Had a client suggest cash payment to dodge sales tax last week. I turned it down right away. I’ve learned from experience that shortcuts like this never end well, and it’s just not worth jeopardizing my business or reputation.
Yeah, avoid cash payments. They’ll cause problems down the road.
You dodged a bullet. Clients pushing cash deals always have other red flags.
In my experience, they:
- Pay late or fight every invoice
- Expand scope without paying extra
- Ghost you when final payment’s due
Tax dodging’s just the start. Someone who cuts corners on taxes will cut corners everywhere.
I’ll take clients who want proper documentation any day. Less headaches and shows they’re actually serious about business.
Smart move. Same thing happened to me with a regular customer wanting to pay cash for a big order to “save us both some money.”
Even if you trust the client completely, you’re still screwed if anything goes wrong. The state doesn’t care about your deal - they just see missing tax revenue and want their cut plus penalties.
Once you do it for one client, word spreads. Then you’re either saying no to others (looks unfair) or yes to everyone (disaster waiting to happen).
Keeping everything above board makes life simpler. No looking over your shoulder come tax season.
Good call turning that down. Had a client try the same thing five years ago. Told them my accounting system doesn’t have an off switch. Clients pushing cash deals usually have other red flags too. Better to lose one sketchy job than deal with the headache when they stiff you on payment or claim the work is garbage.
Avoid cash deals. They can cause trouble down the line. I have seen contractors audited years later after accepting cash. The fines were harsh.
Managing two sets of books is a hassle. It’s much simpler to keep everything in the official records from the beginning.
Yeah cash stuff always gets messy eventually anyway.
Learned this the hard way with a restaurant owner who wanted to pay cash for consulting. He claimed we’d both save money, but I quickly realized I’d have zero proof if he stiffed me or disputed the work.
No contract, no invoice, no protection.
Turns out he was bouncing checks with other vendors that same month. Dodged a bullet by staying legit.
Now when clients mention cash, I tell them my bookkeeper requires everything documented. Keeps it professional without making me the bad guy.