I'm stuck on this one!.... How can I ask a client nicely to pay my invoice which is now over due? As I won't be seeing them for a couple of weeks I need to email them , so any suggestions on the wording would be a great help.
Send them a statement via email, let them now the account is now overdue and requires paying as soon as possible. Back it up with a phone call to make sure they received the email, this will give them an opportunity to state that they will pay you whenever. If you have no payment within 7 days write a more formal letter. Or just send the boys round.
Be firm in your email as its money that is owed to you!
I'm sure they will pay up its just that some people just odn't pay on time. I have one that never pays within 7 days as stated and I chase him with a text and phone call, and then around 15-20 days after the invoice was sent he turns up with the cheque. He always pays its just the way he works, and also you get a good feel for if they always pay their other bills which my client does, so that fact that it is late doesn't really bother me.
Once he realises you are hot on his heals he will probably pay on time in the future!
Thanks guys, I do wonder if I am cut out for this self employed lark, what with the licence, insurance and MLR...it's sooo much easier and less worry to work for someone else isn't it? And at least you get paid on time!
Thanks guys, I do wonder if I am cut out for this self employed lark, what with the licence, insurance and MLR...it's sooo much easier and less worry to work for someone else isn't it? And at least you get paid on time!
Georgie
Yeah it's a bit of a trade really, you either have a stress free (ish) life working for somebody but with no real freedom, plus your lining someone elses pockets, or you have more stress with the freedom to take a day off when you wish and line your own pockets.
I work for someone and sometimes begrudge it, but although I chase people for money quite successfully, my employer will always deal with the problematic ones himself, so it is quite stress free, apart from my bank not reconciling properly, which will be resolved tomorrow hopefully.
I used to feel the same Georgie, I could easily chase up money owed to others, but when it came to money owed to me I didnt like it. Then I realised, as Amanda said, this was MY money. Doing a job and not getting paid is worse than no work at all. Now with the limited clients I have who don't pay for direct debit I actually phone before the invoice becomes over due. My tip is dont hang up the phone until you tie them down to a firm commitment to pay, the date and the method they will use. If it doesnt turn up get back on the phone.
Emails and letters are much easier to ignore than someone at the other end of the phone.
If I could turn the clock back I don't think I would have gone down this route. Naively, I thought getting clients would be the easy part...it's not, it's been hard and then when I get one, I've worried myself sick, you know, am I upto this, can I do it, the confidence thing, etc,etc...and just when you think hey I can do this the a******s don't pay on time. (Can I say that)?
And Steve,
If you can't get your bank to balance, let me know, never had one that I could reconcile yet.
If you can't get your bank to balance, let me know, never had one that I could reconcile yet.
Georgie
Thanks, I will reconcile it, I just left it a while and had some oddities in there and I was rushing on thursday so it was out a tad, I will of just missed something somewhere, all will be revealed tomorrow when I have a bit more time
How can you ask nicely? Make up a vague generic thank you note or paragraph for what a pleasure it is doing business with client's who pay on time. Append the paragraph or note to genuine prompt payers then accidently send it to those who don't. In the unlikely event they query receiving it just say "oh i've sent it to all client's large and small" whilst giving the impression that you're snowed under with work.
You can try the same thing with various billing letters such as one notifying annual increase in fees or direct debit.
Blimey, Don Tax , that's a bit deep for me (laughing)
Going off piste, I do like some of the avatars and notes like yours Don Tax, they make me smile. Some I don't get like Peasie's, what does "Don't buy black socks from a wool shop" mean? I don't get it ......
LOL I'm told my Grandad actually used to phone up bad payers and with a Buster Keaton straight face, thank them for their cheque! He'd then make incessant friendly small-talk and keep it up till they admitted they may have overlooked the invoice.
payontime.co.uk used to have some good tips for managing debt.
my approach is to phone them and query if there was something amis with the statement that they had been sent.
I picked that one up whilst working in credit control that one gets futher by using the entry line of working with "we must have missed something" than going straight for the "Where's my money". It doesn't matter that you know that you have missed absolutely nothing, it just makes you seem more freindly and apparently it has quite a high success rate. Certainly I was surprised at how often we receieved a cheque or notification of transfer the next day.
Using the above approach you get the debtor to realise that they are doing something out of the ordinary by not paying you. Which sorts out those who are a bit lax from those who have every intention of making you wait and jump through burning hoops to get the money owed you (Assuming that they have any intention of paying you!).
One thing that I did have difficulty with in credit control was phoning major debtors before the due date to ensure that everything was ok and that there wa no reason for any delay this month. To me that really sounded a bit cheeky and a little desperate and had the tables been reversed I would have reacted badly to that approach, but apparently it's common practice.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
