Get paid.
Keep the customer.

An invoice is a peculiar kind of promise. The work has been done. The goods have arrived. Someone has agreed to pay. Yet the seller still has to turn that agreement into money. Between those two events sits a surprisingly human problem: how do you ask harder without making the next sale impossible?

ALTUS Commercial Receivables has made a business of that interval. Founded in 1994 in the New Orleans area, it handles business-to-business receivables, from early reminders to outside collections and coordinated legal escalation. Its customers range from small businesses to multinational organizations. The unit of work is an account. The complication is everything attached to it.

The name on the next message

Consider the difference between two approaches. In first-party collections, Altus specialists work under the client’s brand and communication standards. They handle reminders, follow-ups, payment arrangements and disputes. The business gains collection capacity while retaining its familiar voice. This makes sense when an account still belongs within the ordinary customer relationship.

In third-party collections, the message comes from Altus. The company takes on outreach, negotiation and escalation for past-due commercial accounts. Bringing in an independent collector changes the conversation. It can also give an internal finance team somewhere to send work that needs more attention than another reminder.

The economics differ. Altus advertises first-party service at a flat rate per account. Third-party recovery uses a contingency fee: a percentage of money successfully recovered, with no upfront collection fee. That arrangement links the collector’s compensation to payment. A buyer still needs to understand the agreement, especially when legal expenses or international work enter the picture.

These distinctions matter because overdue invoices do not all describe the same failure. A disputed delivery, a missing purchase order and an inability to pay require different responses. Altus’s commercial service includes documentation review, reconciliation and dispute resolution. Sending more messages cannot, by itself, establish which balance is actually owed.

The collector gets a cockpit

The technological proposition is visibility. Altus’s current technology environment is built on Salesforce and extended with Agentforce. Its Altus Connect suite groups four capabilities: CODA for collector performance, Bridge for connected workflows, Voice for AI-enabled outreach, and Automations for assisted workflows and data capture.

Those names describe fairly practical jobs. Managers can track performance. Collectors and clients can coordinate approvals and data requests. Voice outreach can qualify contacts and transfer appropriate conversations to collectors. Account intelligence can be assembled before someone starts asking for payment. The client portal provides round-the-clock access to account status, documentation, activity and reporting.

The human allocation is just as revealing. In Aspire’s published account of its Altus partnership, placements are assigned using criteria including country, debt type, balance, age and risk. More senior collectors handle higher-risk and more complex accounts. For landscaping and janitorial contractors using Aspire, that offers access to a collection operation without building one internally.

“Clients don’t want a vendor. They want someone who knows their accounts and picks up the phone.”AJ Rose · Altus client success and sales enablement

The company’s own staff stories reinforce that operational emphasis. It describes Andrew Heinricher’s progression from Training Manager to Chief Operations Officer and AJ Rose’s move from Client Success Manager to Director. Training is part of the delivery mechanism: a collector needs enough context to recognize when a disputed invoice needs investigation rather than a firmer script.

Before the lawyers, a better question

Altus also sells information that can change whether a company extends credit or pursues recovery. Business credit reports consolidate payment history, public records, ownership information and financial signals. Asset and liability reports investigate recovery potential. The latter can inform a particularly useful decision: whether legal action is financially sensible.

Its legal service coordinates collection counsel, case communication, reporting and post-judgment activity. Local attorneys handle the legal work. The advertised pricing includes contingency fees plus costs. Court-related expenses are typically communicated before they are incurred. A finance team is buying coordination as well as access to counsel.

Across borders, the same organizational logic applies. Altus coordinates local partners while the client keeps one account relationship. The company describes a 67-country network and identifies Coface as an international recovery partner. Local language, business practices and available enforcement routes matter; the appropriate approach depends on the country and account.

There are limits built into that proposition. A portal cannot create assets in an insolvent business. A collector cannot make contradictory records agree without investigation. Legal timing depends on the jurisdiction, dispute and court process. Recovery needs usable documentation and a plausible path to payment. Those are useful questions to settle before committing more effort or expense.

New owners, the same awkward conversation

In September 2025, Astira Capital Partners acquired Altus from ARMStrong Receivable Management. Astira’s announced plan emphasized investment in technology and human capital. In January 2026, Altus added leaders for commercial operations and corporate development. The appointments put execution, analytics and acquisitions visibly within its expansion strategy.

Altus now reports more than 400 specialists and $500 million recovered for clients during 2025. Its position in the market combines outsourced labor, commercial expertise, credit research and software-supported oversight. An internal team, another commercial agency or collection counsel may handle parts of the same work. Altus offers to coordinate those functions around the account.

The lesson a finance team can borrow is concrete. Gather the invoice and supporting records. Record each dispute and promise. Decide whose name belongs on the next contact. Set escalation rules before frustration sets them for you. The overdue balance may be a number, but getting it paid requires understanding the business behind it.