This study looks at the collection letter as business correspondence consisting of specific moves that function together to persuade debtors to pay the agreed-upon amount that is legitimately owed to the creditor. In addition to that primary purpose, there is a secondary purpose which is to retain the goodwill and business relationship with the debtor. Based on prior literature and actual observations, the collection letter consists of at least three distinct stages which are referred to in the study as the initial, the intermediate and the demand stages. The study explores the functional and rhetorical approaches that are found at each stage of the correspondence by analyzing the frequency of the moves in the database and the different uses to which the moves are put. It concludes by determining that requesting the debtor to communicate with the creditor is the most frequently used strategy for achieving both purposes of the collection letter. Further research is recommended.