How often are you chasing your customers when they don’t pay on time? If you aren’t doing it at least weekly then you have a problem. Did you know there is a direct relationship between the time you do the work and the time it takes you to bill someone and the amount of time it takes for them to pay? Did you know also, that there is a direct relationship between the time you send out the invoice and the time you take to follow up and the time it takes your customer to pay? If you are not diligent in chasing your unpaid invoices your customer receives an unconscious message that you don’t really care about when you get paid. Your trading terms are 7/14/30 days right? So, if the customer doesn’t pay on time shouldn’t you be doing something about it? Having a set time/day each week to follow up your tardy customers can help you stay on top of people who don’t pay on time. Setting that time aside in your diary for the day after payments are due, or 7 days after you email them a friendly reminder, tells your customer that you care about getting paid. Sometimes people get busy and they forget, but if you give them a prompt reminder, and if they have the money and they intend to pay, then those timely reminders will help to get you paid sooner. If you are too busy to do your own collections then why not hire a bookkeeper or virtual administration assistant to do it for you. Time is money so paying them $40 an hour to do collections so that you can get out there and do what you are good at makes sense. Invest a few hours each week into collecting your unpaid accounts and you will have your cash flow humming in no time.