Reading another post on here brought the subject to mind.
I've always taken the old fashioned view that I invoice when the job is completed, including submission of work to Companies House and HMRC. This has almost always paid off for me (if I had bad debts of more than £200 in five years I'd be surprised). Some clients choose to pay up front but that's their choice, not my rule.
So, how do you do it?
-- Edited by Mad Liz on Tuesday 10th of December 2013 09:25:30 PM
Nearly all my client pay monthly standing order in advance. So by the end of the year they have paid their fee for that year.
Works on both sides
1. Client spreads their bill over the year
2. I know what is coming in on a monthly basis
3. I might not do the work until say 6 months after the year, by which time they will have paid 18 months fee.
4. If the company goes bust then I will have been paid and wont need to do any work
5. Less incentive for them to leave as they will have paid for the year's accounts and tax, so if they moved somewhere else they would need to pay someone else again.
Some clients pay in full at the end which is fine but dont submit anything until the fee is paid in full. So therefore dont have any debtors that need to chase. If they choose not to pay then it doesnt get submitted. If they get to the stage where they would rather pay a penalty than pay me then chances are they wouldnt pay me anyway (though not had any like this so far).
I bill after everything is finished but I am beginning to see the point of view of the people on here that do the standing orders. I have a few that have got lazy with paying for monthly bookkeeping. I had to stop working for one in the end. Another has agreed to do a standing order but hasn't got round to it yet. It doesn't seem right to me to take money when I haven't done the work, it also makes me less motivated to do it if I have the money already! But it does annoy me when people don't pay my invoices on time.
