Getting Paid… on Time!

We all love getting paid, but how special does it feel when we actually get paid ON TIME!? *eye roll*

Unfortunately, the experience of many freelancers, digital entrepreneurs and business owners is that of chasing up the money they’ve already earned, and hassling clients who seem to value time above others. The reality is: When you run a small business, late payments can be damaging. They can have major effects on cashflow and big impacts on growth.

Thankfully there are a few things worthy of implementation that will make getting paid on time easier and can offload some of the emotional labour of rallying overdue debts.

“In case you haven’t already noticed, I am a huge fan of Xero. In fact, Zest Bookkeeping is now Xero exclusive. Earlier this year Xero conducted some research and discovered that only 54% of Australian businesses are cash flow positive in any given month. This means that nearly half of Australian businesses are struggling to pay their bills. Getting paid on time is one way to relieve the stress of mounting outgoings and precarious incomings. ”

Xero has cleverly built tools into their software that hold payers accountable to their accounts. They are as follows:

Recurring invoices: If you invoice a client the same amount each month, you can set this up to be automatically sent out.

Invoice reminders: With this function, you can set your own personalised message as a gentle reminder to clients that their invoice is now overdue. The reminder is automatically sent out at the timeframe you set (ie. 7 days overdue, 10 days overdue, a month overdue) and can be reoccurring. This setting is great because as much as it sucks when we don’t get paid on time, it’s often not an act of malice. Bills can slip by and easily become lost in the sea of other admin. Sometimes a friendly reminder is all that’s needed.

Payment gateways: These can be used for Paypal and Stripe. Last week I was sent a bill and was able to pay it immediately by clicking the ‘Pay Now’ button. (Think: your phone bill.) Paypal popped up and then approved my payment right there and then. Within 5 minutes of receiving the bill, I’d paid it on my phone and didn’t even need to get out of bed. Xero’s recent research has also showed us that business’ who use these payment services are getting paid on average 14 days quicker than those who don’t. What could this do for your business?

It makes you think… if your struggle has always been getting paid on time, then how could your business capitalise on these tools to offer a monthly membership or subscription. In what ways can you justify asking for an easy payment upfront or set your clients up on a direct debit?

Outside of the offerings of Xero, I also believe it’s super important for every business - no matter how small - to have a clear set of payment terms and conditions. In your terms (which should be laid out on every quote, invoice, and even on your website), there should be a late fee and your right to employ it. Whatever you do include in these terms, make sure your client is fully aware of your expectations right from the beginning. With no wiggle room to take you for a ride.

As I always say, running a business is like running your life. Crystal boundaries, upfront honestly, and radical integrity. If you are ever in doubt about to how to have these conversations or navigate the waters of setting up fair payment parameters, drop into my inbox and send me an email.