6 tips for getting paid faster during COVID-19

With an economic crisis comes late or even unpaid invoices. These tips will help you to get paid faster, even while working from home.  

During tough times, it’s more important than ever to maintain a healthy cash flow, so you can continue to pay staff, bills and other expenses. However, with finances tight for most businesses, it can be difficult to follow up your customers if they’re running late on an invoice. And if you’re working from home and not meeting customers in person, it can be even trickier. These 6 tips will help you get paid faster during COVID-19 and help you to chase up clients in a professional manner. 

In summary:

• Build a relationship via video conference 
• Send quotes up front for transparency 
• Ensure your invoices are easy by making them clear and concise 
• Give your customers multiple ways to pay and consider going cashless
• Make sure your invoice email is professional and clear 
• Chase invoices with the facts, don’t let emotions come into play 

Customer relationships go a long way when it comes to getting paid. If your customers know your story and see you as human, they’ll be more inclined to pay you on time (or even before a due date). If you’re working from home and not seeing your customers at the moment, make sure to set up times to see them face-to-face using platforms like Zoom. 

Being open about estimated costs before starting a job will give your customers transparency early on. If you’re working on a big project, consider asking for a deposit. While working from home, consider setting up a video conference to run your clients through the quote, rather than just sending an email. This way you can answer questions in real time. 

Make sure your invoice looks professional (featuring your business logo and information), your payment details are easy to find, and you list any supply costs that show your immediate out of pocket charges. 

With more people working from home, it’s important to give your customers different avenues to pay, like credit card, BPAY, or bank transfer. If you deal only in cash now is the time to think about going cashless, to avoid the spread of disease. 

Ensure your invoice email relays all the important details: the date of job, amount owing, payment due date and payment details. Allow your customers to pay straight from the email, and if they owe you multiple payments, present this all in the one email, rather than sending multiple. 

Chasing invoices can be awkward and uncomfortable. It’s important to keep to the facts and not let emotions get in the way. Remember to state the date of the work, length of time payment is overdue, amount due and payment details. 

If you’d like to create professional and beautiful-looking invoices and quotes, even on your phone, try MYOB for free here.