when to bill

[Pants]

Should I give business clients one or two weeks to cut me a check, or should I make them pay as soon as service is done?

 

[nlinecomputers]

AS soon as service is done. Only well established relationships with me get any leeway on billing. I use to Net 15 everyone and found that most would push that to the limits. Really hampers cash flow. If they want terms then let them pay via Master Card and Visa.

 

[kip]

On service calls for business's, I give them net 15, some net 30. For households, I require payment before leaving. I have an invoice prefilled, and just finish the invoice before leaving.

 

[HCHTech]

I'm with Kip. Businesses get net-15, Residentials are cash on the barrelhead.

 

[ProfessorCPU]

I usually invoice businesses and ask them to pay as soon as they can. I give them up to 10 days before I start calling them to follow up.

 

[Gary Rockliff]

For me it is invoice for business customers and cash, paypal for residential. Never had to many problems.

 

[nesrinamb]

I do net 15 on all invoices since people tend to stretch it to the day of or day before.

 

[Pants]

Why couldn't a business pay the day service is finalized?

 

[lsi]

It all depends on what type of services you are offering and how frequently they are using you. When you start to service larger businesses, you will get service calls from them several times a week. They will grow weary of having stacks of invoices every month if you bill after every little service performed. It will also become confusing because you will start to perform more project-based work (i.e. server upgrade project, rollouts, etc) and they will want to see all related work on one bill so they can see the true costs, etc. A lot of techs would balk at this but I am at the point where I bill once a month in most cases. It especially makes it easier to move the customer into a Managed Services or monthly IT contract of some sort later.

 

[nesrinamb]

It all depends on what type of services you are offering and how frequently they are using you. When you start to service larger businesses, you will get service calls from them several times a week. They will grow weary of having stacks of invoices every month if you bill after every little service performed. It will also become confusing because you will start to perform more project-based work (i.e. server upgrade project, rollouts, etc) and they will want to see all related work on one bill so they can see the true costs, etc. A lot of techs would balk at this but I am at the point where I bill once a month in most cases. It especially makes it easier to move the customer into a Managed Services or monthly IT contract of some sort later.

I'm gonna start doing that, I do have a few that I have to send out 4 or 5 invoices so the monthly thing would be better for everyone, would kinda be slower cash flow for me but overall everyone should be happier.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

We're SMB support, invoice within a week or two of doing the job (sometimes we fall behind in our billing), clients usually pay within 30 days.

 

[TenYardFight]

Most of our smbs receive a bill on the 1st if every month for the previous months time and the coming months RMM. About 25% of our revenue for the month is billed that day.

 

[kaiser715]

I have done 2%-5/Net15 for years for business clients. Most all pay within 3 days now after i deliver an invoice. The discount is just another cost of doing business, factored into my hourly rate.

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

Why couldn't a business pay the day service is finalized?

They do when you ask for it. I tell the person requesting service for new clients that they will need a check signer or visa when I come out. Same as retail clients.

why have to take the chance of not getting paid or let them use your money? I let existing clients owe me but it is by special arrangement and only with people I know and trust not new clients.

 

[jmatt]

I charge before we do a lick of work. We sell pre-paid time-blocks of IT support at a discount. It gives them an incentive to pay for a whole bunch of service calls before we've done anything.

Now truth be told, this is usually for a client that we've sold on establishing an ongoing relationship. They get priority in the service queue (usually same day they call for help) and no trip charges. We'll go out, show them we know what the heck we're doing and sign 'em up. I spend almost no time chasing down money.

Some corporate clients simply go with a break-fix relationship. They get 30 days to pay. But the time-block approach is a way to cement an ongoing relationship.

 

[Pants]

I let existing clients owe me but it is by special arrangement and only with people I know and trust not new clients.

This is a very good approach. I think I'll try this for a while.

 

[ComputerPro]

21 days

We use net 21 days. We have absolutely no idea why this works, we got the idea from Freshbooks lol. But its like magic. We get paid much faster. I'm not sure the psychology on this or why Freshbooks chose 21 days as their default, but it works lol.

Residential, or new, very small businesses are collect at time of service. Only larger companies or our good long term clients (business only) are on net terms.

 

[kaiser715]

Back when i started in 1983, most businesses did payables once a month, on the 10th. By 95 or so, most businesses around here started doing checks on the 25th also, running a/p twice a month. When the economy went south, more started doing payables weekly, either due to not having cash, or trying to keep it longer. Now, most are writing checks at least twice a week, or even daily.

Part of that is that it has become so easy on the computer to do a small batch.

I have found that the slowest to pay, no matter the incentive are large/global corporations (90-120 days), and churches.

 

[JustInspired]

We use net 21 days. We have absolutely no idea why this works, we got the idea from Freshbooks lol. But its like magic. We get paid much faster. I'm not sure the psychology on this or why Freshbooks chose 21 days as their default, but it works lol.

Residential, or new, very small businesses are collect at time of service. Only larger companies or our good long term clients (business only) are on net terms.

Just found the Freshbooks blog page and remembered this thread. For those interested, here is the link: The best invoice terms to get you paid faster

I've updated the wording on my invoice - let's see if it makes a difference.