I have a client who NEVER pays me on time. She was my first client, so we did not have a contract (I wasn't even fully up and running when she found me). I invoice her through PayPal, which is what she requested. I wasn't happy about that because it costs me money, but I thought it would get her to pay me more quickly (she had been late with her checks).

I'm going to add a line on the invoice that there will be a fee imposed for late payments, but I'd like to also tell her nicely that I need to be paid on time. Any suggestions?

I think you just have to talk to her straight. Let her know that you're a small business and that you simply can't afford to float invoices.

It would seem though, that initiating a late payment policy with a stiff enough penalty to make it worth your while to wait for invoices to be reconciled and sending a note that you're adding this new policy to your operations should suffice.

I had a similar situation as you are in although my client paid late once in a while it was still enough to inspire me to create our late policy and USE it.

Sorry you have to deal with this but I think you'll find this is one of the most important policies you can have in place.

Good luck!

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I agree with what Tess has said. Send out a letter or email to all your clients informing them of such ASAP. You can always send out a friendly reminder to this client before the due date as well explaining that the payment due date is approaching and in order to avoid any additional fees please submit payment....

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Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
Our business is about making yours better

I agree with what's already been said. It's time to let her know that you need to have a signed contract that details what the payment arrangements are.

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Sue L Canfield
AwesomeAssistant.info
My Blog

How many days do you generally give clients to pay their invoices?

My policy is Net 14 and I invoice every other Friday.
Late payment penalty is based on unreconciled by Net 15 and again at unreconciled by Net 30. Post 30 unreconciled invoices are special cases and actually haven't happened to me just yet because in my policy writeup I do encourage clients to communicate with us if they are going to have a hard time getting invoices paid on time.

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I am just starting my business and I believe that is one of my biggest fears. How can I make sure that a high percentage (if not all) of my clients pay for services offered?

I require an upfront deposit. I would also recommend starting new clients on either a weekly billing or a per project billing, that way you don't ever have too much unpaid time out there. If they don't pay then just stop working.

So far all of my clients pay good so I only bill them monthly.

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Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services

I put on my website that a 50% deposit is required up front and balance before delivery. Do you have a number of times for non or late payments from a client that you "fire" them? Thanks for the information.