{"id":1198,"date":"2022-06-01T12:14:13","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T11:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/accountants247glasgowsouth.co.uk\/?p=1198"},"modified":"2022-06-01T12:14:14","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T11:14:14","slug":"get-paid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accountants247glasgowsouth.co.uk\/?p=1198","title":{"rendered":"Making it easier to get paid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Making sure you get paid on time is crucial to your success. The process of making sales and generating revenue lies at the heart of any business model. But you can’t manage your cashflow effectively or raise any profits if customers don’t actually pay their invoices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The easier you can make it for customers to pay you, the faster you’ll see cash coming into the business. That\u2019s good news for your financial position, your ability to cover your operational costs and your capacity to fund the growth and expansion of your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how do you speed up those payments and make sure you get paid on time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set out clear payment terms<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your payment terms are the starting point for healthy payment times. These terms set out when you expect to be paid and form a legally binding contract with the customer. You may expect immediate payment on receipt of the invoice. Or you might set out a specific number of days that the customer has to pay the invoice (generally 30, 60, 90 or 120 days, depending on your industry). This is sometimes called \u2018trade credit\u2019 and allows your customers to pay for goods and services at a later, pre-agreed date \u2013 helping them to spread the cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your payment terms should also include details of any late payment penalties. If the customer doesn\u2019t meet your agreed payment times, most businesses will add a 1% to 1.5% monthly late payment fee to the outstanding bill. This acts as a great incentive for the customer to pay the bill, before the penalty fees start mounting up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Invoice customers as soon as you can<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In a business-to-consumer (B2C) environment, your customers will generally pay for their goods and services immediately. But when you\u2019re working in the business-to-business (B2B) world, you\u2019ll need to send your customer an invoice, asking for the money to be paid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A customer can\u2019t settle their bill until you send them an invoice. So, it\u2019s vital to send out the invoice as quickly as possible, so you can minimise the gap between doing the work and being paid for the work. In some industries, the project will be broken down into multiple invoices, paid across a period of time. This makes it easier for the customer to pay, and means you (as the supplier) don\u2019t have to complete the project before receiving the money you\u2019re owed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideally, you want your invoices to go out as early as possible. This allows your payment terms to kick in and makes it easier to predict when cash will be coming into the business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be organised about your payment admin<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Getting paid is a process \u2013 and the more organised you make the process, the quicker the payment will be received. When you send out the invoice, make sure you send it to all the relevant people in the payment chain. This will usually be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n