Billing a client

[Adrian Howard]

On 11 February 2013 07:56, Alex Brelsfoard <alex.brelsfoard at gmail.com> wrote:
> Here's a slightly off-topic question for you all.

Oh - I'd say that's bang on topic for this list ;-)

> I'm planning on doing some consulting work and was wondering what I should
> expect as the norm for delay between when I bill my client and when I
> should receive their money.
> Is there such a norm?  Or is it entirely dependent on the client and/or our
> agreement?

As others have said - it depends on client & contract.

Some tips that have helped me move "it depends" closer to "now".

* Bill everything up-front.
* Bill significant chunk up-front.
* Roll expenses into price and don't bill them separately (avoids
argument about details which then spins off invoice into the next
30day payment cycle)
* Offer a X% discount if paid within N days (in effect a late payment
penalty - but phrasing it as a discount gets better results in my
experience)
* Get to know the folk in the department that pays the bills personally
* Where at all possible work directly for the person who signs off on payments
* Where at ll possible work for somebody above the finance department
in the org chart
* If somebody pays late (politely) only work for them again if they
pay N% up front.

(if anybody has any more I'd love to hear 'em ;-)

Adrian
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