To think that if you get an invoice you dont NEED to pay it immediately?

[Hundredthmillionthdiet]

Context : used a new mechanic to repair car who issues invoices. Its taken 4 weeks to get the invoice and I've said to OH we can pay it when we get paid on Wednesday. OH wants to pay it now out savings , I'd rather not as more often than not the money doesn't get replaced (that's our issue not mechanics')

I'm not disputing paying it - of course not. Just opinions. Usually invoices will say pay withing x number of days which I've asked him to double check. Just wondering what's reasonable, as I'm sure there will be times cars need fixed etc and people to have the money immediately to hand.

@Hundredthmillionthdiet pay as quickly as possible if not paying on the day of repair! (why was it not paid immediately?) especially so if it a new or very small business which relies on quick payment.

You've had 4w to save /pay for it

Amazed the garage left it that long

My garage you pay on the day or don't take away

my partner is a landscaper and I cannot tell you how much of a pain it is when people don't pay their invoice.

He goes to fancy houses, of retired couples financially able to throw 15 grand at new patio (meanwhile we've got three kids at home and are just getting by). My partner grafts hard in the rain and sun to do a good job for them,and then the invoice gets sent ..and the customer comes back and says 'oh sorry I can't pay you until next week when I can access my savings'.

Absolutel pisstake. My partner still has to pay his labourers, pay the vanfuel, pay for everything else.

Not everyone is like this, but occasionally yes, people look at an invoice and think they can choose to pay it when they like. You don't go to a shop, take the goods and tell them you'll be choosing to pay in a few days.

Your husband is right, you owe the mechanic that money, and it isn't his problem that you might not organise your savings properly. Pay the man and your savings can wait until next week, not him.

the mechanic might not even have any savings.

I have not had 4 weeks grace. We wanted to pay but werent told the amount. The mechanic prefers to invoice, can't budget for an amount when the mechanic himsefl wasnt sure.how much it would be due to the job.

Ive never been issued with an invoice, always paid on the day actually.

What would you have done if you had been charged on the day, where would you have got the money from?

I am happy to be paid within 30 days from them recieving my invoice.

The only things I had shorter payment terms on was in person services and that was a flat rate quoted up front and the client knew what that cost was in advance, and understood it was 'pay on the day'. In that situation yes, it did piss me off when people would announce after their consultation that they could only pay by cheque or would pay via bank transfer and then didn't do it for bloody weeks... but that is a very different scenario.

The invoice I paid today was for something that took a week to send and a further two weeks to invoice for, and that invoice arrived yesterday with a 'payment due now' on it. That still doesn't mean 'right this second' that means 'at your earliest convenience, don't wait a whole bloody month' so as I'd already got off the pc (i don't have banking on my phone) it waited til today. I certainly couldn't have paid it any earlier as I didn't know how much it was for!

@Hundredthmillionthdiet you knew you had an invoice coming and didn't budget? Why not?

Have you actually read the invoice to see what your payment deadline is yet or are you still just arguing that invoices mean you don't have to pay straight away?

As someone who works for a small local business "in the trades" I can confirm that this is absolutely true. We really appreciate our customers who pay quickly and we certainly remember them when it comes to prioritising new work. Our standard invoice terms are 5 days for domestic work, 30 days for commercial.

100% agree

Dh had his own fencing business for 10yrs and would get 50% upfront but then in quote/invoice said payment due within 48hrs if completed job

But so many left it 3/4/5 days and it's horrible chasing

But as you said. They pay out for other materials , wages , petrol , pli etx

And the larger the house the longer they took to pay

I do, every single time.
Ive never ever had a problem re using any supplier.

@Doteycat enjoy it while it lasts...

Just pay out of your savings then on Wed transfer the same amount into your savings.
If you can't manage to remember that then I wouldn't rely on remembering to pay the invoice if you wait either.

27 years in business running a fleet of vans.
Its lasting.

But they just can't do that! Because it won't go back in apparently! I mean any functioning person would just set up a payment to go back in automatically on Wednesday! 🤷‍♀️

@Doteycat well you're hardly likely to say otherwise are you?

But if you like, I believe you, you know best.

I usually pay same day of receipt or day after. Both my father and DH’s were self employed and we know from experience how important cash flow is. I’ve had discount on a second job from someone I paid promptly.

I always pay within a day or two unless it's arguable that a trades has come to fix something like a leak and you just need to check out if the leak is definitely fixed by using that tap or shower or whatever it is for a few days with no further problems. For bog standard cleaning or gardening or piano lesson / exercise class / babysitting / anything similar - pay on the day.

If he took four weeks to send out the invoice then he can't be desperate - you're fine to wait until Wednesday.

I pay immediately but that's for my own peace of mind rather than anything else.

So @Hundredthmillionthdiet have you paid the invoice

Well ya, i am. Im not in the habit of lying.
Nor does it matter if you believe me.

@Doteycat of course your not in the habit of lying, you've told me your not, so fair enough.

My general rule is that I pay trades immediately because that's someone's livelihood and I don't want to be responsible for someone worrying about how they're going to put food on the table. However, since he's taken 4 weeks to even invoice, he may not be in such a rush for the money. I think you could reasonably message to check if it's okay to leave it till Wednesday. Don't just wait and not tell him though.

I must be living in a different world - when I get a car service within a couple of hours I get an estimate of cost and the agreement to proceed. Before getting the car back they ring back to pay the cost and then they deliver.

This is odd I’ve always had to pay my mechanics when picking up the car. But I do get invoiced by my cat sitter.

I ask her the invoice before the trip. (That’s my hang up she’s perfectly fine with invoicing after we get back) then I generally pay within the week of getting the invoice.

Doesn’t the invoice include the payment terms? They usually do. Net 15/net 30 or whatever.