Getting Invoices Paid Faster
Cash flow is not a problem of revenue; it is a problem of timing.
Notes from Randall Harper. Thirty years working alongside owner-operators, executives and boards — companies of all types and sizes — across entertainment & media, hospitality, service based business, lifestyle businesses, financial services, retail and not-for-profit, in Australia, Asia, the United Kingdom and the United States. What follows is the thinking I keep returning to.
The hidden cost of slow payers
Every day a customer holds your invoice is a day your business is, quietly, lending them money interest-free. Small businesses rarely fail from lack of revenue. They fail because too much of their revenue is parked on someone else's spreadsheet. Reducing your average debtor days by a week is often worth more than winning another customer — and considerably easier.
Make payment the easiest path
The faster you make it for a customer to pay, the faster most of them will. Send the invoice the day the job is finished, not the end of the month. Include a clickable payment link, not just bank details. Offer card, BPAY, or direct debit. Most slow payment is not malicious; it is friction. Remove friction, and a meaningful share of your debtor problem disappears.
Set terms that mean something
- State payment terms on the quote, not just the invoice — by the time they see the invoice it is too late to renegotiate.
- Default to 7 or 14 days for small jobs; 30 days is a legacy of an era you do not have to live in.
- Require deposits on larger jobs — 30% to 50% is normal, not aggressive.
- Add a small late fee clause; you will rarely need to charge it, but it changes the conversation when an invoice ages.
The follow-up rhythm
Build a simple, predictable sequence and let it run regardless of how busy you are. A friendly reminder the day after due. A firmer note at seven days. A phone call at fourteen. A formal letter at thirty. Most invoices are paid in the first two steps; the discipline is having the next ones ready so you do not freeze when they are needed. Owners who do this consistently report not just faster payment, but better customer relationships — slow payers prefer dealing with businesses that treat their own cash seriously.
When to walk away
Some customers will simply never pay on time, and a smaller subset will not pay at all. Recognising them early is a skill worth developing. Patterns — repeated excuses, missed promised dates, requests to split invoices for no good reason — usually appear before the loss does. Once a customer has crossed the line twice, change the terms or stop the work. Protecting your cash is not rudeness; it is the only way to keep the business healthy enough to serve the customers who do pay.
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The contents of this paper are the opinion of Clear Point Advisory only. Readers should rely on their own judgement and obtain professional advice appropriate to their circumstances.