I’ve been putting together some straightforward monthly reports for my freelance gigs and realized they reveal some trends. It’s interesting to see which clients consistently delay payments.
I’ve started comparing overdue invoices based on client categories and project sizes, and I’ve noticed that my follow-up timing definitely needs adjustment for specific groups.
Reports definitely show patterns you’d miss otherwise. I track payment delays too and it helps with timing.
I just call people when they’re late honestly.
Tracking payments in a spreadsheet is an effective approach. I find smaller jobs often settle quicker than larger ones. Adjusting my follow-up times based on invoice size has really helped me improve cash flow.
Same here when I started tracking this stuff.
Turns out my big corporate clients were the worst - they’d sit on $2k+ invoices for 60+ days while small local businesses paid in two weeks.
I send different reminders now. Corporate gets nudged at 15 days, then weekly after 30. Small clients get 30 days before I bug them.
I also check payment terms upfront now. Some companies automatically do 60-day cycles regardless of what’s on your invoice.
Asking for half upfront on jobs over $1000 has worked well for me. Clients who resist paying a deposit tend to be trouble when it comes to paying on time. I also include a 2% late fee in my contracts. When they see that charge, they often pay up quickly.
Nice catch on those patterns! I did the same thing after getting sick of chasing the same client types repeatedly.
Here’s what worked for me - different follow-up schedules based on what I learned:
I also started demanding deposits from client types that kept showing up as chronic late payers. You’re smart to build this foundation - now you can make these calls with real data instead of guessing.