Take Back Control of your Invoice Revenue
Unpaid invoices are unfortunately a common occurrence for any business owner. In fact, 52% of businesses reported experiencing late payments in 2022 in a report by the Federation of Small Businesses. It will only get worse
It is crucial that you get paid what you are owed by your customers and clients on time, whether it's a one-off client or a retained contract. Customers not paying or trying to avoid paying for goods and services can be costly to your business and have long-lasting and damaging repercussions.
What to do when someone doesn’t pay
?
1. Invoice as normal
Make sure that you send a correctly issued invoice that contains all the information clearly set out that contains all the relevant information including any payment reference or job number if requested. Include:
?
a.?????? Your contact details
b.????? A clear itemised description of what your charging for and amount charged (typically itemised). Segment out goods and services and any ancillary charges that are agreed and date of any agreement
c.?????? Payment terms and information, including due date
d.????? Try and standardised you invoices using a template format to preclude basic errors..
?
2. Chase for payment
It’s common for invoices to have a payment term of ‘X’ days stipulated at the bottom. If it turns out that you haven’t been paid by a Client when you were expecting, then you should begin the process of chasing up the invoice as soon as possible once the stated payment period has lapsed. One tip, never use ‘immediate’ as payment terms as this slows down any credit control process.
?
Make a phone call alongside an email as a reminder to politely remind the client that they need to pay for the work you’ve completed for them. If nothing then write a letter and send it via email and remind the Client of the law of later payment and interest and Statutory Charges. Combine telephone calls with emails and letters. Never use email in isolation.
?
3. Have a defined process for collecting monies overdue.
Sounds simple, but writing down a process aids any money collection.
领英推荐
?
3. Use a credit hold
Tell the Clinet you are stopping work, (but put it in writing) or doing any further work for them until they have paid their outstanding debt to you. Use phrases such as credit hold or administrative hold. Keep any emotion or threat out of any letter. Always use a letter for this.
?
In many cases, this will solve the problem as a business might suffer without the services you are providing to them. However, if this doesn’t result in you receiving your payment then you must look at other options.
?
4. Send a letter before action
A letter before action is the last piece of correspondence you’re likely to send the Client before legal proceedings begin. This highlights to them that they have until a certain deadline to settle any debts with you, before you begin pursuing legal action against them to claim the money you’re owed. You can decide on the length of time given to a debtor that is a business, but the Court will expect the debtor to have been given a reasonable period of time, which is usually thought to be at least 14 days. In the case of an individual debtor, they must be given at least 30 days to settle the debt or otherwise respond.
?
5. Either Take Legal action or engage a Debt Recovery Specialist such as AVC Debt Recovery
Your last resort is to pursue legal action against your Client, but the legal process has strict procedures and pre-action protocols .
?
Here at AVC Debt Recovery we offer a free no obligation consultation on debt recovery. Remember, not every debt is recoverable (for whatever reason) and getting a? court Judgemnet is often the easy part. If a debt can be collected AVC Debt? Recovery can collect it. A good debt recovery company will not ask you for monies up front or promise you any guarantee of success as the world we are living in is being built on debt by governments, so it is not an exact science, but hiring the best who only take a fee at the back end if they win is rare in today’s world.
?
Finally
Take a look at your terms and conditions and if you have none then take a tip from one of the richest men in the world who owns Amazon. He will not let you make him richer until you agree his terms and conditions, so adjust the way you agree Ts & Cs. Even those who work only via text can use our Ts & Cs methodology that contain powerful anti debt clauses.
?
?