Are your clients a little (or a lot) slow when it comes to paying their invoices?
While you canโt pull out their credit card for them, thereโs some things you can do in your invoicing process to increase your chances of getting paid โ and even increase the speed of the payment!
Here are 5 simple tips on how to do it:
(๐ญ) ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐ฉ๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ข ๐จ๐ก๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ก๐
You may know that putting โCIAโ on your invoices means โcash in advanceโ โฆ but your client may read that and think โโฆ Central Intelligence Agencyโฆ??โ
Make sure your terms โ both for payment period AND late fees! โ are (literally) spelled out on every invoice
(๐ฎ) ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ก ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ก๐ง ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐๐ข๐
Stats show that if you give more clients more time to pay โ like 30 or 90 days – theyโll take it! So, logically, if you ask for payment sooner, youโll receive payment faster.
You can do this by starting to ask your client for deposits or shortening the payment period to 14 days or even โdue on receipt of invoiceโ.
(๐ฏ) ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐
Research shows that adding a simple โpleaseโ or โthank youโ to your invoice results in faster payments!
(๐ฐ) ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ก๐ง ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฌ
You want to remove as much friction as possible when it comes to the payment process. Emailing them an invoice to pay online is MUCH easier and faster than mailing an invoice and waiting for a check in the mail.
(๐ฑ) ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ + ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐
Just having a line about late fees on your invoice statistically increases your odds of getting paid on time!
And even if that doesnโt get payment by the due date, you can do other things to incentivize (late) payment, like scheduling automated reminders in your billing software, charging the late fee, or withholding the final product until final payment.
(Want more invoicing tips? We also included an article below with more helpful advice on upgrading your invoicing process!)
โHow to speed up payments: 20 tips to get clients to pay their bills and invoices fasterโ
What about you? What are the payments terms on your invoices? Is there any way you think you could improve them?
Or โฆ maybe youโre not exactly the type of person who gets excited at the idea of spending time reading about invoicing strategies โฆ
If thatโs you โ donโt you worry.ย We help all our clients with their invoicing, and related cash flow strategies, so they donโt have to spend their limited time reading about it.ย And weโd love to help you, too!ย
Kerry Postel โ Founder CEO Principal
Abacus Business Solutions
Has Higher National Diploma in Business and Finance, Certified in QuickBooks, Member of American Institute of Bookkeepers, and over 20 years of bookkeeping experience including construction, travel, restaurants, events management, and other various professional services.
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