The KashFlow Guide to Getting Paid Faster From first-time freelancers to booming business directors, late payments are the bane of every business s existence. In fact, the Federation of Small Businesses estimate that 1 in 3 payments to small businesses are late. They also found that over 26 billion is owed to UK small businesses, and that around 50,000 of them are forced out of business as a result. So how do you avoid late payments?
Contents Small businesses rarely have enough capital to cover several overdue payments. Many also find they can t negotiate strong terms with bigger businesses, or even set terms that could be seen as too strict with small customers. It s therefore important that small businesses have a number of options in chasing late payments, or avoiding them altogether. In this guide, we ll talk you through those options so you know what to do in each scenario. Page 3: Do the groundwork Page 4: Tips on sending your invoice Page 5: Make the right impression Page 6: What to say on your invoices Page 7: Increase your payment options Page 8: Chase late payments Page 9: Protect yourself against bad debts
Do the groundwork Research your customer Where possible, learn as much about your saving money (it happens!) then you might customers as you can before you go into consider adding a late payment fee to grab business with them. Ask around to see if they their attention. have a reputation, or research them online to find out about their credit history. You may also specify that you ll charge interest or debt recovery costs if your If you can t afford not to take the work, or customer is late paying. UK law specifies feel the reward is worth the risk, you can still late as being any longer than 30 days after use this sort of information to set stricter the invoice is delivered, unless your contract terms and conditions where they apply. specifies a longer period of time. The amount of statutory interest you can charge in B2B Set your terms transactions is 8%, plus the Bank of England s It s important to draw up terms and contract specifies otherwise. base rate. You can t charge this if your conditions before you start the work. This way, you have written proof of your agreement. Your Ts&Cs should include the work you ll do, how much you ll be paid for it, and (crucially) when you ll be paid. If you haven t already, speed up the payment process by sending electronic invoices instead of You can also include accepted forms of physical ones. This saves time and reduces the risk payment, your chosen currency (if applicable) of error you can send the right invoice to the right and set terms for early or late payments. person and send it as soon as possible. You might want to offer a discount of 1% To further streamline the payment process, you can or 2% for paying a week early, or by a certain link these invoices to your business bank account so date, to encourage early payments. If you can t afford to offer a discount, or find you have customers that aren t motivated by that the money goes to the right place.
Tips on sending your invoice Send invoices straight away Know who you re invoicing Get into the habit of sending an An unaddressed, impersonal invoice is invoice as soon as possible, as it heading straight to the sort pile. starts the countdown clock on the payment due date. The sooner Make sure you know the name and mailing you invoice, the faster you get paid. address of the relevant department or individual who ll be handling your invoice. And don t risk forgetting to invoice at all! There s nothing worse than This is especially important when you re sitting around waiting for a payment, dealing with larger clients or government only to find you forget to send bodies, who are more than likely processing the request. hundreds of invoices at any given time. You can send invoices straight Once you know who to contact, it is good away using cloud software like practice to get in touch and ask about the KashFlow. Invoicing software like this kind of format they prefer. Are they digital also allows you to customise, edit, or paper based? What s their preferred email or print your invoices. You can payment type? Are there any key details, even set up automatic invoicing and like order numbers, that need including in reminders for late payments. the invoice? As an added bonus, invoicing By sending an invoice that s designed to software works across multiple make their job as easy as possible, they ll devices. This means you can send pay it faster. And by asking, you re building it from your phone on site, then a personal relationship too. access the same information on your desktop whenyou get back to your office or home.
Make the right impression Send professional looking invoices Imagine you re sorting through invoices and you ve got a plain sheet of A4 paper next to a full-colour, branded invoice which are you reading first? Professional-looking invoices are more likely to grab attention and get treated as a priority. So make sure you include: Your business logo Contact details A simple design to keep your invoice easy to understand Bold elements, like strong colours or highlights, to emphasize key parts like the payment deadline. INVOICE Find out more
What to say on your invoices Including the following details will help you get paid faster Specify your deadlines While the length of time it takes to get paid will depend on individual customers, research suggests that the average customer will pay two weeks late. It s therefore good practice to set a deadline that takes this into account. For example, setting a 15 day deadline when you want to be paid within 30 days. Often, customers will keep money in their own bank accounts for as long as possible and many will wait until the due date to pay you. Therefore, setting your due date before you need to money means you re not leaving yourself strapped for cash. Ideally, you ll be getting paid before you even need to money so you can earn a bit of interest in the bank! Communicate your payment terms Make sure your payment terms are easy to understand. Always give customers a clear time frame, such as payment due within 15 days. Even saying payment due on receipt can be too vague in some cases. Try to specify days rather than net, which is a term some customers may not understand. Find out more Remember to be polite too. Using the word please, or adding thank you for your business, will help keep your customers relationships positive. It also adds a personal element to the payment process, reminding your customers that they re dealing with a person, not just ticking a chore off their list.
Increase your payment options Give customers the option to pay online If you re sending electronic invoices, like those provided in KashFlow, you can include a pay now online function on the invoice itself. These link your invoices to one of our partners (including Global Payments, Stripe or Worldpay) so your customers can pay you immediately with one click via online Visa, Mastercard or AMEX. This means you re no longer relying on BACS payments or overdue invoices. The key here is making it as convenient as possible for customers to pay you. Those are that are short on cash can pay using a credit card, which means you re not stuck waiting until they have money. There s plenty of ways to get paid faster, including enty of ways to get paid faster, including There s plent Do your customer have memberships who need to make reoccurring payments? Look at digital solutions like GoCardless, and KashFlow s repeat invoices button. Combining the two means you can keep track of who s paid, their preferred methods of payments and more.
Chase late payments Send a late payments reminder Not following up on late payments is one of the most common reasons for why the If they don t respond to your first prompt, then send another reminding them of your terms and process takes so long. conditions and the missed payment date. As a minimum, you should set reminders If you re going to charge interest on the late for when payments are due so that you payment, then you can use this online calculator can follow up on them the next day. to work Remember that delays are caused by a it ll be: number of different reasons. Sometimes http://www.londonfreelance.org/interest.html how much they re just forgotten about, and reminding your customers can put you back on If they still haven t paid after 30 days, it s best their radar. that you put all future work for them on hold. It could also be the case that the invoice Even if you re halfway through a project or have was misdirected, misplaced or more work lined up, it s important to remember misunderstood ( the amount due may not they hired you because they need that work have been clear). doing. And if they aren t paying, they aren t getting the work done! It s therefore best to politely check in and remind them the payment is due. Maybe If your customer simply can t afford to pay you, add a line telling them to get in touch if then it might be in both of your interests to they re having any issues. adopt a payment scheme. This way they can pay you back, with interest, over a period With KashFlow you can easily of time. reminders so customers get prompts at intervals of your choice until they have paid. Take a look. NEXT STEPS automate unpaid invoices If you re still having trouble receiving your payment, then ask your lawyer to send a letter on your behalf. If you don t have one, you can look at membership groups like PCG for support. If you re out of options, get in touch with the small claims court. You can learn more about their process here.
Protect yourself against bad debts Protect yourself with savings Write off bad debts Sometimes, you ll have customer that simply If your outstanding invoices are never going won t, or can t, pay. In that case, you need to to get paid, then you ll have to consider them make sure you are financially protected. to be bad debts. This is money you re owed but can t recover. In an ideal scenario, you should have 6 months worth of income invested in a The only way to handle bad debts is to write savings account. This ll help act as a them off. If you don t write bad debts off cushion against any cash shortages. when you know the invoice won t be paid, then your accounts receivable balance will Starting a new savings account can take a become extremely high. This ll mean you re lot of time, but the key to success is just overstating the amount of outstanding saving as much as you can. invoices you have, and give you an unrealistic As Warren Buffet said, do not save what forecast of your projected income. is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving. To learn more about the process, you can read our guide to writing off bad debts. Your savings will soon add up if you re consistent. Be sure to shop around for savings and investment options that best suit your business and income, and always make sure your debts are paid off before you start saving.
About KashFlow This guide to getting paid faster was brought to you by KashFlow specialists in straightforward accounting software for sole traders, contractors & small business owners across the UK. Over 57,000 time-strapped business owner-operators use our Accounting software to stay in control of their accounts, get paid faster and make sure they re tax compliant. And as a small business takes on its first employees, KashFlow Payroll and HR are there to support too. Started, grown and still based in the UK, we experience the same changes, challenges and legal compliance UK businesses face first-hand and from that, we ve built software that makes it all easy. Want to try us out for free? Sign up for a free trial today to see where we can take you. Sign up Please note that the figures included in this guide are correct as of October 2017, and are subject to change.