To ask for the money?!?

[hasanyoneseenbarb]

I run a small cleaning company and have the same late payers week upon week...

It's a small business and I like to pay employees weekly which is proving difficult with certain customers constantly paying whenever they fancy as apposed to on the day.

AIBU to think if you are having to be reminded on a weekly basis you should either start paying cash or having a standing order?

I absolutely hate asking for money but as this is about the 7th week in a row it's starting to feel deliberate

Definitely inform all your clients that due to payment issues you have a new policy and outline it - either you take card details and charge their cards if cash isn't left out, or you add a surcharge for late payers, or you simply stop working for them if they don't pay when payment is due. Some people are shit with money, of course, but some seem to think that cleaners (or childminders) are servants who should be grateful to get paid at all.

You cant un-clean a house so always insist on payment up front

Stop cleaning their houses until the pay!!!

Understand your problem only too well OP and its a right PITA payments late ones etc.

Its a bit of an admin chore but you could try Direct Debits we used to use and agency called Eazipay there based near Ely in Cambs. You need to send that a excel spreadsheet fill in in the required ammounts on send it toi them via e-mail which once you get it set up works fine. There is a user fee but set that off against all the other hassle and it might work for you.

Pepole have to pay for such as Phones on a DD so why not the cleaning you can of course vary the ammount each time you take a payment.

Very easy company to deal with too!

www.eazipay.co.uk/

Why are you letting it go on for 7 weeks? If a client misses a payment then you dont send someone in to clean their house until there account is up to date. Also, your cleaners work for you, not your clients therefore you need to pay them for the job they have done regardless of whether your client has paid you or not.

FabbyChix Fri 15-Nov-19 15:19:12
You shouldn’t have to wait to be paid to be able to pay your staff. You should have adequate cash flow to be able to run your business without the worry of people paying

Cash flow is literally the amount of money coming in (ie customers payment ) v amount of money going on on bills
If customers don't pay , you cant pay bills , its not complicated

Op , terms and conditions are a must and a signed contract from your customer . Dont be afraid to bin a customer that is a poor payer

My mum used to have a small cleaning business if her and a few good mates, the late payers were always loaded

This really boils my piss and you definitely need to be very firm! I provide a service and I take full payment in advance only, no exceptions, if I'm not paid I don't do it. I know 2 cleaners and both complain of late payers so its obviously pretty common. Every time I've used cleaners I've paid immediately, either cash or bank transfer but I wouldn't make them wait for it as they've done the work. Get firm!

I had this with my business until I added payment in advance plus a late payment fee to the contact. Not an issue now and clients respect your more if you run your business properly (and that does include toughening up a bit).

As others have said, It was ALWAYS the well off clients that paid late because they just didn't understand the value of money. Clients who were struggling financially paid on time without fail.

You have had some excellent advice. I was a childminder for 7 years and the amount of times I heard, "I have not been to the bank." or "I will pay you Monday." It beggars belief. Contracts were signed by all parties. I lost over a £1000. Some people really take advantage. Don't be me.

It's got continually worse over the time and the well off ones are definitely the worst.

I've had many people promising to set up a direct debit that have failed to materialise

You have a right to the money and should ask for it. I understand that its uncomfortable but if you don't say anything they will keep taking advantage of you. May also be worth mentioning that when they don't pay you, you can't pay your staff so they understand the ramifications of late payments. Maybe if they see that its impacting payroll they might make more of an effort to pay on time.

Just to clarify have they paid late 7 weeks running or not paid and now into 7th week of getting the service even though they haven't paid?

Either way if you're running a business, particularly one where you have employees you HAVE to be assertive.

My friend has a commercial cleaning company, she expects payment upfront cleared by close of business the day before the service will be happening. No money = no service. If they haven't paid she contacts them around 4pm to check in, if they're umming and ahing or giving excuses they don't get the service that week, if the same happens again the following week even if they eventually paid she drops them as clients.

As she herself says she's busy enough that

A they need her more than she needs them, she has a waiting list of potential clients, is always getting interest and knows she can replace them easily

B she doesn't have time to be chasing stingy arses who think they are too "important" to have to pay on time

C she has to consider her employees and making sure she can pay them AND stay in business

If you don't deal with this appropriately and stringently you're not just risking not being able to pay employees this month you're risking the whole business collapsing and putting yourself and your employees livelihoods at risk.

Credit control is a key part of running a business, contact the late/non-payers, the ones have really taken the piss cut them off, the ditherers put them on notice, but as pps say it may well be good to write to all clients with new t&c's

"Unfortunately due to issues with some clients over payment we are having to introduce a policy of payment in advance, you can do this by (whatever way works for you the business).

If payment is not received by close of business the day before we provide your service then we cannot provide the service.

We value our customers greatly and enjoy working with you, but without timely payments we are unable to provide the service that we hope you value too."

I've had many people promising to set up a direct debit that have failed to materialise

OP;

Do you know the differnce between a Direct Debit and a standing order?.

I work in finance you need to put term & conditions . Do you have payment terms on invoice ie invoice to be paid in 7 days ?
If not they will go by theirs terms which could be anything . When you get a contract get the client to sign your terms and conditions that payment terms are and make sure you put this on each and every invoice .

Another thing to consider is putting your prices up and then billing monthly in advance with a discount for prompt payment by x date