Outsourced credit control means a specialist firm chases your invoices in your name, usually for an hourly rate or a monthly retainer. UK providers publish prices from £200 to £2,500 a month, against about £34,000 a year for a credit controller with employer National Insurance, and from £49 (US$69) a month for credit control software.
Your finance lead is chasing invoices between month-end and payroll, and the aged debt keeps growing. You can hire, hand the job to a firm, or let software do the routine part. Here is how outsourced credit control is priced, what each route costs in a year, and which one fits which business.
What is outsourced credit control?
Outsourced credit control is a service in which an external team runs your chasing under your company name: reminders, calls, statements and disputes, before a debt is ever handed to a collection agency.
It differs from a debt collection agency, which takes over a specific debt once you have given up on it and keeps a commission. The credit control software vs a debt collection agency guide covers that later stage.
How do outsourced credit control providers charge?
Outsourced credit control providers charge in four ways: an hourly rate, a fixed monthly retainer, a fee that rises with the number of accounts chased, or a commission on recovered debts.
- Hourly: you pay for the time spent, often with a minimum number of hours and a minimum term.
- Monthly retainer: a fixed fee for an agreed scope, sometimes on a rolling contract.
- By accounts chased: the monthly fee steps up with the number of live accounts.
- Commission: a share of what is recovered, usually on older debts, sometimes on top of a fee.
What do UK outsourced credit control providers charge?
UK outsourced credit control providers that publish prices charge from £50 an hour to £2,500 a month, depending on the hours, the number of accounts and the contract term.
| Provider | How it charges | Published price |
|---|---|---|
| Clarity Finance Group | Managed monthly service, no minimum term | From £200 a month |
| CM Group | Time-based monthly fee | From £597 plus VAT a month |
| Confident Cashflow | Hourly, two-hour minimum, six-month term | £50 plus VAT an hour |
| STA Receivables | Flat fee by number of live accounts, plus commission on recovery | £500 to £2,500 a month, plus 8% on recovered debts |
| Zmartly | Monthly plans, rolling | £129, £250 or £499 a month |
Listed alphabetically, not ranked. Prices are each provider's own published figure.
How does outsourced credit control compare with a credit controller or software?
Outsourced credit control usually costs less than a full-time credit controller and more than credit control software, because software automates the routine chasing while a provider or a hire adds a person.
| Route | What it costs in a year | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Credit controller, employed (UK) | £34,038 | Robert Half median salary of £30,250, plus employer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000; before pension, recruitment and cover |
| Outsourced provider (UK) | £2,400 to £30,000 | Published fees of £200 to £2,500 a month, before any commission |
| Software plus a vendor specialist | £10,788 | Chaser Care at £899 a month on Compact, software included |
| Credit control software | £588 to £2,388 | Paidnice Essentials at £49 (US$69) a month to Chaser Compact at £199 a month |
In the US, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay of a bill and account collector at $47,030 a year.
The figures answer different questions. A hire or a provider buys a person's time; software buys the sending, scheduling and charging, and someone in the business still handles disputes and calls.
Can you combine credit control software with an outsourced specialist?
Credit control software and an outsourced specialist combine in two ways: a software vendor's own managed service, or software that your accountant or an outsourced provider runs for you.
- Chaser Care: a dedicated AR specialist who chases by email, SMS, phone and letter, handles disputes and reports, from £899 a month with Compact software included. Chaser calls its Care prices indicative estimates (Chaser Care service page).
- CreditorWatch Collect Call Assist: trained local specialists make calls from the contact details in Collect and log notes and promises, at $195, $495 or $795 a month for 20, 150 or 400 calls.
- Satago: sells credit control as a service through accountants, who run the platform for their clients.
- Paidnice: software only, with escalation steps that route a case to any collection agency, solicitor or partner, in any country, when the automated sequence ends.
When should you outsource credit control, hire, or use software?
Outsourcing fits a business with no one to own the ledger and a steady flow of disputes; a hire fits a large debtor book; software fits a business where someone can spend a few hours a week on the cases software raises.
| Your situation | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Someone owns the ledger a few hours a week | Credit control software | Reminders, statements and charges run on their own; the person handles exceptions |
| No spare time in the team, many disputes | Outsourced provider, or software plus a vendor specialist | A person works the calls and disputes in your name |
| Large debtor book, daily calls, several entities | A credit controller, with software | A full-time role pays for itself once the work fills a week |
| Debts past 90 days with no reply | A collection agency | A third party takes over a debt you have stopped chasing |
The best credit control software guide compares six tools for the first row.
How this guide was put together
This guide uses prices that each provider and vendor publishes on its own site, and salary and tax figures from a recruiter's salary data, gov.uk and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
| What we checked | Where the evidence came from |
|---|---|
| Outsourced provider prices | Each provider's own pricing or service page; providers with no published price are left out |
| Vendor managed services | Chaser and CreditorWatch Collect pricing and feature pages; Satago's service page |
| Salary and employer costs | Robert Half's credit controller salary data, gov.uk employer rates, the BLS occupation outlook |
What do businesses ask before outsourcing credit control?
How much does outsourced credit control cost in the UK?
Outsourced credit control in the UK costs from £50 an hour or £200 a month at the low end to £2,500 a month for a large book of accounts, among providers that publish prices. Some add a commission, such as 8% on recovered debts.
Is outsourced credit control cheaper than hiring a credit controller?
Usually, for a small or mid-sized business. A UK credit controller on the Robert Half median salary of £30,250 costs about £34,000 a year with employer National Insurance, before pension and recruitment. Published outsourced fees run from £2,400 to £30,000 a year.
Will an outsourced credit controller chase in my company's name?
Yes, that is the usual arrangement: the provider works as part of your team, using your name and email, so customers deal with you rather than a third party. Confirm this, and who approves the wording, before you sign.
How is outsourced credit control different from a debt collection agency?
Outsourced credit control runs your everyday chasing in your name, from before the due date. A debt collection agency takes over a specific debt once you have stopped chasing it, and usually keeps a commission on what it recovers.
Can credit control software replace outsourcing?
For the routine work, yes. Software sends reminders and statements, applies late fees and takes payments on its own, from £49 (US$69) a month on Paidnice. You still need someone, in-house or outsourced, for disputes, payment plans and calls.
What should an outsourced credit control contract include?
The scope of work, the hours or accounts covered, the minimum term and notice period, who owns the customer data, how disputes are logged, and when a debt passes to a collection agency. Ask for the reporting you will receive each month.
For the six main credit control tools side by side, with prices, free trials and the main limit of each, see the credit control software comparison.
Sources
12 sources, checked by Julie Turnbridge on November 7, 2026
- Clarity Finance Group clarityfinancegroup.co.uk/how-much-does-outsourced-credit...
- CM Group cmgroupuk.com/outsourced-collections
- Confident Cashflow confidentcashflow.com/how-we-help/outsourced-credit-control
- STA Receivables stainternational.com/outsourced-credit-control
- Zmartly zmartly.co.uk/services/credit-control-services-uk
- Robert Half roberthalf.com/gb/en/job-details/credit-controller
- employer National Insurance gov.uk/guidance/rates-and-thresholds-for-employers-2026-t...
- Bureau of Labor Statistics bls.gov/ooh/office-and-administrative-support/bill-and-ac...
- from £899 a month chaserhq.com/chaser-detailed-pricing-breakdown
- Chaser Care service page chaserhq.com/features/chaser-care-service
- trained local specialists creditorwatchcollect.com.au/call-assist
- credit control as a service satago.com/credit-control-as-a-service
