A lot of small businesses don’t have a sales problem. They have an invoicing problem.
The job gets finished on Tuesday. The invoice goes out “this weekend,” which turns into next Thursday. The customer pays in 30 days from whenever they got it. Meanwhile, you paid for materials weeks ago.
Every day between finishing the work and sending the invoice is a day added to when you get paid. Here are the habits I’d start with:
Invoice the day the job is done. If your software has a mobile app, send it before you leave the driveway. The work is fresh, the customer is happy, and you won’t forget the extra trip or the part you swapped.
Put the terms on every invoice. A due date, not just “net 30.” What you accept. Who to call with questions. Clear invoices get fewer “I’ll get to it” delays.
Bill change orders right away. Extra work agreed to on site should be written down and billed, not remembered at the end.
Make paying easy. Paying online or by card can remove one more reason to wait. Weigh any processing fees against the time you’d otherwise spend waiting and chasing.
Pick one follow-up day. Every Friday, look at what’s open. In my experience, a friendly reminder at a week past due goes better than an awkward call at 60 days.
Use deposits or progress billing on bigger jobs, where it fits your contracts and your trade. Check with your attorney or licensing board on any rules that apply to your type of work.
Hypothetical: an electrician finishes about $30,000 of work a month and usually invoices a week after each job. Moving to same-day invoicing doesn’t change what customers owe. It just means that money starts arriving about a week sooner, every month.
Open invoices are also one of the first things I look at in a monthly close, because “money owed to you” only helps if it actually comes in.
If your invoices are always a week behind, send me a message through the Contact page and we can set up a simpler system.
— Rachel, Two Miles LLC