Different Methods Of Getting Your Invoices Paid On Time

Many if not all small business owners tend to rely on getting paid by their customers in order to keep up with the costs of purely running a business. When payments are delayed or missed it can be detrimental to business It can really put a spanner in the works when it comes to the simple things like being able to pay yourself a wage so it’s critical that you enable your clients to pay in several different methods. 

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The good news is that there are steps you can put in into place for helping to make payments easy, your clients will struggle to come up with an excuse to avoid paying with the right business management tools being used. 

Have a look below at some of the ways you can help get your clients to pay for your services on time: 

Have Clear Due Dates 

Communication is definitely key when it comes to you having your invoices paid on time. Before even engaging with a client in terms of providing a service you should both set out your expectations when it comes to the time scale for services provided in comparison to payments being made. It’s best to be straight forward and exact to increase your chances of being paid on time such as selecting a particular date, for example, payment due by 30th July. When setting a date make sure the time scale is agreeable with the client’s relevant departments. You could even consider including a late payment fee to cover any costs you incur for no payment. 

Use Digital 

We are definitely moving very quickly to becoming a completely digital world and the need for online payment solutions is steadily growing. There are no several platforms available where you can send, receive and track payments such as Paypal. You can even pay someone through their mobile now so maybe these methods could prove useful. When you’re looking for a platform to use make sure it can link in with your current accounting and level of business. 

Point Of Contact

You might be surprised to know that the speed of service when it comes to having invoices paid could be down to having the correct contact that is going to get it paid on time. You may have a brilliant relationship as a freelancer with one department however they are continuously late with payments. Well, this could be because you’re sending your invoice to the contact that you know and then they are passing it to the accounts team. If you’re constantly struggling to have invoices paid on time try asking for the accounts department directly, make sure you’re communicating with the individual who is authorized to complete the payment and then just cc in your contact for the work side of things.  If you only ever communicate through a middle-man it’s bound to delay the process further.

The point of the matter is, that there are no perfect or simple solutions to avoid late payments or occasionally no payments. Some clients are just less punctual than others. If you have clients that are continuously late it may be time to rethink who you are working with. 

Do you have any other proven methods that help to get invoices paid on time? Please share them in the comments section below.

This is a collaborative post.