There are few things worse as a small business owner than having a client owe you money. It’s stressful. And it can cause some real problems for your business if you were counting on that money to pay someone else.
Carol’s latest post on MasterCard Biz is an important one if this has ever happened to you. Or if you currently have a client who is delinquent. In “5 Ways to Get a Delinquent Client to Pay,” Carol begins:
“Your company provides great products and/or services, and you expect to be paid for them. This is the reason you started a business in the first place. And while retail stores get paid on the spot prior to the customer taking an item home, service providers or B2B product companies may be required to send invoices at certain milestones during a project, after a project has been completed or when a product has been delivered.
Some small businesses struggle with sending invoices in a timely manner. It’s a task that can fall through the cracks until the business owner realizes that they are running low on cash. I recommend automating and scheduling invoicing as much as possible.
But let’s assume that you sent your client an invoice after a project was completed and they haven’t paid you. First, you need to understand your client’s internal policy for paying invoices. Is it net 30, 45, 60 or 90 days? Often, the bigger the company is, the slower they are to pay.
If you’re getting nervous about not being paid at 30 days when your client’s policy is 60 days, you’ll just have to wait. Understanding your client’s process and timeline in advance can give you some peace of mind that you will get paid eventually.
If your business is having a cash flow crisis, you might want to check out this previous post. Sometimes there can be issues with invoices getting paid. If you have a client who you are concerned about, here are some tactics to try:”
You can read the rest of the post here
