Lately, I’ve found myself stuck in too many client disputes over invoices, which is really cutting into my work time.
There always seems to be some misunderstanding about our original agreement or the payment terms. I can’t help but think I’m overlooking something crucial in my initial setup.
Take pictures of the work area before you start. Shows them what you’re dealing with upfront.
I started copying clients on every email about changes or extra work. Sounds basic but it saved me so many headaches.
When they ask for something that wasn’t in the original scope, I send a quick email like “Just confirming you want us to add X feature, this will be an extra 5 hours at $Y rate.” Then I wait for them to reply yes before doing the work.
Also learned to be super specific about what’s included and what’s not. Instead of saying “website design” I list out exactly how many pages, revisions, etc. Takes an extra 10 minutes upfront but prevents those “I thought this was included” conversations later.
Put everything in writing from day one. I send a simple contract that spells out exactly what work gets done, when payment is due, and what happens if they pay late. No handshake deals, no verbal agreements. Also include your hourly rate breakdown so there’s no surprise when they see the final numbers. Most disputes happen because someone remembers the conversation differently than it actually went down.
Send invoices with clear line items that match your original quote exactly. No vague descriptions like “design work” or “consulting.”
I also set payment terms right in the contract and remind clients about them before I send the first invoice. Something like “Net 15 payment terms as discussed” works better than assuming they remember.
Half my payment up front usually stops the games.
I keep a simple email thread going for every project where I recap what we discussed in calls or meetings. Sounds boring but it works.
After any phone conversation about changes, I shoot them a quick email like “Thanks for the call today. Just to confirm we talked about changing X and Y, which adds about 3 hours to the timeline.”
Most people won’t correct you if you got something wrong, so silence means agreement. Plus you have a paper trail if things go sideways later.
Also started doing this thing where I send a project summary email right before I invoice. Just a few bullet points:
Takes me maybe 5 minutes but clients never question the invoice when they get it because they just saw exactly what I did.