IDEA: Do not toss ‘junk’ mail without reviewing the ‘potential’ problems these ads are announcing.

All companies receive junk mail from the postman every day.  Someone assigned in your company normally sits, opens most of it and then determines to toss out the items thinking these ‘junk mail pieces’ are irrelevant and not worth opening. Instruct your person who opens the mail to forward ‘junk mail’ to a second person in accounting or finance for signs of problems or issues that behind the mail.

Examples of ‘Junk Mail’ that informs you of ‘pending’ or ‘upcoming issues’ your company needs to address:

• Taxes:   Late property taxes are published to the public. There are numerous finance companies that are willing to pay and finance those late taxes for you (with high interest rates). They watch for past-due taxes and then begin sending out mailers and notices to those late taxpayers.  If you did not realize you had a late property tax bill before, you will now if you are sharp enough to understand the problem behind the mailing.  Immediately go online and look for your past-due invoice and pay it ASAP.
• Internet domains:   Domain name companies wanting your business will tell you well in advance that your domain name is going to expire. Take this as a good time to compare pricing and alternative services to renew your domain name(s) now while you have the time.
• Credit improvement services:   If you are getting a rash of credit improvement notices, go in and check your company’s current credit score and clean it up if it contains reporting errors.
• Legal firms:   Legal firms many times represent local counties or cities in attempting to collect pastdue fines or penalties or property taxes.  The tax assessor posts the past-due and automatically hands it to a collection firm.  Do not throw these notices away.  If they do not disclose the fees your company owes, call them and ask what the notice is for. They will tell you and then go pay them immediately directly if you can to cut down the legal administrative cost the law firm is awarded.
• Registrations, annual filings, etc.:   Many registrations come due and your firm will get notices from unassociated companies that will handle your filings (for a markup).  For example, trucking firms must pay annual UCR filing fees. Those companies will sometimes get notices from outside firms which will pay these through their firm (with a markup). The junk mail is a good reminder to go directly to the governmental agency and pay the fee versus a marked up fee.