Excuses we give ourselves

So let's address a handful of the most common reasons which often hold us back from demanding our invoices get paid on-time, and look at it through the lens of hard-nosed Bad Cop and slightly calmer Good Cop

"It's probably just a one-off"

Bad Cop says: According to FreeAgent data, only 54% of invoices in the past 18 months were paid on time. That means almost half were paid late, 23 days late on average. It isn't a one-off, but an unfortunately all too common part of being self-employed.

Good Cop says: It's good to give your client the benefit of the doubt but don't let that good faith be abused - open a dialogue, ask if there are any issues with paying, and make sure they're clear on when they will pay. It'll soon become clear if it was a mistake or not.

"Chasing will damage my relationship with the client"

Bad Cop says: They've already damaged the relationship by respecting you and your work enough by paying you on time!

Good Cop says: whilst it's natural to worry whether chasing an invoice might mean you're seen as a 'difficult' freelancer and this might impact future work from this client - consider whether you want to be in a relationship with a client who is abusing your trust and making you put effort into getting paid.

"They're a small business who are struggling too!"

Bad Cop says: "hey shouldn't have asked you do the work if they weren't able to pay you!

Good Cop says: it's really important to understand the situation your client is in, but if your client was going to struggle to pay your invoice, they really should have had this conversation with you before the invoice became overdue so you could come to an agreement, or not commissioned the work in the first place. You're a small business as well, and it isn't on you to ensure their cashflow is fluid enough to pay you.

"They haven't been paid yet, so I can't get paid yet"

Bad Cop: Who cares if they haven't been paid! Who knows when they might get paid? If they signed you up to do work without the funds to pay for it, that's not your problem! They're taking the risk - not you.

Good Cop: I agree with Bad Cop on this one - if your client has an agreement with a third-party which is reliant upon your work, they need to take the risk, not you, else where do you draw the line? Do you wait until their client has got paid by their customer?

"They're a big company, it's not going to make any difference"

Bad Cop: If they're a large company, they should have their process sorted out. They have people who's sole job is to clear invoices through the system! Name and shame!

Good Cop: Bad cop is right again. Although naming and shaming isn't my approach - larger companies have no excuse not to pay you on time, and it's we need to collectively call out bad practise, else it continues.

"They're questioning the invoice."

Bad Cop: Pfft! It's too late. You had 30 days to complain.

Good Cop: Making sure you get sign-off on your work before you invoice is critical - acceptance criteria, clear scopes of work, and approval make sure there's no excuse or hold ups.

"I could add a discount for early payment to encourage them"

Bad Cop: Why should you discount for them paying you on time? No!

Good Cop: Ugh, Bad Cop is right again. Don't take a financial loss on your good clients when the penalty should be on bad clients when they pay late. You're owed the money.

"I should probably just chalk it up to experience"

Bad Cop + Good Cop: No!

Whilst it is an all too common part of the self-employed experience, but just because it happens frequently doesn't make it acceptable.

If you accept late payments, the problem doesn't go away. Whilst I understand it can suck to be chasing, by standing up for your rights, you're making it easier for every person who follows you also chasing.