Reply to: Invoice Payments ALWAYS late

[TheFaQQer]

lucky you; must be the charm hey :

No - it's their incompetence

Contract says 60 days, PO says 30 days, client pays in 25 days normally.

[anthony]

I'm sure many do.

My client pays early though

lucky you; must be the charm hey :

[TheFaQQer]

When going direct expect late payment, companies do it on purpose, it saves them "working capital".

I'm sure many do.

My client pays early though

[VectraMan]

When going direct expect late payment, companies do it on purpose, it saves them "working capital". The purchasing manager wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't wait until the last minute. This has always been and will always be the case.

WHS. I remember as a teenager visiting my Dad's business and him telling me how he'd write out all the cheques at the start of the month and then put them in a draw and try to wait as long as possible before sending them out.

The last contract I did was for just 4 weeks direct and I kind of expected a battle as whilst I was there I'd overhear the purchasing manager's phone calls from the other end of the office, so I knew exactly how they did business. 30 days passed, then I sent emails, got ignored, tried emailing the guy who was in charge of the department, the head of engineering, and the purchasing manager, all of whom I'd see every day and have coffee with, but all of whom seem to have strangely forgotten who I was. It took a solicitors letter to get some action.

The first (also short) direct contract I did took 30 days, a couple of emails and a letter after which they paid me, by cheque, sent second class.

But the contractors here at permie co. are direct and they tell me they get paid within a couple of days of invoicing.

[vwdan]

Not always the case, I'm direct and authorised timesheet by EOD Monday = Paid Invoice by next Friday.

Had exactly the same when I was direct - wonderful experience.

[SlipTheJab]

When going direct expect late payment, companies do it on purpose, it saves them "working capital". The purchasing manager wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't wait until the last minute. This has always been and will always be the case.

This is not an agency who's raison d'etre is to smooth out the payments to contractors.

You'll have to chase and they will look at ways of delaying.

Not always the case, I'm direct and authorised timesheet by EOD Monday = Paid Invoice by next Friday.

[anthony]

When going direct expect late payment, companies do it on purpose, it saves them "working capital". The purchasing manager wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't wait until the last minute. This has always been and will always be the case.

This is not an agency who's raison d'etre is to smooth out the payments to contractors.

You'll have to chase and they will look at ways of delaying.

totally agree; but then makes you wonder why even state in contracts the payment terms/timescales. They may as well just say "meh, we'll pay you in cira 30 days, you'll get it when its paid "

[BlasterBates]

When going direct expect late payment, companies do it on purpose, it saves them "working capital". The purchasing manager wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't wait until the last minute. This has always been and will always be the case.

This is not an agency who's raison d'etre is to smooth out the payments to contractors.

You'll have to chase and they will look at ways of delaying.

[anthony]

I hear what you're saying, and I wouldn't generally accept bad practice as culture,

exactly this, bad practice (and lack of understanding contractual agreements) is the issue..

Statute of limitations is six years in the UK
You can wait until the engagement is finished and then invoice for the statutory costs and interest on every single invoice paid outside the agreed terms but be prepared for some as claiming the penalties never goes down well...

Ideally would rather get it sorted nicely than head down the route; but good to know its legal to do this...

[Safe Collections]

The Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013 - Pay on Time

Have a look there, work out how much they owe you for each late payment, and invoice for them.

If you are worried about upsetting the apple cart while you still have outstanding invoices with the agency / client - you have seven years to chase the debt

Statute of limitations is six years in the UK

Yeah direct with ClientCo... 2 or 3 days late is not a problem, but when you're going 1 week+ then its getting a bit more than an issue....

Contract says "invoice date + 30 days = payment date" (clearly not like that )

Looking at that term if you invoice on the 1st of January the invoice is due for payment on or before the 31st of January. Technically the term is 31 days (30 days plus invoice day) so it isn't overdue until day 32.

You can wait until the engagement is finished and then invoice for the statutory costs and interest on every single invoice paid outside the agreed terms but be prepared for some as claiming the penalties never goes down well...

[jamesbrown]

Yeah direct with ClientCo... 2 or 3 days late is not a problem, but when you're going 1 week+ then its getting a bit more than an issue....

Contract says "invoice date + 30 days = payment date" (clearly not like that )

I hear what you're saying, and I wouldn't generally accept bad practice as culture, but this is a reality that's very difficult to change; it's a cynical cash-flow management issue. Unless you can get onside with someone that pays the invoices (and FWIW, you might), you'll find that chasing is typical. It's something to weigh against the positives of going direct, and it's something that an agent should smooth through their own cash-flow management (i.e. I would be irritated by late payments from an agency).

[earningacrust]

Pretty much everyone who goes direct has to spend a lot of time chasing payments.

A lot of the larger clients in particular have accounts payable departments who revel in not paying until the 2nd or 3rd demand.

30 day payment terms, even if paid a week later is still pretty good. In reality, 60 or 90 days is much more typical.

Joys of doing business

[Willapp]

Just for the sake of balance, my first ever contract was direct and I was lucky enough to get 7 day terms on my invoices. However I submitted the invoices weekly on Fridays and generally they were paid the following Monday!

Obviously this isn't the norm but it does show that direct != terrible payments.

[psychocandy]

I've known direct people and it always seems to be direct that causes the problem rather than via an agency.

One place I worked lost a VERY good guy because, in the end, he just got pissed off with chasing it every single time. Weeks late on 30 days EVERY time. In the end, he said, it was just wasting hours of his time chasing it all the time.

[anthony]

Yeah direct with ClientCo... 2 or 3 days late is not a problem, but when you're going 1 week+ then its getting a bit more than an issue....

Contract says "invoice date + 30 days = payment date" (clearly not like that )