How to get paid faster as a contractor
The job is done. The client is happy. And the money shows up three weeks later, after two texts you did not want to send. Most of that delay is on the contractor's side, and most of it is fixable with habits, not software.
1. Invoice the day you finish
The single biggest change. An invoice sent from the driveway, while the client is standing in the finished kitchen, gets paid. The same invoice sent Sunday night from the kitchen table competes with the mortgage and the car payment. Write it on your phone before you drive off.
2. Take cards
A client who can tap a link and pay with a card, Apple Pay or Google Pay pays now. A client who has to find the checkbook pays Friday, maybe. Card fees are around 3 percent. Being paid three weeks sooner on a $6,000 invoice is worth more than $180 to most contractors, and you can build the fee into the price.
3. Put a due date on it
"Due on receipt" for small jobs. "Due in 7 days" for bigger ones. An invoice with no date is a suggestion. An invoice with a date is a bill. Net 30 is for companies with an accounts payable department; a homeowner does not need a month.
4. Get the deposit and the progress payments up front
The final invoice is easy to pay when it is 20 percent of the job, and hard when it is 100 percent. Collect a deposit at signing and a payment at each milestone, so the balance at the end is small. The guide on deposits covers what is normal and which states cap it.
5. Make the invoice impossible to question
Line items that match the signed estimate, each approved change on its own line, the deposit shown as paid, the balance in bold. An invoice the client understands in ten seconds gets paid in ten seconds. One that raises a question sits until they get around to asking it.
Photos of the finished work on the invoice end most "is it really done" questions before they are asked.
6. Follow up on a schedule, not a mood
A reminder the day after the due date, friendly, with the pay link again. Another a week later. A phone call at two weeks. Written down as a rule, it is not awkward, it is your process, and clients respect a process. Waiting until you are annoyed makes the message worse and later.
For work that repeats
Maintenance contracts, lawn care, cleaning, an HVAC service plan: put the client's card on file once and charge it on a schedule. No invoice to send, no reminder to write, and a failed card gets retried and flagged without you doing anything.
Common questions
Should I charge a late fee?
You can, if it is on the estimate and the invoice before the work starts. Something like 1.5 percent a month is common. In practice the fee matters less than the fact that it is written down: clients pay on time to avoid it far more often than they pay it.
Can I add the card fee to the invoice?
Rules vary by state and by card network, and some states restrict surcharges. The clean approach is to price the job so the fee is covered and give the client the choice of card, bank transfer or check.
What about a client who just will not pay?
A written demand with a deadline, then a mechanic's lien where your state allows one, then small claims. All of it goes better with a signed estimate, a clear invoice and a record of the reminders you sent.