Chasing late payments is one of the most frustrating parts of running a service business. Your team works hard, you provide excellent service, send off an invoice and then…nothing. The payment due date passes. You send an email, maybe two… but still no response. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Late payments are nightmare fuel for many field service businesses owners, but the good news is there’s a way to solve this for good; automation. 

So how do you use automation to stop chasing late invoices and improve your cash flow? Here’s a quick guide to getting your invoicing automated so you can shorten your payment timelines this month!

The Ripple Effect of Late Payments

Late payments are more than just an annoying business quirk, they hurt your business far more than you might realise. They don’t just impact your immediate cash flow, the ripple effect from a late payment can slow down your business. Enough late payments can grind everything to a halt. If you’re waiting on payments, you have to delay ordering supplies, you might miss out on the chance to hire great talent or even struggle to pay your business bills. Also whilst there might be a delay in the invoice payment process, repeated reminders can sour relationships with clients who can perceive this as a simple delay being turned into an ongoing issue.

There are also the hidden and indirect costs attached to chasing late payments. Think about it, the hours your team spends emailing, calling and chasing invoices would definitely be better spent on tasks that actually push the business forward. Because most businesses do this as a routine part of the day, the time cost is often hidden. Crafting reminder emails, sending follow-ups, and tracking down customers can add up to a lot of lost time. In fact, according to recent industry reports, small and medium businesses spend around 8-10% of their work week trying to recover overdue payments.

This is where automation comes in. By implementing automatic invoicing reminders, your team can take back those hours, avoid the awkwardness of late payment discussions and dramatically improve your chances of getting paid on time.

  

How Do Automatic Reminders Help?

With Workever you can set up scheduled reminders so your clients get those ‘gentle nudges’ in time and without you lifting a finger or making a call. You can personalise these reminders ahead of time to keep your brand’s voice consistent and send them via email or text. Plus with automation only a click away, you can ensure invoices never fall through the cracks again.

An easy way to start shortening your payment timeline today is to create clear payment terms for your clients. Payment delays often happen because clients don’t know at what stage of the job they are meant to pay. Set up clear and concise payment terms and Workever will help you embed them directly into your invoices to avoid any confusion.

You could also choose to incentivise early payments. After all, everyone loves a deal. Offering a small discount for clients who pay early can help speed up your payment timeline and Workever’s invoicing systems can help you implement this easily with discount terms built directly into the invoice structure.

 

Payment Delays Before and After Automatic Reminders

Shifting from manual reminders to automatic reminds can save you almost 25% of the delays to your payment timeline. This means quicker cash flow, fewer headaches and more time to focus on growing your business.

 

 Payment timelines savings using automation

 

Get Started In 4 Easy Steps

Shifting over to automatic invoicing might sound like a big leap, but with the right tools like Workever, it’s actually incredibly simple. Workever’s intuitive design is built for ease of use (we’ve won Capterra’s “Best Ease of Use” award two years running) with integration features to help create a seamless invoicing experience for your business. Here’s how you can get started in 4 easy steps:

  

1) Integrate Existing Client Data

Adding your existing customer information is a breeze with Workever, ensuring that none of your data is lost during the transition.

2) Set Up Your Payment Terms

Take the guesswork and confusion out of your payment timelines. Customise your payment terms, whether it is net 30, 45 or 60 days and Workever will help you apply them consistently across all your invoices.

 

3) Set Your Customised Reminders

Schedule your reminders to go out automatically when you prefer, whether it’s a gentle reminder a week before the due date or a more direct follow-up after the invoice is overdue.

 

4) Monitor Your Payment Flow and Adjust Accordingly

Workever offers real-time reporting to allow you to track your payments and adjust your reminder schedule as needed. From one dashboard, you’ll get to see who has paid and who hasn’t, as well as all your other admin tasks.

 

 

Switch Today and Stop Chasing Payments