Late payments are becoming a real headache for me. I’m curious if anyone has made the jump to automated recurring billing for project-based work.
My clients often stick to the old invoicing method, and I’m growing weary of the constant follow-ups.
Tried the recurring payment thing a few years back but most of my clients pushed back hard. They wanted to approve each invoice before paying.
What actually worked was switching to weekly invoicing instead of monthly. Smaller amounts feel less painful to clients and I get paid faster. If someone owes me $500 instead of $2000, they pay quicker.
Also started using payment links in my invoices. Clients can pay with a card right from the email instead of writing checks. Cut my average payment time from 45 days to about 12 days.
The follow-up thing never really goes away though. Even with all this stuff, you still need to stay on top of people.
Recurring payments can be tough for one-off jobs. Asking for half up front usually works better.
I always ask for half before I start work.
I switched to requiring 50% upfront before starting any job and the remaining 50% at specific milestones. No more chasing payments at the end. For recurring clients, I set up automatic payments through my bank for monthly retainers. Makes everything predictable. The key is training clients from day one that this is how you operate. Don’t ask permission, just tell them your payment terms when you quote the job.
Recurring payments work better for ongoing services than project work in my experience.
For one-off projects, I just ask for payment in chunks tied to deliverables. First chunk when I start, middle payment at halfway point, final payment when done.
Most clients actually prefer this because they know exactly when payments are due and what they get for each payment.