Send wrong amount in invoices for a few months.

[captainham]

Wow. I'm on my first contract too and I relish the task of manually calculating, checking, and and updating each invoice. That's the fun bit!

2 years/3 contracts in and I still start prepping next month's invoice days before month end, excited at the prospect of all that lovely dough soon to be invoiced!

[speling bee]

Is your accountant a software package?

Paint?

[Brian Potter]

Is your accountant a software package?

[speling bee]

Hi GillsMan,

I totally share the feeling with you, for me it´s not a funny situation, but I can understand that this is a forum (even for professionals) and may be people wishing to have some fun, but glad to hear so good advice and tips for other ones.

I just called them and it went really well, I only need to send them the amount that they owe me, and a confirmation of my day rate raise (I have a signed letter from them) so hopefully everything will get sorted out soon.

I understand that for you could be a big trouble, for me it looks like I was using them as a savings account :P

Anyway is a situation that won´t be happening again in the future (at least I will try not to). I hope this post helps others in a similar situation to not freak out as I did this morning when I discover the problem.

Thanks for your comment!

Has any of this occurred across company year end? You should talk to your accountant to make sure you sort out CT and VAT properly. (Or can someone advise that this is a red herring?)

[SpontaneousOrder]

Wow. I'm on my first contract too and I relish the task of manually calculating, checking, and and updating each invoice. That's the fun bit!

[rvarela]

To the OP - I had a similar issue, but the other way around (I overcharged the agency, who overpaid - see here: http://forums.contractoruk.com/accou...oney-back.html). I an idiot who didn't appear to run a proper businesses commenting on my thread too, who couldn't accept that anyone could possibly make a mistake with their contract. As has already been stated, people make mistakes all the time, and it can happen.

I suppose it's pretty easy to get invoices right all the time when you're a BOAS contractor and you don't really have many other demands apart from your one client. In my case, I was dealing with multiple clients, and invoiced several months after the work had begun (invoicing based on milestones rather than time elapsed). The agency had put how much they were invoicing the client in the contract, highly unusual and it was what caused me to make the error.

Anyway, I had to issue them a credit note for the amount I had overcharged, + the VAT. I created the credit note, then sorted out the payment. Best part of £5,000, but the money was theirs, so I had no problem with it really. It ensured that the amount they had contractually agreed to pay was what they ended up payment. They did agree with my suggestion that we had both dropped the ball, since they equally shouldn't have authorised payment on invoices that didn't match their agreement with MyCo Ltd.

But the advice I received on that thread was generally pretty good: the money is theirs, pay it to them. So the same will be true the other way around. You cocked up, the agency cocked up, but the end result is that they owe you the money, so take the advice already given and give them a call before following up with an email. It'll get sorted I'm sure.

Hi GillsMan,

I totally share the feeling with you, for me it´s not a funny situation, but I can understand that this is a forum (even for professionals) and may be people wishing to have some fun, but glad to hear so good advice and tips for other ones.

I just called them and it went really well, I only need to send them the amount that they owe me, and a confirmation of my day rate raise (I have a signed letter from them) so hopefully everything will get sorted out soon.

I understand that for you could be a big trouble, for me it looks like I was using them as a savings account :P

Anyway is a situation that won´t be happening again in the future (at least I will try not to). I hope this post helps others in a similar situation to not freak out as I did this morning when I discover the problem.

Thanks for your comment!

[GillsMan]

To the OP - I had a similar issue, but the other way around (I overcharged the agency, who overpaid - see here: http://forums.contractoruk.com/accou...oney-back.html). I an idiot who didn't appear to run a proper businesses commenting on my thread too, who couldn't accept that anyone could possibly make a mistake with their contract. As has already been stated, people make mistakes all the time, and it can happen.

I suppose it's pretty easy to get invoices right all the time when you're a BOAS contractor and you don't really have many other demands apart from your one client. In my case, I was dealing with multiple clients, and invoiced several months after the work had begun (invoicing based on milestones rather than time elapsed). The agency had put how much they were invoicing the client in the contract, highly unusual and it was what caused me to make the error.

Anyway, I had to issue them a credit note for the amount I had overcharged, + the VAT. I created the credit note, then sorted out the payment. Best part of £5,000, but the money was theirs, so I had no problem with it really. It ensured that the amount they had contractually agreed to pay was what they ended up payment. They did agree with my suggestion that we had both dropped the ball, since they equally shouldn't have authorised payment on invoices that didn't match their agreement with MyCo Ltd.

But the advice I received on that thread was generally pretty good: the money is theirs, pay it to them. So the same will be true the other way around. You cocked up, the agency cocked up, but the end result is that they owe you the money, so take the advice already given and give them a call before following up with an email. It'll get sorted I'm sure.

[rvarela]

I'm not surprised. I would leave on very good terms with anyone that under charged me for 7 months as well

lol, me too.

But honestly, looking the way they work, they probably only have checked the charged hours, they would never think about someone being THAT stupid to forget a raise T_T

[northernladuk]

Thanks for your tips, I will definitively do that, I also ended in a very good manner with them, so I hope they will understand.

I'm not surprised. I would leave on very good terms with anyone that under charged me for 7 months as well

[rvarela]

Fear not, this happens all the time even in established businesses.

Firstly, call the ex-client and explain the issue and apologise unreservedly for the mix up.

Then confirm this conversation by email and include an invoice to cover the difference in what was paid and what was supposed to be paid, asking politely when they expect to be able to release payment.

Be patient and understand that somebody at the client end will be pulled from whatever they are supposed to be doing, to deal with this issue. So keep it polite and friendly if at all possible.

Thanks for your tips, I will definitively do that, I also ended in a very good manner with them, so I hope they will understand.