Maintaining modest A/Rs is good business throughout the year. With year end right around the corner, there's no better time than the present to ratchet up efforts, collect aged receivables, and clean up your balance sheet. Not that you needed any additional reasons to collect an aged receivable, but obviously your accountants will no doubt expect you to write off bad debt shortly as well.

Here are 4 steps you should be doing today to clean up your receivables by year end.

1) Do an honest assessment your receivables
Every 90+ day receivable has risk. Time is money. Every day reduces the likelihood of collection.

2)Offer incentives to clean up aged receivables.
You believe that 100% of the debt is legitimate. But you have collected 0%, despite promises by the debtor. Offer a discount for payment by year end.

3)Invoice earlier to be sure you are in a strong cash position by year end.
This is good policy regardless throughout the year.

4)Place more troubled accounts in collections-TODAY.
Stop procrastinating. Don't bluster or threaten the debtor. Just place the account and let the professionals handle it from there.

Year end should not be the only time that aged receivables get highlighted. Put tighter policies in place for 2012 and beyond.