Agree on the Basics First
Most slow payments trace back to something nobody settled at the start. Before the work begins, agree on:
- Your rate and what it covers: per hour, per day or a fixed fee, and whether meetings and travel count.
- How often you bill: when the job is done, every two weeks, monthly or at milestones.
- Payment terms: how many days the client has to pay, and any late fee. See Net 30 and Other Payment Terms.
- Who receives invoices. At larger companies that's often an accounts payable address, and they may need a purchase order number on every invoice.
- How they'll pay: card, bank transfer, PayPal or something else.
Put these in your contract or an email the client replies to, so there's a record when questions come up later.
1. Gather the Billable Work
Pull together everything you're billing for this period: the hours from your time tracker, any fixed fees, and expenses you agreed to pass on, with their receipts.
Check the hours before they go on an invoice. Look for days with nothing logged, entries without a description, and time that landed on the wrong project. How to Track Billable Hours covers a quick weekly review.
2. Build the Invoice
An invoice needs a unique number, the issue and due dates, your details and the client's, a line for each piece of work, the totals with any tax, and how to pay. What to Put on an Invoice lists every item with an example.
Write line items the client's accounts team can approve without asking you: “Homepage design, second round of revisions, 3.5 hrs” gets paid faster than “Design work.”
3. Set the Due Date
Use the terms you agreed on and print both the terms and the actual due date (“Net 15, due November 4”), so nobody has to count days. If you charge late fees, state them on the invoice too.
4. Send It to the Person Who Pays
Send the invoice to whoever approves and pays it, and copy your day-to-day contact if they want to see it. A PDF attachment works everywhere; a link with a pay button gets paid faster, because the client can pay the moment they open it.
Send it promptly. An invoice that goes out the day the work is done gets into the client's payment cycle a week or two sooner than one that waits for the end of the month.
5. Follow Up
A short, friendly schedule handles most late payments:
- A reminder a few days before the due date.
- A note on the due date with the link or PDF again.
- A follow-up a week after, asking whether anything is holding it up.
- After that, a phone call, the late fee your terms allow, and a pause on new work until the account is current.
6. Record the Payment
When the money arrives, mark the invoice paid with the date and the method. Those records are what you and your accountant need at tax time: income by client and by month, and what was still unpaid at year end.