Selling SaaS into the US from the UK: your London finance team shouldn't chase Texas at midnight

The US is the biggest software market on earth, and British vendors are in it everywhere—fintech, martech, developer tools, vertical SaaS. The pattern is familiar: a London finance team, a US customer base, and a receivable ledger that lights up red while the office is asleep.

Somewhere around the third 10 p.m. phone call to Austin, most UK finance teams realize they need a US collections partner. The problem is finding one that doesn't treat "international" as an excuse to charge double.

The midnight problem

US debtors know when you're not watching. A California customer owes a London vendor, and the last email went unanswered at 6 a.m. UK time—which was 10 p.m. in California, where the decision-maker had already left. The account ages while the time zones argue. By the time the debt is 120 days old, the debtor has learned the vendor doesn't escalate—and they're right.

How one handoff works

You don't need to hire US counsel on day one, and you don't need a US office. You need a collector who works your time zone's problem on the debtor's clock:

• US-based contact during US hours—the debtor talks to someone who's awake, in their time zone, with a US phone number
• The London desk as your single point of contact—one consolidated report, no matter how many US states the debtors are in
• Entity tracing across the pond—the US subsidiary, the reseller, the end customer: which entity signed, which entity owes
• The same contingency rate as domestic—25% under 12 months, 33% over, 40% on second placements, no recovery, no fee

Most agencies charge up to 50% for international accounts because they're guessing. We run an international desk with agents in 15+ countries—the infrastructure exists, so the surcharge doesn't.

What we need from you

The same clean file we ask every client for: the signed agreement, the entity that signed it, the usage record, and the promise trail. Add the governing-law clause if you have one—many UK vendors contract under English law, and that's fine; the collection runs on evidence, not jurisdiction theater.

The short version

Your London finance team should be closing the month, not chasing Texas at midnight. One handoff, US-hours execution, same contingency as domestic. The US receivable you've been writing off as "too far away" is collectible. One handoff and we're on the debtor's clock.