Been dealing with a few clients who always pay late. It’s messing with my cash flow and causing stress. Considering adding late fees to my invoices, but worried it might scare off business. Anyone tried this before? How did it go?
Late fees can work, but they’re not always the best move. I’ve found a few things that get results without the hassle:
- Clear payment terms in the contract. Spell it out.
- Upfront deposits. 30-50% is standard for me.
- Progress payments for bigger jobs.
- Reminders a few days before due date.
For problem clients, I stop work until they pay up. No threats, just facts.
Most important: vet your clients. Look for red flags early. A good client pays on time and values your work. Don’t waste time chasing bad ones.
I’ve found a simple solution that works well.
I require a 50% deposit upfront for all jobs. This covers initial costs and weeds out flaky clients.
For the rest, I set clear payment terms: due within 7 days of invoice. After that, work stops until I’m paid.
No late fees needed. It’s straightforward and most clients respect it. Those who don’t usually aren’t worth the hassle anyway.
Yeah, I’ve been there. Late payments can really mess things up.
I started adding a late fee clause to my contracts a couple years ago. It’s not huge - like 2% of the invoice after 14 days late. But it’s there.
Honestly, most clients never end up paying it. Just having it there made a lot of them pay on time. The chronically late ones, I give a friendly reminder when the invoice is due. That usually does the trick.
I was nervous about it at first too. But I haven’t lost any business over it. If anything, I think it made some clients take me more seriously.
One thing though - make sure you’re really clear about payment terms upfront. No surprises. And be willing to waive the fee once in a while if a good client has a legit reason for being late.
Late fees can be tricky. I’ve tried a few things:
- Clear payment terms upfront
- Reminders a few days before the due date
- Follow-up calls for late payers
These worked better than penalties for me. Most clients just forgot or had a hiccup.
For chronic late payers, I started requiring partial upfront payment. That filtered out the problem clients.
If you do add fees, keep them small—like 1-2%. Big fees can sour relationships fast.
Good clients are hard to find. Sometimes, flexibility pays off more than strict rules. But you gotta protect your cash flow too. It’s a balancing act.
Nah don’t do late fees. Just stop working if they don’t pay.
Reminder: pay me or no more fixing stuff.
I don’t bother with late fees. Just send a reminder when it’s due.
If they’re always late, I stop taking their jobs. Not worth the headache.
Upfront deposits help too. Gets them invested from the start.