Getting paid quickly is essential for every small business.  Late or missing payments can be difficult to manage so it’s important to have the right systems in place to reduce the likelihood of delayed payments.

Getting paid on time makes your business easier to manage and keeps things predictable, so follow these steps to have a healthy invoicing heartbeat.

1.    Make your invoices look professional

Customers are wary of scams, theft, and fraud so a customer is much more likely to pay quickly if they trust you and see you as a competent professional business. Customers trust professional looking invoices, so it’s important to take the time to assemble an invoice that includes:

• Your business name and address
• Company Logo
• Customer Name and address
• Unique Invoice identity
• Payment details
• Details of the transaction
• Payment terms
• Transaction date

 

Its also a good idea to include a personal message to say “Thankyou for your business” as studies show that this increases customer engagement and likelihood that they will pay promptly.

All these features are available when you send invoices for FREE with Nubilo.

To find out more, check our help pages on setting up and managing invoices.

https://www.nubilo.co.uk/blog/dashboard/your-business/customer-relationship-management/invoicing/

 

2.    Be clear about payment due dates

Be specific about your payment due date.  Using language that is confusing or open to interpretation means customers are more likely to miss their payment dates.   Make sure the due date is clearly labelled and provide payment terms either on the invoice or as part of your terms and conditions.  Its also a good idea to get your customers to read and sign the terms and conditions.  You’d be amazed home many customers want to do business in their own terms and not yours.   There will be more article son terms and conditions later.

 

3.    Include detail in your invoices

Adding line items in your invoices gives a clearer explanation of how the costs were assembled and is easier for the customer to accept and they will feal more comfortable paying promptly.  Providing an invoice without any detail raises suspicion and makes your customers start to question the total and this build mistrust and bad relationships.  It’s better to have transparent pricing and clearly itemised costs.

 

4.    Clarify payment terms upfront

Customers should never be surprised by anything on your invoices. Be sure that deliverables, payment amounts, and payment terms are all agreed before you start work or when the order is placed, and that you have a signed copy of the terms and conditions confirming this information. Refunds and cancellation policies should also be clearly described.

 

5.    Send your invoices promptly

Invoice your customers as quickly as possible after the work is complete as the quicker you can get them the invoice, the faster they are likely to pay you.  With Nubilo you can send the invoice to the customer before you have even left their house so they can be paying electronically as you leave.  This makes things much easier for you. Customers are most likely to pay for a job within a few minutes of completion.

 

6.    Accept online payments

It’s important in the modern market to be able to accept electronic payments. It’s a great idea to use a payment method that your customers know and trust such as PayPal.

Allowing your customers to pay online improves their engagement and speed of payments.  Its even better to allow them to view their previous transactions with your business, so they can see how much they are spending and track any outstanding payments. Nubilo has all this functionality built in and is included in the FREE tier, so you can start sending electronic invoices, tracking payments, and providing a customer portal to each of your customers for FREE.  Get started today here: https://www.nubilo.co.uk/signup/

 

7.    Speed things up with online invoices

Sending Invoices in the post and waiting for a cheque to be mailed back is slow and costly. We recommend that you stop doing this straight away, and instead send electronic Invoices via email and receive electronic payments straight to your bank account.   There can be a small cost with receiving an electronic payment, but it’s much cheaper than the cost of sending letters and the time taken to receive, bank and track responses.

Use an online invoicing facility that allows you to send a link either by email or text  directly to your customer, so they can view the invoice on their mobile or tablet, and pay with an intuitive and secure payment technology such as PayPal.

Even better,   at the same time allow your customers to review all their previous invoices, send follow up reminders automatically and get referrals with Nubilo’s business tools,  find out more: https://www.nubilo.co.uk/business-features.php

 

 

8.    Offer incentives for early payments

Getting customers to pay after work is completed always has a degree of risk due to refused or late payments for whatever reason. One way to avoid this is to encourage customers to pay in advance by offering a discount.

One way is to offer your customer two payment options.  One is a payment option post service delivery, the other is a prepayment option which includes a discount.  If your customers trust you, then they will often choose the prepayment option to receive the discount.

Make sure you include details of incentives and any late payment interest rates in the original customer agreement or signed terms and conditions.

 

9.    Follow up on late payments quickly

Don’t wait until payments are 30 days overdue to check in with the customer. Create a process for following up the day after payment is due. For example, you can begin with a standard, polite email reminding the customer of the overdue payment, and then follow up with a phone call. Many late payments are simply due to misunderstandings or forgetfulness, and by reaching out to the customer you can often clear things up quickly.

Using a tool that automatically sends reminders for outstanding payments takes the emotion out of chasing payments and allows you to focus on new business. You can save up to 5 hours a week by automating invoice delivery, remediation, and late payment reminders.

Check out the automatic payment reminder features of Nubilo invoices. https://www.nubilo.co.uk/business-features.php#Invoicing

 

10.                       Monitor your cash flow

Be organised with your cashflow.  We recommend:

1. Having an emergency fund to cover late payments or other unexpected sudden costs.
2. Keep an eye on your cashflow to be alert of when cash is running low. You can then make sure you chase customers for quick payments if you need to.
3. Monitor you monthly invoiced amounts to track if your business revenue is growing or shrinking
4. Understand how much of your invoices are profit and know your monthly costs so you don’t fall behind.

I hope you enjoyed this Article.  There are loads more like it to come as we follow the development of Nubilo.

 

Nubilo is a “Home Services Marketplace” where you can manage your home or develop your home services business. Nubilo provides Property Asset Management tools for simplifying the management of your home, and Business Management tools to help small businesses grow.

 

Check out the Nubilo Blog and Help pages for all the latest information on the evolution of the Nubilo Marketplace: https://www.nubilo.co.uk/blog/

Checkout our Latest Articles for tips and tricks to manage your home better: https://www.nubilo.co.uk/articles/

 

Search our list of trusted service providers: https://www.nubilo.co.uk/services/