chasing payments feels like a second job some days
You nailed it. I swear, I spend more time tracking down checks than picking out tile. The “check’s in the mail” line is classic—makes me want to put up a missing persons poster for my payments. At this point, I just budget for delays... and maybe invest in stronger coffee.
makes me want to put up a missing persons poster for my payments
- Been there. Last year, I waited so long for a reimbursement I started calling it “Schrödinger’s check”—it both exists and doesn’t.
- My spreadsheet has a whole column just for “pending (maybe forever)” payments.
- At this point, I just assume the money’s on vacation somewhere nice.
I hear you on the “pending forever” column—mine’s more like a graveyard at this point. Sometimes I wonder if the money’s just out there, wandering around lost with all the missing socks from the dryer. I’ve tried everything from sending polite reminders to getting a bit more direct, but it feels like some clients just operate on their own mysterious timeline.
Curious if anyone’s found a system that actually helps speed things up? I’ve thought about late fees, but I’m not sure if that just scares off repeat business. Or maybe it’s just part of the job and you have to build in a buffer for the “maybe someday” payments... Anyone ever actually get paid faster by changing up their invoicing process?
Late fees are a bit of a gamble, honestly. I started adding them after getting burned too many times, and yeah, a couple clients grumbled, but most just paid up faster. I also switched to sending invoices right after the job’s done instead of waiting till the end of the month—seems like folks are more likely to pay when it’s fresh in their mind. Still get a few stragglers, but it’s not as bad as before. Sometimes I think chasing payments is just baked into the gig, though...
It never really gets *easy*, does it? Sometimes I wonder if chasing down payments is just part of the job description nobody tells you about. I’ve tried late fees too—mixed results. One client actually argued the late fee was “unfair” because she was “busy with life.” I get it, but I’m not exactly running a charity here.
I’ve found that sending the invoice as soon as I finish a phase (instead of waiting for the whole project wrap-up) helps a bit, especially when people are still excited about the work. But then you get that one client who wants to “review everything with their partner” before paying, and suddenly it’s three weeks later and I’m sending reminders.
Have you ever tried breaking up payments even more? Like, deposit, mid-point, and final? I started doing that after a couple of big jobs went sideways, and it’s cut down on the stress a lot. Still, there’s always that anxiety around the final payment. I sometimes question if being more strict would scare off good clients, but being too lenient just leaves me frustrated.
Curious if you’ve ever just refused to work with someone again because of payment issues? I had to do that once, and it felt weirdly satisfying, but also a little risky since word-of-mouth is such a big deal in this business.
At the end of the day, I guess we’re all just trying to find that sweet spot between being professional and not getting walked over.