In my experience, there are a couple of scenarios where there is payment risk. With very small clients, sometimes they will decide to pivot and not want to pay

In my experience, there are a couple of scenarios where there is payment risk. With very small clients, sometimes they will decide to pivot and not want to pay for work that they're not going to use, or the project is completed and they decide that they can save money by not paying the last couple of invoices. With larger clients, you start to deal with the finance department and these guys have no stake in keeping contractors happy and just want to keep a big balance in their bank account for as long as possible. The larger the organization, the less influence the person who hired you has over the finance department, and the more disconnected the finance department becomes from the negative consequences of paying late. A few tips that have helped me: (In about 20 years of contracting/consulting, I haven't had to write off an invoice so far. I have given a discount to get paid once, and had to chase down payment a few times) 1. Maintain a good relationship with the person at the company responsible for the contract. If they like you personally and you've done good work for them, they can work the problem from inside the company and will be motivated to do so. 2. Include an IP clause in your contract where you retain IP to the work product and it automatically transfers upon full payment. If they aren't paying and are using unpaid IP that you developed, there are often some big sticks you can hit them with or threaten to hit them with if they aren't paying. 3. Make your opening offer on terms be 15 days, but be willing to give 30. If they insist on longer terms and won't budge, this is a red flag for problems later. Insist on an appropriately sized retainer based on anticipated billing to limit your exposure to 30 days after invoice. For example, if they insist on 60 days, get a retainer of 30 days anticipated billing. Often when you demand this, the contract people will circle back with the finance people and give you 30 day terms. 4. If you have subcontractors, pay them within 1-2 days of receiving their invoice. With interest rates at near zero, the value you get from delaying payment is minuscule, but paying early generates huge goodwill.