invoices

Dan Patterson, post: 360695, member: 1179 wrote: How do you generate them? How long do you give the client to pay the balance? How long after it's due do you follow up?

I give them two weeks and follow up a day or two after it's due if I have not heard anything. (This is my standard payment terms....I have waited longer). I'm lucky because most of my clients pay very fast.

I only had two people who took FOREVER to pay. There were probably a dozen more that were very late, and only once did I have to file a lawsuit to get the money......anyway I'm just wondering if I am being too pushy with the two week thing. The thing is though, they all want stuff from me the second they call......

"The thing is though, they all want stuff from me the second they call......"

In those cases you should have no hesitation in requiring payment the moment you hand them your work product...

I used an Excel spreadsheet when I used to do private business. My billings were simple.

I started using PayPal a couple years ago so I could take credit cards and deposits. But now I use it for all my invoicing. Most every one pays bills online now days. Some clients, like title company have to use a check. It is easy for them to click on the link and print the invoice. I can also print them for the one old guy who doesn't use email.
Their site is also easy to track who has paid and to send reminder without having to print or mail.
Most of all. I always take a deposit of half. Then the other half is due when I email a PDF. They signed drawings go out when paid in full.

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Dan Patterson, post: 360695, member: 1179 wrote: The thing is though, they all want stuff from me the second they call......

I never understood the mindset that I should be immediately available for their project, yet it's ok to withhold payment for 30 or 60 days.

I use 15 days for most projects, and most pay within that time frame. Some don't. I add a 1.5% per month finance charge if they are over 30 days late, but almost no one ever pays it.

Scott McLain, post: 360700, member: 6271 wrote: I started using PayPal a couple years ago so I could take credit cards and deposits. But now I use it for all my invoicing. Most every one pays bills online now days. Some clients, like title company have to use a check. It is easy for them to click on the link and print the invoice. I can also print them for the one old guy who doesn't use email.
Their site is also easy to track who has paid and to send reminder without having to print or mail.
Most of all. I always take a deposit of half. Then the other half is due when I email a PDF. They signed drawings go out when paid in full.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

I have used paypal, but I don't like the fees. I usually pass that on to the client, but they seem annoyed sometimes.

Invoice format depends entirely on the client.

Nearly all of our work now is boundary surveying for individuals, so we require payment in full when the client comes to the office to pickup the paperwork, unless arrangements are made prior to the survey. If they need it mailed to them, we send an invoice and will mail the plats once we received payment. If a client wants our fee to be included as closing costs, we add a fee (usually 15%) to the estimate, which is stated in the contract. Any work performed as a subcontractor (surveying or engineering firm) we require a contract stating all invoices are to be paid in full in 30 days or less, or late fees apply. I'm not in business to finance your project.

In 24 years, the only person I have had to file suit against for non payment was an attorney. He told me if I thought I could make him pay, go ahead and try. Took 4 years to get paid, but his $8,000 survey invoice wound up costing him over $16,000.

In 24 years, the only person I have had to file suit against for non payment was an attorney. He told me if I thought I could make him pay, go ahead and try. Took 4 years to get paid, but his $8,000 survey invoice wound up costing him over $16,000.

so did the judge make him pay or was it an out of court settlement?
love it when you get them at their own game.

The thing is, even if you get a judgement they still might not pay. You have to enforce it. I was lucky enough to get an out of court settlement for the full amount about a week before the trial date. I still had to pay the lawyer though...

To remind myself who owes me money I keep a PDF copy on my desktop. There's not too many, after all.

I resend a copy of the PDF with a note that "I find this still outstanding."

Most of my clients are municipalities and their employess just need a polite reminder.

I always get paid. Eventually.

Like J W Byrd a structural engineer tried to stiff me. I filed an Abstract of Judgment on all the property he owned in the County after winning in Small Claims Court and Superior Court when it was appealed. The amount was only $270 (that was a long time ago!) and he ended paying $1200 with interest and fees. My youngest son was working with me the day I collected and we had a very nice, very expensive lunch.

We use quickbooks. After about 2 weeks we follow up. Some people are obv better than others.

Some builders we work for take a while to pay. They usually build a balance and then pay it off once hounded a bit. A frequent offender right now has a balance over 7k. It's time.

For people that we aren't working for all the time, we require payment before the paper is released or before the electronic file is sent. It has helped tremendously.

It wasn't always like that. Last year a person called for a copy of his survey. My mother, being a hawk, recognized the name and immediately went to the old books. There it was. He never paid for his survey 17 YEARS AGO. So she told him he had to pay that balance before we would give it to him. He agreed and came to the office. (We also thought he would probably end up needing it updated, but felt we had no reason to tell him this as he would find out) He came and paid and got his copy. Moments after leaving, we looked at the check and noticed....it wasn't signed!!!! Scoundrel!!! I ran after him like a bat out of hell and saw him pulling out of his spot. As he started pulling onto the street I actually jumped in front of his car with my hand on the hood. He was a little startled. He signed the check and left.

Then called back days later needing the survey updated....

FrancisH, post: 360732, member: 10211 wrote: so did the judge make him pay or was it an out of court settlement?
love it when you get them at their own game.

He never showed for the court date so the court issued a judgement against him for my fee, interest and all attorney fees. Three years later he bought a house and had the attorney I had used to file the suit do the closing for him. My attorney told him to bring a check for $16,250 to the closing because he couldn't close on the transaction with a judgement against him. So he had to pay me before he could move into his new house. He was disbarred a year after that for his part in fraudulent real estate deals. The irony is he is now a real estate agent! Go figure.

Reminds me of the filthy rich old hag that had made a habit of paying no one for any service. It took six months and more than doubled the amount she ended up paying me but she learned the hard way not to screw around with a young parent with three kids to provide for.

An old Client once told me.... "The moment you finish a project, the money is yours, but it's up to you to collect it..."

And yes, he was one of my best Clients when it came to paying timely.....

Dan Patterson, post: 360695, member: 1179 wrote: How do you generate them

I've been using the program at the link below as well as all of Medlin software for years. You can try it for free.

http://medlinsoftware.com/accountsreceivablesoftware.html