Best tricks to get your invoices paid on time
Imagine this: You put a whole lot of time and hard-work into implementing a project beyond expectation or supplying loads of items to a company. After all the necessary processes have been carried out, you send out an invoice as it should be and it isn’t paid as at when due . IT IS FRUSTRATING!!!
A lot of people don’t have to imagine this scenario because they have experienced this, in the course of doing business, at one point in time or another.
The good news is, there are ways to turn this situation around. With these tricks, your customers will want to pay you on time.
Employ the right tool:
The first thing to have in place is an accounting software (with invoicing feature) that allows you track the status of invoices. Has it been delivered to client’s email? Did it bounce? Was it opened or clicked? Has it been marked as spam? This way, you are able to figure out what the problem is before you proceed to tackling it.
With Accounteer, you are able to set up invoice overdue reminders, send beautiful customised professional invoices including details of your payment instructions, terms and conditions. You get to send out invoices immediately after the completion of a project from your mobile phone, thereby making you get paid in minutes. Automated invoicing process reduces the time, cost, risk, and complexity of capturing, routing and approving invoices.
Call to action:
Putting a call to action on your invoices, especially one that reads pay here ensures speedy payment. By including that call to action, you must have had a payment gateway integrated, which by clicking on the ‘pay here’ icon directs your clients to enter their card details and paying you directly.
At Accounteer, we encourage our customers to activate any of the payment gateways listed on our platform to allow their clients/customers pay directly from the invoices they are sent.
Set due dates:
A due date is as important as the invoice you are sending out itself. It allows you to be specific about when you want the invoice to be paid. The standard due date is usually a period of 30 days. Depending on your relationship with the customer involved, you can choose to extend it.
Using the Accounteer invoice template, you can manually customize a due date.
Send reminders:
Don’t wait till an invoice is overdue to send a reminder of a pending. To prevent an “overdue invoice” situation, send reminders to days before the invoice is due. You can send a reminder a week, few business days before it is due. A good accounting software automates this process by letting you set up auto-reminders, saving you time and energy.
But what do you do when the customer/client chooses to ignore? The first thing to do is sending an email to politely remind them to make payment. Still no payment, don’t hesitate to put a call through. The best way to prevent customers like this, is by not dealing with them at all.
Offer a wide range of payment options:
Customers/clients cherish their comfort and convenience when it comes to doing business and making payment transactions. Having a wide range of payment methods they can choose from, is a way of putting these factors into use; it encourages them to pay more quickly. It leaves them with little or no excuse of not paying on time.
There are now flexible ways of making and accepting payments online such as credit or debit card, online payments, checks, cash, money orders. Accounteer allows you integrate the different payment options you might have to enable you get paid 3x faster.
Ask for deposits:
This applies to both new and returning customers. Are you a supplier? Or a craftsman? Before you dive into any project, you should ask for an upfront payment. This is to make sure you are not spending all your resources into a project that
This does not have to apply to only large projects. By asking for upfront payments, you are not only tying them down to you, you are investing your money in someone else’s project.
Setup early payment incentives & late payment penalties
Offer incentives to your customers by asking them to pay their invoice before the due date to get a discount. You would be amazed at how speedy they make their payment. Who doesn’t like to save some money, even if it’s little.
Alternatively, introduce a late payment fee. This is enough to motivate them to make payments before the due date.
Have a good relationship with your clients:
As a business owner/entrepreneur, you should focus on developing good communication and understanding your clients. If and when payment for an invoice becomes an issue, and there is a healthy relationship in place, a way can be provided to work through it and help both parties reach an agreement without fracturing the relationship. Maintaining positive relationships with clients may even prevent issues from ever arising.
Do you have that customer that just doesn’t pay on time? Comment below on your experience dealing with them?
Do you have tips you want to share on how you get your customers to pay on time? Don’t hesitate to share it with us in the comment section.
