Got a project put on ice by a client for an unknown period. I’ve spent a good amount of time on it, but haven’t sent an invoice since it’s still a work in progress.
Thinking it might be wise to charge for the completed work rather than continue to wait. This uncertainty is really throwing off my cash flow.
Send the invoice. Money sitting there doing nothing while you wait around makes no sense.
Bill them now for what you’ve done. Don’t sit around waiting for them to restart.
When projects get put on hold, I:
Your time’s worth something whether they use the work or not. Plus billing now saves you if they ghost you completely.
I got burned once waiting for a client to “finish” a project I was 60% done with. They disappeared and I never got paid because I waited for completion that never happened.
Invoice them for the work done. Waiting around is not good for cash flow.
When projects pause, I always bill for completed work. They can come back whenever, but I won’t let my earnings sit idle.
Learned this the hard way. Always invoice completed work when projects get put on hold.
I break everything into phases now and bill each one when it’s done. They pause halfway through phase 3? I still get paid for phases 1 and 2.
Put a clause in your contract about paused projects. I give clients 60 days to resume, then I’m done and moving to other work. Want to restart after that? New timeline, fresh start.
Don’t tank your cash flow because they can’t decide.
Yeah bill them or you might never see that money
Bill them for what’s done and give them a restart deadline. I tell clients they’ve got 45 days to get moving or I’m closing the project. Want to restart later? New pricing, new timeline. Projects sitting in limbo wreck your schedule. Get paid and protect your time.