7 ways to get your invoices paid faster

One of the most common reasons for a late invoice payment is the wrong invoice details. Make sure that every detail from your company’s details to your client’s details to your payment instructions are all correct.

An invoice is meant to represent a transaction but if the details of the transaction are wrong, it won’t work.

Read over the invoice carefully before you send it.  If can be hard to correct information on an invoice like incorrect prices or the wrong due date, once an invoice is sent.

Make sure that your invoice is easy to read before you send it.

If the customer can’t clearly see what they need to pay you, they could pay you incorrectly.

Asking for a deposit before you begin the job is a common practice if you invoice large amounts.  

Even if the client fails to pay you, you’ll still have some of what they owe you to help you cover expenses before you get the rest of your money.

You can also add several payment milestones throughout the project. This means that if the client fails to meet one, you can halt the project before you spend too much time and money on the project.

It’s also common for some types of businesses to ask for full payment before starting the project.

This is the safest method for ensuring you get paid but if its not common practice in your industry, you might want to avoid it so you don’t come across as difficult to work with.

The most important lesson to always keep in mind is that you should always look after your customers.  That doesn’t mean letting them take advantage of you but you won’t gain anything by coming across as hard to work with.

You can request deposits from clients in Bookipi Invoice web app and track payments in one spot.   

One simple way to encourage your customers to pay your invoices faster is to issue your invoice immediately after you’ve completed the job.

When you issue the invoice straight away, the project you’ve completed is fresh in the mind of your client.

They’re more likely to pay you earlier than the due date of the invoice.  Clients are less likely to question the work you’ve done for them.

Sending invoices straight away will also demonstrate that you’re a professional business operator and that you shouldn’t be taken advantage of.  Easily send invoices using Bookipi Invoice on web or mobile app.  

You’re also less likely to make mistakes on the invoice about the details of the project if you issue it straight after completing your work.

You might want to receive the payment in a certain format.  However, that might not be an easy way for your client to pay you. 

At the end of the day, it is better that you get paid than not get paid because you wanted them to pay you a certain way.

Offer multiple ways for clients to pay you including card payments.   

You can make it known to them that you would prefer them to pay you in a certain way because they’ll generally be happy to pay you that way. You can even offer a discount if they pay you in a certain format to encourage them to use that payment method.

If you want your clients to pay earlier than the due date, you can offer a discount if they pay in advance of the due date.

It doesn’t have to be a massive discount, even just two percent can be enough to motivate your client to pay earlier.

If most of your clients are small businesses, a good portion of them will use any opportunity for a discount that they can get. Including an incentive will also encourage clients to use you again in the future.

Remember that business is all about building good relationships and offering something positive like a discount can be worth it in the long-term.

If you really want to deter your clients from not paying invoices on time, you can include a penalty for all payments made after the due date.

The threat of having to pay more if they pay late is usually enough to ensure that clients pay their invoices.

To add late fees, you must clearly write this into the payment instructions or terms of conditions on your invoice.

For big jobs, you’ll want to write this into your contract. It’s best practice to verbally let you client know about late fees before they make a formal order with you.  You can specify late fees in advance on pro forma invoices, estimates or business proposals.   

Springing late fees on clients without having proof that it was clearly indicated before a transaction began, doesn’t help your business look professional.  

Don’t wait for your clients to pay you.  Follow up a late payment from clients as soon as an invoice is overdue.

You can and should ask clients for payment if an invoice is overdue.  Send clients an email even if it’s a day after the due date.  You provided the services/products and they need to pay you for it. Be polite and direct with the client while doing this because at the end of the day, you don’t want to appear unprofessional.

There might be an issue with the invoice which is preventing them from paying you so don’t automatically assume that the client is at fault.