submitted with the dispute.

☐ Record the date the dispute was received.

☐ Route unresolved disputes for review.

☐ Stop unsupported collection claims while facts remain unclear.

☐ Record returned mail and failed delivery attempts.

☐ Check contact restrictions before further outreach.

A note such as “customer refuses to pay” is not a usable record. Replace it with a factual entry: “Debtor disputes Invoice 4821, stating two of six billed visits did not occur; email received September 2, 2026; service logs requested.” Specific notes preserve the issue for the next reviewer.

Intake decision and handoff

☐ Assign the account a current status.

☐ Mark the file complete, incomplete, disputed, or restricted.

☐ List every missing fact blocking a decision.

☐ List every document needed to close the gap.

☐ Assign an owner for each follow-up task.

☐ Set a due date for each follow-up task.

☐ Confirm the balance is ready for review.

☐ Confirm contact details are ready for approved outreach.

☐ Confirm disputes are routed correctly.

☐ Record the recommended next action.

☐ Record the reason for that recommendation.

☐ Obtain required approval before escalation.

☐ Log the handoff date and receiving person.

☐ Preserve the final intake snapshot.

A good handoff does not say “send to collections” without context. It says, “Refer for approved outreach after confirming the September 2 dispute about Invoice 4821; principal balance is $8,750; no interest added; current email verified September 3.” That wording gives the next person a clear starting point and a clear limitation.

Pro Tips

Treat every important field as a claim that needs a source. The debtor’s name should trace to the contract or application. The balance should trace to the ledger and payment records. The due date should trace to the agreed terms. If a fact has no source, label it unconfirmed rather than allowing it to acquire false authority through repetition.

Keep an “exceptions” box at the top of the intake record. Put unresolved identity conflicts, missing guarantees, disputed invoices, unexplained credits, and conflicting balances there. Review the exceptions before approving contact or escalation. This small step keeps a clean-looking summary from hiding the one issue that could change the decision.

The Clean-Slate Intake Map is complete when another trained reviewer can answer four questions without reconstructing the file: Who owes the money? What created the debt? What amount is supported today? Which documents prove it? When those answers are clear, collection activity starts from records rather than assumptions - and every later decision has a stronger foundation.

End of chapter one. 4 more chapters in the full book.