Keep Cash Flowing: Avoiding Invoicing Mistakes That Prevent You from Getting Paid

Running a successful business in a way that will not affect your flow of money can be a juggling act and time consuming. One should pay attention to many details, such as providing top grade services and

keeping customers satisfied, paying bills or preparing for income tax deadlines, among others. In addition to this you mustn’t fall short with invoicing if you want to get paid.

 

Since it’s the details that matter with invoicing, a minor typing error for example can result in misunderstandings, client dissatisfaction and late payments. Expressing the terms accurately and sending invoices promptly ensures that your billing will not contain mistakes.

So, here are some invoicing mistakes you should carefully consider:

Failing to Upload your Logo (Or Not Having One)

Not including your logo on the invoices, you send means you are missing out on a simple branding opportunity. Since we live in a visual world every little detail matters, especially as far as business goes.

Emphasis is placed on Website appearance or advertising through business cards, but one mustn’t fail to realize that since your invoice is your potentially last contact with your client, it should be just as detailed or well thought of as any other means of promotion.

Forgetting to Add a Due Date

Most invoices include wording such as “Payment due in 30 days’’, but to ensure that you will be paid on time, communicating the due date a little clearer should be considered to make things easier for your client, who probably receives a large amount of invoices each month.

One should keep in mind that an accounting department processes a large amount of invoices each day. Imagine having to distinguish between due dates and payment terms that might not even be included on the invoice, resulting in two separate pieces of information – instead of providing a clear due date on every invoice, at the top, and including additional payment terms below, which would be a solution.

Other problems caused by accounts payable systems that default to the current date as the invoice date resulting in misunderstandings will also be avoided if this information can be clearly distinguished.

Sending Your Client a “Surprise” Invoice

Some people like surprises, others don’t, especially if it involves a surprise invoice, which is why your client should be informed before receiving one. The reasons for doing this might be many such as more work than what expected, issues concerning time paid for work or expenses, or perhaps more hours required for the completion of a project than originally thought. Whatever the case communicates openly with your client, outline charges and explain billing charges to avoid misconceptions and any problems.

Failing to Follow Up

What most business persons dislike is following up on accounts or ‘collecting’ which is unpleasant but necessary if you want your business to be healthy.

There is no doubt that you will at times encounter a client who doesn’t pay on time and this has nothing to do with how accurate and detailed your invoices are. The moment a payment is past due, you will have to choose between getting paid or possibly displeasing the client and hurting your relationship.

Having a plan on how to handle this type of situation and sticking to it will help in improving matters instead of making them worse.

There are those who prefer to call the client with a friendly reminder, while others who prefer to wait some time past the deadline. Whatever way you choose, your initial attempt should be a friendly reminder. Most of the time, this is all that is required to get your invoice paid. Sometimes an invoice can be lost in the mail or be redirected to someone’s spam filter. The above mentioned can result in your client paying up after everything is cleared.

What about clients who constantly pay late? Motivation to pay on time helps, especially if you initiate Late Payment Fees to charge after it is past due. One can even change the conditions, depending on the clients.

Of course, one can choose not to initiate late fees. If so, you must communicate openly with your client as already mentioned, since surprises are never a good thing especially when it comes to invoicing. Eventually, good billing practices keep cash flowing into your company.

The Bottom Line

The line bottom is this: if your invoices do not get paid, your lack of cash will eventually drain out your business. And it would be a shame to do so, especially if you have a business with pleased and numerous customers.