As an elaboration on my simple metrics post from yesterday I’m sharing my personal experience with each metric. The first metric is “How long do clients take to pay their invoices.” Why is that important? The main reason is obvious – your money is safer with you. And to get paid you must first invoice. I’ve tried several methods over the years and here are some thoughts on when to invoice for web development.
- Invoice at the end, Net 30.
- Invoice 100% at the beginning, starting work on the sending of the invoice
- Invoice 100% at the beginning, starting upon receipt of the first payment
- Invoice 50% of at the beginning, starting work upon receipt of payment, and invoicing the remaining 50% on the completion of the project
I’ve tried them all, and here is my experience
- Invoice at the end – It has worked worked, but avoid if at all possible. On some projects the money only changes hands at the very end and it can be profitable to use this method. Be warned though, I’ve found most client relationships will take a hit from this method. This method will draw deadbeats like flies.
- Invoice 100% at the beginning, starting work on the sending of the invoice – I’ve found that this bring out counterproductive perfectionism in clients
- Invoice 100% at the beginning, starting upon receipt of the first payment – I have had mixed results with this method. Since the client has already paid for the work, he usually feels no need to make anything easy for you, and will never feel bad for endless phone calls and meetings (this happens in about 80% of cases). Also, clients who agree readily to this usually have little experience in the web field and require a lot of handholding
- Invoice 50% of at the beginning, starting work upon receipt of payment, and invoicing the remaining 50% on the completion of the project – I’ve found this method to be optimal, you attract experienced, non deadbeat clients who are willing to pay for quality
That’s my experience with invoicing for web development projects. What’s yours?
Editor’s Note
This blog post originally appeared on the Profit Awareness Blog – as that app is up for sale, it has been consolidated into the main Digital Tool Factory blog.
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Written By Steve French |
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So that’s the case? Quite a revelatoin that is.
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