Someone owes you money: the records to organize first

When someone owes you money, organize four things first: the agreement (written, by text, or spoken), every payment that moved in either direction, every reminder you sent, and every response you received. Put payments into a simple ledger with a running balance, and give each supporting record an ID so the ledger points to proof of each line.

This works the same for a loan to a friend, an invoice a client has not paid, a deposit a business kept, or a refund that never arrived. A clear file helps you talk to the other person calmly, and if it comes to that, helps a consumer office, mediator, legal clinic or lawyer understand the numbers quickly.

• A personal loan: you lent money to a friend, relative, roommate or former partner, often with terms agreed by text or in conversation.
• An unpaid invoice: you did freelance or contract work, sent an invoice, and payment is late or partial.
• A deposit: you paid a deposit to a venue, seller, contractor or other business and the deal fell through, but the money did not come back.
• A refund: a business agreed to refund a purchase or cancelled service, and the refund has not appeared.

Rules about deposits, refunds and debts differ by province, territory and state, and some kinds of deposits have their own rules. This article covers organizing the records only. A qualified person can tell you what applies to your situation.

Most money disputes are really disagreements about what was agreed. Capture the agreement before anything else, in whatever form it exists, and be honest in your file about which parts are written and which are memory.

• Written agreement: keep the signed copy or the PDF, and note the date signed, the amount, the payment terms and any conditions such as a delivery date.
• Invoice or quote: keep the version you sent, the date and method you sent it, and any terms printed on it like a due date.
• Text or chat: export or screenshot the full thread, not only the key message, so the context and dates are visible.
• Spoken agreement: write a dated entry now describing when and where it was made, who was present by role, the amount and what was said about repayment, marked as written from memory.
• Later changes: any message where the amount, schedule or terms shifted, such as a request for more time.

A ledger is a dated list of money moving in both directions, with a balance after each line. It answers the question every reviewer asks first: how much is still owed, and how do you know? Include payments you received, not only the ones you are missing; a ledger that leaves out partial repayments will not match the other person's version and can make the whole file look careless.

Sample ledger for a personal loan, in plain text. Line 1: Feb 2, transfer to borrower, 2,000.00 out, balance owed 2,000.00, record R-02 (bank statement). Line 2: Mar 15, e-transfer from borrower, 250.00 in, balance 1,750.00, record R-05. Line 3: Apr 15, no payment received, balance 1,750.00, record R-06 (reminder text sent Apr 18). Line 4: May 20, cash payment, 100.00 in, balance 1,650.00, record R-08 (my dated note, no receipt).

1. Pull statements from your bank, card or payment app covering the whole period, from before the first payment to today.
2. List every transaction connected to the debt, oldest first, with date, amount and direction.
3. Add a running balance after each line, and check that the final balance matches what you believe is owed.
4. Give each statement, receipt or screenshot an ID and add it to the line it supports.
5. Mark lines with no paper trail, such as cash, and add them to a gap list.
6. Note any amounts in dispute separately instead of folding them into the balance.

Keep a simple log of every follow-up: date, method (text, email, call, letter), what you asked for, and what came back, including silence. Responses matter as much as reminders. A reply such as I know, I will pay you after the 15th, or We have processed your refund, can be important context, so save the full message with its date.

Keep your own reminders short and factual: the amount, what it is for, the date it was due, and a simple request. Calm messages are easier for everyone to read later, including you. Canada's Office of Consumer Affairs, in its complaint roadmap for problems with a business, suggests contacting the business, then putting the complaint in writing, and keeping brief, dated notes of what was discussed.

The core four (agreement, payments, reminders, responses) apply everywhere, but each situation has its own extra records worth finding while they are still easy to get. Payment apps and bank portals often show only a limited history online, so download statements early rather than when you need them.

• Loan to a person: the messages where the loan was discussed, the transfer record, any repayment records, your reminder log, and a dated note of any spoken terms.
• Unpaid invoice: the quote or agreement, proof the work was delivered (files sent, sign-off email, photos), the invoice and the date sent, payment received so far, and follow-ups.
• Deposit to a business: the receipt, booking or order confirmation, the cancellation and who initiated it, any written terms about the deposit, and the business's replies.
• Refund from a business: the purchase receipt, return or cancellation confirmation, any refund reference number, card or bank statements showing it has not posted, and names or agent IDs from calls.

Waiting for money is frustrating, especially when the other person seems to be spending freely. The steps below tend to make things harder for you later, because they shift attention from the amount owed to how you behaved.

• Posting about the debt publicly or naming the person online.
• Messages that threaten, insult or contact the person's employer or family.
• Taking or keeping the other person's property as a form of repayment.
• Logging into accounts that are not yours to check balances or messages.
• Deleting your own earlier messages because you regret their tone; they are part of the record either way.

In Canada, consumer complaints about businesses mostly fall to provincial and territorial consumer affairs offices, and the federal Office of Consumer Affairs keeps a directory of them. Its complaint roadmap also describes small claims court as one option after other steps have been tried, and notes that claim limits vary by province or territory.

In the US, USAGov suggests gathering documentation such as receipts, contracts, work orders and emails before contacting a company, and lists state consumer protection offices that can help with complaints against businesses. Small claims courts exist in both countries as part of provincial, territorial and state court systems. Whether any of these routes fits a debt between private people or your particular situation is a question for a legal clinic or lawyer.

The loan was verbal. Is there any point in keeping records? Yes. Bank transfers, repayment patterns and messages that mention the money can all show the shape of an arrangement. Write a dated note of the spoken terms now, and say plainly that it is from memory.

Should I keep sending reminders? That is your call. Regular, polite reminders on a predictable schedule usually read better in a file than a burst of messages on one night. Log each one either way.

They paid part of it. Do I record that? Always. Partial payments belong in the ledger with their dates. Leaving them out makes the balance wrong and the rest of the file harder to trust.

Can I add interest or fees to the balance? Keep the ledger to amounts actually lent, paid and received. Whether anything else could apply depends on your agreement and local rules, so list it as a question for a reviewer rather than adding it to the total.

SteadyFile has a file type for situations like this, under something else, which covers money owed, agreements and businesses. You can start it free in your browser at app.steadyfile.com, on phone or desktop, without an account. Add a dated entry for the agreement and each reminder or reply, number bank statements, receipts and screenshots in the records index, and list the other person or business by role. Unanswered questions, like whether a cash payment can be shown, go on the gap list. The export is a chronological PDF packet a reviewer can read in minutes. The other party has no access to your file, and SteadyFile does not judge whether the money is owed.