Helpful Tactics To Encourage Your Clients To Pay On Time

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Helpful Tactics To Encourage Your Clients To Pay
On Time
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• While it may be impossible to guarantee timely
  payments from all of your accounting clients,
  there are certain things you can do to make
  yourself less vulnerable to late payments, and
  the many problems this can cause.
• Below are a few helpful tactics to encourage your
  clients to pay you on time
• Work with the right type of client
• By creating a set of criteria and an evaluation
  process for all new clients, you can get a
  clearer understanding of who you might be working
  for. Here are a few things you can incorporate
  into your selection process

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• Meet them in person or online, and conduct a
  short interview to get to know them better.
• For clients switching from another CPAs service,
  try to find out why they are doing so, and if
  this has happened before.
• Carry out a credit check to find out whether they
  are likely to pay on time
• Check to see whether they may have any pending
  lawsuits or previous court cases with other
  accounting professionals.

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• Stick to deadlines
• For your clients to be expected to meet their
  payment deadlines, its essential that youre
  able to meet your own deadlines, and provide them
  with the work they have requested, on time. You
  should also send out your bill to clients as soon
  as youve completed the work, to give yourself a
  greater chance of a timely payment.
• Request that clients pay upfront
• Whether partial or full, asking for upfront
  payments from clients before you complete their
  work, can help reduce the chance of clients not
  paying you on time, and give your cashflow a bit
  of a boost.

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• Lay out a clear policy regarding late payments
• Should a client fail to pay you on time, having a
  clear policy laid out that states what will
  happen should this occur, gives them a better
  reason not to pay you late in the future.
  Ideally, though, this should be enough to deter
  them from doing so, and your policy could include
  such things as
• A timeline for late payments
• Discounts for early payments
• Option to make recurring payments
• Fee for late payments

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• Follow up with clients
• If a client is a persistent late-payer, it may be
  that they are simply forgetting to pay you, or
  overlooking a deadline. When you notice that a
  payment is late, send a gentle reminder message.
• Dont make it hard for them to pay you
• Nowadays, there are multiple ways for clients to
  pay you, but however they choose to do so, the
  process should be straightforward and efficient.
  For example, if you send electronic invoices to
  your clients, add a payment link to it so that
  they can cover the bill as soon as they receive
  it.

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• Take advantage of tech for tracking profits and
  boosting productivity
• With help from the right technology, such as AI,
  (or an outsourced service provider with the right
  tech), youre able to do the following
• Store documents safely online for both parties to
  access easily when needed
• Identify patterns and predict trends
• Gain insight into growth opportunities for the
  future
• AI is already changing things for the better for
  so many accounting firms, it could do the same
  for yours.

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• Always remember that timely client payments are
  dependent on you providing them with a high level
  of service, meeting their requirements, and
  basically being someone they cant live without
  (professionally speaking, of course!). Hone your
  services, follow the tactics above, and start
  getting paid in full and on time!

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