Struggling to get paid

[Yippeeforme]

Any other teachers giving private lessons struggle to get paid on time? Or get people throwing heaps of money at you in one go and expecting you to just keep track for them, instead of cooperating with whatever payment schedule is on the contract you both signed in the first lesson day?
My bookkeeping is a mess with this nonsense.

Yep, my DS has this problem and is far too relaxed about. Causes problems further down the line. I favour invoice for 10 lessons at the start of term and pay within first week or no teaching .. but I am quite intolerant and a terrible administrator.

We just find a system that suits the individual but make sure it's paid in front.
Not likely atm, but we used to get calls of "can't make today, going shopping with auntie".
Not everyone can fit in with certain payment schedules, I don't understand why your accounts are in a mess.
I just keep a record of income and outgoings.
Pay tax accordingly and don't bother if they pay once a month, half term, weeky etc as long as they pay in front.

It's messy because there are about 3 or 4 repeat offenders who I have to keep reminding to pay me, they then not only pay me for that missed week plus current week, but they'll throw me a big random lump sum of their choosing that I then have to keep track of. One of them is paid up to the first week back in January, the other has paid for 3 out of 4 weeks in November, and another is somewhere in between and there's a 4th who keeps paying for 2 weeks at a time instead of 1. I have practically begged multiple times that they please pay me weekly and they signed a contract to that effect on the beginning, but it's no use, and I'm struggling to keep track! And they leave it to me to keep track and if I forget, they'll not pay until I remind them. But I can't exactly get rid of them for being late to pay because they do eventually pay after reminders, only they pay what and when they feel like and it's driving me up the wall.

I've thought about switching to a fixed monthly fee that's been calculated on academic weeks of the year X how much I would charge per week, divided by 12. But I don't know how that accounts for times I myself need to cancel, eg for illness or family emergency etc.? And I used to work in a place that did this and they got hassle every month that there was a holiday, summer, Christmas, half-terms... People would refuse to pay despite having had this explained at the start. I thought I was simplifying things by making it weekly!

I've thought about half or whole terms upfront but a few of them would struggle to afford that.

Maybe if you invoiced termly and made term up front the default option then offered payment plans on request you'd get less messing about? I have to be honest, paying weekly would be a big faff for me and I quite possibly would forget or not have cash or try to get ahead of myself to avoid doing those.

At the end of the day you are the teacher, you get to set the terms but you have to enforce them to make them stick. Don't be embarrassed about asking for what you need. I need to be paid before the lesson takes place is not unusual or unreasonable in any way. Even if in some cases it's at the door on the way in.

Keeping track of payments should be easy enough if you set up a suitable spreadsheet, if that is something you are willing to do. Ditto sending out a standard text chasing payment. Are those things you actually want to do though or do you need to set rules so that doesn't happen? You can still allow some wriggle room but e.g. second forgotten payment in a term = no lesson might help focus the mind.

Offering at least an option for lump sum in advance would at least solve the problem of forgetful eejits like me. I'd say make that the default as it's simpler for you and then for weekly payers you've already been flexible so psychologically they feel more obliged to remember too.

My 3 pay 7 instruments between them. We pay the piano teacher who comes to our house in cash weekly. The rest are lessons in school - 3 teachers there bill upfront termly (so 10-12 lessons) so we pay within a few days. The other school employs the music teachers (private school) and we pay at the start of a term for lessons the last term. I prefer paying in blocks of 10-12 for the term. As I am not there though in school I expect the teachers to keep track of how many lessons my kids have done. There is one teacher I do have to chase at the start of term and insist on paying upfront. She always says she is rubbish at invoices etc.

We've had some quite ad hoc arrangements. When I pay I just text the teacher saying how much and which dates the payment covers then we both know exactly what is what. If either of us cancel then one of us will send an updated text.

Or bill them termly/half termly as a default and give them the option, say this would be appreciated if possible but if not, you can offer monthly invoice in advance instead. If the main blocker is cancellations, you could commit to making up any lessons when you are unavailable, and/or take the money off the next bill.

However I hadn't appreciated that paying a lump in advance would be so annoying. It sounds like goodwill to me. People paying late, obviously that is v annoying. But don't do the Katherine Tate granny thing of pretending it's fine to their face.

What is the contract they sign up to? Have you thought about using an app that takes the payment more like direct debit? We have a couple where they send an invoice and you go through the app to pay it rather than using a bank transfer. It works well.

Decide what system works best for you and let your students/ parents know. Send invoices with clear instructions of when and how much to pay. People will appreciate clarity. It is a pain in the neck for everyone if it's not clear who owes what.

Book keeping is part of running your business. Keeping good accounts is very very easy. If you keep on top of it.

You either need to get a subscription system set up (similar to Scouting) that takes a payment before each lesson, or you need to invoice for each term in advance. You as the service provider need to take a strong lead in terms of keeping track of how pays what and who owes what. Is it sounds as though it has been a little ad hoc, making things unnecessarily complicated for everyone.
An on line system such as quick file should make things easier for you.

"it's driving me up the wall."

It's your attitude that must change. All 3 examples you give are very easy to record and deal with.

The student who is paid up until January ? great. what's the problem here?

I do accounts. I adore doing accounts. Every single person who has ever asked me to help them with their accounts, I have. for free, as a friend, and set them up a number of Excel spreadsheets or xero or QuickBooks or whatever they need.

My closest friend teaches piano and flute. The other teaches maths.

and then they just keep track of it. and it's really easy.

but your mindset really does need to change here.

I think you need to get better at keeping records!
You will have different clients over the years who will be good or bad at paying but you remain the same and you are the one providing the service and wanting to get paid!
Excel spreadsheet, apps mentioned above or something really simple like a folder with a piece of paper for each client that you fill in: date paid, value, no. of lessons that covers and dates of lessons. Fill it in daily.
Also half an hour a week dedicated to checking it's all up to date and chasing payments owed.
You just need to get organised.

I just struggle when I'm being paid late, chasing it up and getting nowhere for a couple weeks, then getting paid random amounts to have to track as it makes more work for me. I want to spend less time faffing with late payments and random payments.

I'm not a fan of cash either btw, it's even harder to keep track of.

Would it be less hassle to offer a termly payments option and just note when they or I miss a lesson and deduct that from the next bill? If its an option that most of them choose, then I can just use that going forward I guess?

I'm only a service user, not a teacher but my dc extra curricular activities operate either in
termly invoice - fixed amount of money for all the term's activities no matter if they are attended or not. if provider cannot run the activity is rescheduled or deducted from next term's invoice.
refunds strickly only in case dc can't continue due to long term illness/injury.

or

10er strip with a strict 48 hour booking/cancellation system.

wrt chasing - get a good template. that will take emotions out of if.
also be prepared to escalate non payments to small claims or termination of services.

And I think what boggles my brain is how to write down in a spreadsheet Person A has paid X amount which is 2 weeks late at time of payment but covers an additional 5 weeks following date of payment" 🤯

I'm not a bookkeeper but I would hazard one line per lesson, record date it was invoiced for in one column (if applicable) and date paid for in another. Different tab for each pupil.

If you send invoices and record when they are paid it doesn't seem that complicated. I wonder if improving your invoices is the way forward.

One way is to have a running account for each client. When they have a lesson, add on the cost of the lesson (new dated row). When they make a payment, deduct amount of payment (new dated row) . Total at the top (so you don't have to keep moving it) will be either amount owed to you (positive) or amount overpaid (negative).

Or you could have a table with a row for each client and a column per week to note down lessons, another table ditto to note down amounts paid.
Then a third table with Balance carried forward from previous term if any + cost of lessons- amounts paid = amount currently owed. I'd do it that way then you have two pieces of a4 you can stick to your fridge and update as you go till you feed it into the computer.

You could even colour code it so it shows up people who owe you in red alongside the name/number to send the chasing message to. Set aside an hour at the weekend to update everything and send any reminders.

Then for your paying ahead person you could either put it under the columns for future weeks, or put in larger amount under current week and zeros under the next 5 weeks to remind you not to expect anything.

Reminder: you don't have to accept paying ahead if you don't want to. One of our teachers refused payment even for ad hoc lessons DC had already attended as she hadn't invoiced it yet. You can also set your rules for missed lessons e.g. one of our teachers has refused to accept payment if we miss for any reason including last minute, though sure that would change if we were taking the piss! Another offers reschedule if possible otherwise max one missed lesson can be deferred to the next term if 1 week notice given.

I pay one teacher on the day by bacs through app, if I forget he texts me to remind! Other teacher sends a monthly invoice. I don't know how they keep their records but I know they must have to spend a bit of time on it. I think you need to be a bit more strict. Good luck!

And I think what boggles my brain ishowto write down in a spreadsheet Person A has paid X amount which is 2 weeks late at time of payment but covers an additional 5 weeks following date of payment" 🤯
Honestly this is so simple. Get yourself on a bookkeeping course. With Qucikfile you have an area for each client where all invoices and payments are allocated. Pre payments can be shown which will be credited against future invoices.
If you are using Excel just have a spreadsheet for each client listing invoices in one column and payments in another. It's just a case of making sure that the totals tally and reminding them if they owe you.
You could even go basic and have a manual card system with invoices and payments detailed in columns.

Why not just ask them to set up a direct debit for X amount per week and if you have to cancel a lesson offer an alternative time.

I don't understand how you can run a business without keeping track of what lessons you're holding and whether you've been paid for them. How can you prepare your tax returns etc?
This is really basic book keeping.

I agree with the PPs who say you should keep track of the payments yourself - I used to freelance and always assumed that was "part of working for yourself".
The few times I've bought services from independent people (cleaners, childcare, landlords etc) they had their preferences but were always open to changes if it meant they were more likely to get paid. This has set my expectations for any similar interactions going forward and I would expect it I guess!

I do appreciate that not everyone has the skills or excel knowledge to keep track, however it's quite easy to pick up and once you've done it once or twice it's second nature. There's a lot of online videos and courses, or excel templates that can help if you are new to it. There's also companies that can manage that for you, or the cheaper option of software.

Happy to make recommendations if you need, and good luck going forward!

I definitely expect the teacher who invoices to keep track of lessons attended. I do check the invoice when it comes and occasionally query things, but if she wants to be paid, she needs to make it clear. Most other clubs are direct debit up front, which is easier but less flexible.

My books were easier to do when I had fewer students and they were all excellent at paying as asked, but I got new ones in the past several months who are annoying the hell out of me regarding money.

Yes I think doing a course is a good idea, thanks!

However I also still think that people paying as and when they feel like it is some rude bs especially after signing a contract agreeing to pay weekly with me verbally confirming with them too. I don't go to the grocery shop, grab a bunch of carrots, walk out, come back the next week and grab a bunch more and throw the cashier money for the last one plus the never month's estimated number etc. So I'll also do as another poster suggested and find or write a template to send that takes the emotion out but removed them of the agreement next time they need a payment prompt.

Many thanks for the constructive advice 🤗

Lots of good examples of how to record above.
Before you sign up and pay for a course that may have lots of thing not relevant to you have a look on YouTube for some ideas.
I would fully expect to pay termly in advance for your services. Not sure if that's the norm or not though.