Howdy, When invoicing a client (after you get 50%) for past 60 and past 90 days what is some good "clean" text to use?
I want the message to get stronger as they are more and more late but I don't want to loose any clients because they have a bad accounting department. Everyone has been down this road....I think.
PAST 60? PAST 90?
Posted by John Arnott (Member # 215) on :
Thats a tough one. . . .I charge a little more if I know they take that long to pay. Enjoy John
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
when you see the black caddy pull up and this big ugly guy gets out dressed in a dark pinstripe suit with a black shirt and white tie....this will be my "cousin vinny"....hes my collections agent.......not a nice man....so send your remitance of your outstanding amount and i will tell him not to come by. thank you!!!
[ June 29, 2004, 11:48 AM: Message edited by: old paint ]
Posted by Jane Diaz (Member # 595) on :
My invoices say "past due bills will have a 2% monthly interest rate (or a minimum $2.00 fee) charge every 30 days - 24% annal rate. Please pay your bill promptly to avoid this charge." and then I send them a new bill with the additional charges! The invoices also have a "customer message" at the bottom. If they don't pay their bill I charge the interest and then add: "Please make an effort to resolve this bill. All future work will have to be payment on receipt." or "We haven't heard from you...if there is a problem please contact us at phone #" If it goes on more than 60 days the message reads: "Please remit IMMEDIATELY. This account is SERIOUSLY past due. Court action may have to be our next step." If they still don't pay, I take them to small claims court. It's a hassle and I've only had to do it 2 or 3 times in our 25+ years of business but when you get before the judge with your documented billing etc. He looks at the guy, says "Pay this woman" and tacks on court costs and the cost of sending a sheriff to his home to give him a summons to appear in court. That usually amounts to a couple hundred dollars additional expense. I also post their past due bills in my entry. In a small town, that can be the kiss of death! I had to take another sign company in the area to court. We did some work for him that he couldn't do and he charge the customer additional $ and wouldn't pay us. How bad is THAT!!
[ June 29, 2004, 12:23 PM: Message edited by: Jane Diaz ]
Posted by KARYN BUSH (Member # 1948) on :
after 60 or 90 days who gives a rats a$$ if you're not so nice! i bet they don't like to get strung along for that long. that's got nothing to do with a bad accounting dept, that's just plain bad business/deadbeats. and no i can't say its normal. i would personally fly down on my broomstick...i aint got fn FDIC stamped on my forehead...but then again i'm not so nice. maybe what you should do is when they sign the contract and give you the 50%..make it very clear that terms are: balance due on deliver or net 14....that way maybe they'll pay within 30...after that charge the most interest/penalty allowed by law.
[ June 29, 2004, 01:00 PM: Message edited by: KARYN BUSH ]
Posted by Jon Aston (Member # 1725) on :
I'm with Karyn.
You are allowing yourself to be taken advantage of, IMHO.
I like the way many utilities incent people to pay early...Here's the price if payment is made by this date...and here's the price after this due date...right there, in black and white on the invoice. Gives a positive impression of "savings" versus statement notices that seem more like "penalties" if you get my meaning.
Perhaps more importantly: you should also make a point of making calls to collect overdue payments like clockwork, IMHO. Don't wait until payments are way overdue. Call before they are about to become overdue.
Phone calls are much harder to ignore...plus you have the opportunity to develop a friendly RELATIONSHIP with the people in payables. Make enquiries as to how you can ensure that you receive prompt payment. Heck - you might even be able to learn things about your customer that you won't hear from anyone else in the company.
Hope that helps!
[ June 29, 2004, 01:40 PM: Message edited by: Jon Aston ]
Posted by Robert Richards (Member # 3244) on :
Jon, You almost stole my slogan. At the bottom of my paperwork it says, " Helping Business Succeed Through Creative Ideas and Marketing Strategies "
Posted by Lotti Prokott (Member # 2684) on :
Here's a different approach, if you don't mind me adding this.
My best policy has been to show up personally and be firm about needing to get paid NOW. I possibly phone first and get an appointment without being too specific, or at least to make sure the right person will be in at the time I show up. I bring all the right papers plus photocopies. If they make me wait, I settle in with coffee and keep asking questions so they won't forget about me.
I know it's annoying, it takes up too much time and shouldn't be necessary, but I find it better than to write off money. Of course I would only do this for larger amounts that justify the effort. For smaller amounts I have been faxing the same bill every other day until they got the message. In six or seven years, my losses are around $200
Posted by Jon Aston (Member # 1725) on :
Robert:
You almost accused me of theft.
Yours is a fine slogan, sir. The more you honour it, the more success you should expect.
Posted by Joey Madden (Member # 1192) on :
Whats a past due invoice?
When businesses want a 30 day payment plan from me, I always give them an application sheet asking them for their social security number and or federal ID number along with their bank account numbers, just like in the real world. Not all businesses deserve credit right off the bat just because they want it, credit is earned just like respect Posted by Terry Baird (Member # 3495) on :
50% down, balance on delivery. No exceptions. It says it on my estimates, invoices, sketches, etc. They must play by your rules. If you play 30-60-90 with the phone company, do they plead with you to "please pay or we'll have to take action?" They just turn you off. If you state your terms up front and expect a check when you deliver, you'll get paid (or the merchandise never leaves the truck). I used to find it very hard to ask for the check, but if you expect one and don't get one, just say "That's ok... just give me a call when you're ready" and start walking to the truck. A lot of times the check's already made out and in his (or her) pocket.
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
The vast majority of my jobs are with "accounts", as in larger companies. I don't expect or depend on getting paid "on delivery", but I know the money WILL be arriving within 60 days. If I don't receive payment by 60 days, then I make a phone call and that results in payment within a week of the call.
The way I see it is, my suppliers have me on a "30 day" account. That means I have from 30 to 60 days to pay them.(depending on what time of the month I made the purchases) I figure I can give MY customers the same deal.
After saying all that, however, I DON'T give credit to new customers or those who I know are going to be "one timer's". And the only times I have been stung have been with bounced cheques from those new customers or one timer's.
We ARE in business, and business relies on defered payments. I wish it wasn't so..but what a pain in the butt it would be if I had to write a cheque for every little purchase I made at my suppliers.
Posted by Jane Diaz (Member # 595) on :
Lotti, I've done the visits too. I actually had a guy meet me before I could get in the door and tell me how "disappointed he was in me for "harrasing" him at his business! I said, "well I wouldn't need to HARRASS you if you just PAID YOU BILL!!!!!!!" He finally paid. I agree with Dave. They don't get me TWICE and I sure don't extend credit to some one I don't know, but these large corporations even balk at the downpayment. I hate "That's not a company's policy" crap. "well it SHOULD BE your companies policy to make a committment with SOME sort of guarantee!" I will accept a Purchase order. You usually know up front, that will take a while. If you don't want to wait for you money, you don't have to do their work. I figure out who the slow payers all real quick and the next time they call with a rush job, I very kindly say, "We really need to have the cash flow right now. That will have to wait since I am not in a position to wait 60 days for my money. Maybe if you could pay quicker..." It has worked but it has also driven them away. You just have to decide if you are willing to wait for some people money or not. The bigger the company, usually the longr it takes to pay.
Posted by John Deaton III (Member # 925) on :
I agree with Terry. If for some reason, I have to wait for my money, which I usually dont, I immediately tack on a waiting charge of 10percent. Usually that changes their mind, and if it still doesnt, and the money dont come when its supposed to, I make a personal appearance at their business with a frown on my face. Im a pretty big guy, and although I wont start any trouble, they dont know that. They usually send a check out by the secretary or whatever.
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Hahahahaaa, John...being big and ugly does have it's advantages! When I barge into an office looking like I want to tear someone's head off....i get paid!
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Please PAY US so we can PAY THEM so they can PAY YOU
Posted by Monte Jumper (Member # 1106) on :
If you have 60 and 90 day invoices you need to write "yourself" a strong message.
One of the best things ever said to me by a friend was "this aint the sign game kid ...this is the get the money game"!
Write that on the inside of your eyelids and leave the invoices alone.
Take all your 60 and 90 day billings (not many I hope) and handle them in person...you'll be amazed at how many will be ready when you call and say "I'm coming to get the (not "a" ) check".
Once in a great while something around here slips by and gets to the 30 day mark (old established clientel) I simply pick up the phone and tell them I'm coming for "the" check...it's always ready!
Customers are only as good as you train them to be...so start now... 1/3 to 1/2 down and balance on completion...this gives them the opportunity to raise the funds and have the check ready when you are. Net 10 is acceptable if you know your client really well.
Never ask for money...always approach it with an "I'm coming to get the check attitude" You can do it without being insulting. It gets easier to do after years of waiting for "your" money...one day it just clicks in and you never have the problem again.
If you maintain a 60 to 90 day program you'll not have to worry long.
I'm of the opinion that discounts and penalties mean nothing...your already loosing money everytime you are waiting for money, so why reward them for punishing you?
Good luck to you...oh and "get the money"
[ June 30, 2004, 09:48 AM: Message edited by: Monte Jumper ]
Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :
Most of my accounts pay pretty promptly, at least in a thirty day window. I've got one account, however, a car dealership with two stores that is s l o w. They are timely, but no matter what, you are gonna wait sixty days. I hear the same thing from all their other vendors. When I figured out the phone calls, letters, and statements worded every which way were futile, I increased my prices 35%. I still wait sixty days but don't feel as badly about it.
Posted by Sheila Ferrell (Member # 3741) on :
For heavens' sake, Dennis . . . .if you'd just pay YOUR bills a little later you'd have an ample supply of various paymenmt due notices to choose from.
When I refer to "accounts", I am refering to regular customers who have me do work for them 2 or 3 or 4 or even as many as 10-20 times (occasionally) in a given month. I know that if I were in their shoes I certainly wouldn't be interested in doing all the paper work involved to write a cheque for each and every job as it was completed. It would be too much of a PITA.
Those are the ones who I run accounts with. And each one has a regular monthly bill paying schedule.
One sends out cheques on the 15th of the month after. So I get paid around the 20th for work I did in the previous calendar month. That means I receive payment between 20 to 50 days after any particular job was completed.
Others cut cheques on the first of the month and others the end of the month.
All are accounts that are recurring month in and month out so after the initial "shock" of waiting it is a monthly influx of money that is really no different than getting paid immediately.
As I mentioned in an earlier reply...My suppliers offer me the same payment option so I am not really losing out that much. I pay my suppliers at the end of the month AFTER I purchased materials. So if I have a very busy month with high purchases, I don't really pay MY suppliers until I get paid.
Again though...for one timers and new customers the bill MUST be paid on completion of the job.
If I can refer to a comment a while back by Cam Bortz, It's all about "perceived value". If I treat my regular customers like the legitimate businesses that they are, then they "perceive" that I am just as legitimate a business. Not just a one man shop that works from his home property.
[ June 30, 2004, 03:42 PM: Message edited by: Dave Grundy ]
Posted by David Fisher (Member # 107) on :
This is a cut and paste out of my bookkeeping database, thankfully I only have to print one or two of them ocasionally.
="NOTE: this account is " & [OverdueDays] & " days overdue, please remit immediately. Should payment not be received within 7 days, action will be taken to recover the debt at your expense & without further notice ."
In smaller copy underneath -
If you believe you have recieved this notice in error, or should you wish to contact us to negotiate an alternative payment method please do not hesitate to call the number above.
![[Dunno]](graemlins/dunno.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)