[Mrs Nicholls]

Hi

I have had a new office clean start 1 december and in my contract which they signed i state that payment is due in full 30 days from date of invoice (dated 1 dec - due 31 dec), and now i phoned to chase payment as its a week late, and they said so no plussed - oh you will get that when our accounts deal with it at the end of january !!!

They said these are our terms and if you are not happy then we will have to find another cleaning service.

I said too right i'm not happy you signed and agreed my terms and are now in breach of contract so i've suspended with view to cancel all services as of today.

Any one else had probs with office contracts recently - these are solicitors offices also, so you would think they knew our contract is legit !

Lisa
xxx

[BDCS]

personally I'd put up with their shedule so long as its regular

[Pristine Clean]

OK,

I understand that you are fruastrated! However, even if it is in your T&C's  you still have to allow time. Given that its just the end of Christmas... and most are just getting back into the swing of things they may not like the way you persisted in chasing for payment.

Is it a contract that was worth having.... if so I would have left it and just telephoned and asked to speak to the accounts payable department and not someone who is just in the office.

Even though in T&C's you may find you wait 90 days for payment! Unfortunatley if you cannot handle this length then you may need to find another source of work...

Its very common practice to hold out payment in the commercial sector. Some companies hold 2 - 3 invoices.

After a while they catch up, its all about meeting half way! chase politely. Be friendly it will pay off in the end. However if your service is not up to scratch you may find they dump you any way as there are lots of contractors out there that will happily wait for the money. And can easily wait and afford as they have enough for the short cash flow.

Ipersonally would not have seen this as an issue 1 week late, all you had to do is ask when are tey likley to aprove your invoice. Yes it needs to be aproved . Then entered into a BACS runs now your invoice maybe in a week just after the previous bacs run. They wont just make a bacs run on several hundered just because they owe one client like yourselve. You have to wait when they run all the others.. Bacs cost them money. So they do a batch together!

Be patient! Or lose the contract!


Dave

[bonsey]

especially as its solicitors they will find some way of getting out of contract  

[Pristine Clean]

Also lisa,

You say you started the contract 1st December. And you invoiced on the 1st December! Well normally you work in hand... So your invoice should have been dated 1st January 2009  requesting payment for December... So yes they can hold you legally as you have invoiced before the work has finished!

and you could have chased 1 - 2 weeks later.. not demanding chasing politely!

[Mrs Nicholls]

Thanks for replies, We have always invoiced this way for 4+ years without complaint and usually no hassle, it was with some advise from business advisors, and some experienced members on here that we started this way, cashflow reasons - who wants to wait 60+ days for a payment? not me thats for sure, cant afford to.

I'm going to stand my ground on this one, they agreed to it, so no reason why they should walk all over me, i have been burned before with this not about to go through it again.

thanks everyone
xxx

[Pristine Clean]

I admire you for standing your ground!

Everyone runs companies different. Its does not mean that any one is incorrect its just theres procedure like your, invoicing before hand.

I wish you well in handling this one.


Dave

[Chris B]

Have i missed something? started on the first, so you will have invoiced them at the end of December, 30 days arnt up yet.. :

[Andrew Briscoe]

For invoice date i would have used 31st of Dec and expect it in Jan depending on days agreed.
Never know anyone date an invoice first day of month,
Andrew

[KLEEN-ZONE]

Don't get it! 

How can  you invoice before doing any work?

[Jonny jones]

hi lisa,

this is how i do it to, when i take the contract to them, i give them the contract which they sign i explain that this is the invoice for the full ammount then i give them another paper explaining how i want to be paid,  ie,  give them ban details so they can sort out bacs or something, im still waitig on two payments now and they were due nov 30th and dec 30th, so im chasing them up today as these are not figures to be sniffed at,


so your right to do what your doing but you must be more patient,


tahnx jonny

[Nick Vassilev]

Be careful when suspending the service. You may find yourself having to cover costs if they arrange a third party to do the works you were contracted to do. Even if you invoiced them before the completion of the December work.
My advice is: be polite and speak directly to their accounts department. 

I think it is worth checking with a solicitor about the advanced invoicing clause in your contract.

Good luck
Nick

[cml]

Unless I have totally misunderstood your question it would seem as if your solicitors are correct.  Alternatively as it stands you will be billing for works in advance where most companies would generally pay in arrears.

If work commenced on 1st December and invoiced on 1st of December then you billing in advance of works.
Revaluation you current position.  Try not to severe your relationship because you may have just miscalculated your billing period.  If it is your intention to bill for works in advance you must appreciate that most firms will not work under these conditions especially in todays economic climate.

So an invoice for works at the end of December will be due at the end of January.

[Fox]

I don't think there is a problem with Lisa's invoicing just maybe her patience!  I invoice on the 1st of every month for works done that month to the last friday so this month I have invoiced on 1/01/09 for work done to 30/01/09 and payment will be due on 01/02/09, (30 day terms) in effect money is due 'on completion'  I have never had a problem with this and most companies (even big nationals) comply.  However I have been known to wait an extra 30 days especially for the first invoice because of set up time.

Fox