4 ms·

The moment a customer does not pay a bill within the specified terms is the moment you must stop working for them. This also means that you must invoice regula

by wila 5y ago

The moment a customer does not pay a bill within the specified terms is the moment you must stop working for them. This also means that you must invoice regularly. Learned that the hard way.

itisit 5y ago
I bill NET 15 to protect myself, and it's served me well. A fair number of potential clients balk, preferring their usual NET 30 (or even longer), and if they don't come around, I wish them well and walk away from the opportunity. If funds aren't in my account on the scheduled date (it's printed clearly on invoices), all work (even a tiny commit or Slack message) is suspended for the client. Thankfully this doesn't happen often, and when it does, the client almost always gets with the program thereafter. After two late payments (it's in my contract), I can terminate the engagement as-is, that's to say no wrap-up work of any kind. This all helps to keep me paid, and just as importantly, improves the quality of my clients.
- hackerfromthefu 5y ago
  This is effectively what I do too, and it seems to work for me as well.
- wila 5y ago
  Completely agreed.
JJMcJ 5y ago
I abandoned freelancing/moonlighting over collection issues. Including one client that I was basically 40 hours a week who didn't pay for six months, just like OP. If I ever start again, I hope to be more diligent. Always worth watching: https://vimeo.com/22053820 https://vimeo.com/22053820 featured on Reddit's /u/freelancing, poetic symbolic title F*ck You, Pay Me. If you are freelancing, watch it once a week.
- hiptobecubic 5y ago
  You went six months at 40 hours a week without collecting anything at all?
  - wila 5y ago
    Usually this goes with paying some, but not all. There's always an excuse and they promise to pay more soon. Most likely it is even a valid excuse. The problem is that the bill runs up over time and you end up deeper and deeper. These customers tend to be super nice. I still don't hate the customer that teached me how this works, but I did have to engage a lawyer and that's one thing I never want to go through again.
  - JJMcJ 5y ago
    Yes, eventually 100% of the money came through. I was naive and just starting out then. Today I would never put up with something like that.
indymike 5y ago
>The moment a customer does not pay a bill within the specified terms is the moment you must stop working for them. Be reasonable and communicate. I've had clients tell me in advance they'd be late and had mega corps tell me they are holding all payments until next quarter. . This is really where you have to live with your client being slow pay. When things go sideways, sometimes the right call is to get your work in per the deadline so that when you do end up in court, the whole amount of the bill can be collected, not just the part you turned in. The big thing is communicate and be reasonable. I've also had clients where I've been able to ask for an advance (and got it) or ask for them to pay earlier. Being flexible set that up (i.e. you were slow last quarter... any chance we can speed up the next milestone payment?) >This also means that you must invoice regularly. #1 mistake that most freelancers make is not billing or waiting until "it's worth doing". Have a great system for tracking your hours and deliverables and billing them, as that is all you'll usually need to win any billing dispute.
r_hoods_ghost 5y ago
Yep. Also late fees. I do net 30 with statutory interest (8% plus base rate) which is the maximum on UK B2B invoices. Acts as a nice encouragement and bumps you to the top of the payment pile.

by wila 5y ago

The moment a customer does not pay a bill within the specified terms is the moment you must stop working for them. This also means that you must invoice regularly. Learned that the hard way.

itisit 5y ago

I bill NET 15 to protect myself, and it's served me well. A fair number of potential clients balk, preferring their usual NET 30 (or even longer), and if they don't come around, I wish them well and walk away from the opportunity. If funds aren't in my account on the scheduled date (it's printed clearly on invoices), all work (even a tiny commit or Slack message) is suspended for the client. Thankfully this doesn't happen often, and when it does, the client almost always gets with the program thereafter. After two late payments (it's in my contract), I can terminate the engagement as-is, that's to say no wrap-up work of any kind. This all helps to keep me paid, and just as importantly, improves the quality of my clients.

hackerfromthefu 5y ago
This is effectively what I do too, and it seems to work for me as well.
wila 5y ago
Completely agreed.

JJMcJ 5y ago

I abandoned freelancing/moonlighting over collection issues. Including one client that I was basically 40 hours a week who didn't pay for six months, just like OP. If I ever start again, I hope to be more diligent. Always worth watching: https://vimeo.com/22053820 https://vimeo.com/22053820 featured on Reddit's /u/freelancing, poetic symbolic title F*ck You, Pay Me. If you are freelancing, watch it once a week.

hiptobecubic 5y ago
You went six months at 40 hours a week without collecting anything at all?
- wila 5y ago
  Usually this goes with paying some, but not all. There's always an excuse and they promise to pay more soon. Most likely it is even a valid excuse. The problem is that the bill runs up over time and you end up deeper and deeper. These customers tend to be super nice. I still don't hate the customer that teached me how this works, but I did have to engage a lawyer and that's one thing I never want to go through again.
- JJMcJ 5y ago
  Yes, eventually 100% of the money came through. I was naive and just starting out then. Today I would never put up with something like that.

indymike 5y ago

>The moment a customer does not pay a bill within the specified terms is the moment you must stop working for them. Be reasonable and communicate. I've had clients tell me in advance they'd be late and had mega corps tell me they are holding all payments until next quarter. . This is really where you have to live with your client being slow pay. When things go sideways, sometimes the right call is to get your work in per the deadline so that when you do end up in court, the whole amount of the bill can be collected, not just the part you turned in. The big thing is communicate and be reasonable. I've also had clients where I've been able to ask for an advance (and got it) or ask for them to pay earlier. Being flexible set that up (i.e. you were slow last quarter... any chance we can speed up the next milestone payment?) >This also means that you must invoice regularly. #1 mistake that most freelancers make is not billing or waiting until "it's worth doing". Have a great system for tracking your hours and deliverables and billing them, as that is all you'll usually need to win any billing dispute.

r_hoods_ghost 5y ago

Yep. Also late fees. I do net 30 with statutory interest (8% plus base rate) which is the maximum on UK B2B invoices. Acts as a nice encouragement and bumps you to the top of the payment pile.