Making Sure Your Invoices Are Paid By Christmas

Christmas is a wonderful time of year. Everyone gets to take a step back, take a break, and not worry about anything for a while. Business is put on hold (for most) for even just a few days, and we can all relax and enjoy some well-earned R&R. Which is why it’s so important to make sure everything is squared away before the festive shutdown. No one wants to be worrying about the niggly things they haven’t done over Christmas – especially if those niggly things are outstanding invoices. So this year, we have 5 tips to make sure you get paid in time for Christmas – without any outstanding invoices waiting for you when you come back.

Don’t Forget the Early Christmas Shutdown

This might seem a little silly, but it’s important to remember that December isn’t a full working month. Most businesses will shut down at least a week before the end of December, and some might even shut down as early as 2 weeks. So, while in the normal run of things accounts payable teams will set up their monthly payment run in the last few days of the month, they will be looking to do it much earlier in the month, or leave your invoice until the New Year. That means that if you want to be paid on time, you need to be on top of things. To make sure you get in on that December payment run:

• Send your invoices over as early as possible
• Include a full statement of all outstanding invoices
• Make sure your payment terms and due dates are crystal clear
• Make it clear that you expect payment before Santa arrives

Get to Know Who’s Paying you

Rodger in marketing might be your main contact with the client and the one you have a working relationship with, but we will bet you money he’s not the guy paying you. So there’s no point sending him invoices, reminders or chasing him – because he’ll have no clue what’s going on and no power to do anything about it. Besides, he’d rather be in the pub in a Santa hat. So instead find out who in the accounts payable team looks after their account, get to know them by name and make sure you have all of their correct contact details. Then? Build a relationship there, and get to know how they usually do things. This can help give you some clarity on what their processes are (in case you need to change something to make life easier), and it means you’re more likely to get on that December pay run.

Prioritise Customers with December Year-Ends

If you have customers with a year-end accounting date of December 31^st, then this could end up being a problem for you. You see, a common way for businesses to make their year-end accounts look a little more favourable is to hold off on paying any outstanding bills until after their year-end date. If that’s December 31^st, it means you might not get paid until the new year, as the customer wants to keep as much cash in their business as physically possible. You can find out if this is likely to be an issue by doing some research at Companies House, and for the customers with a December year-end, you can then send out their invoices earlier. It also helps to speak to the accounts payable team and just remind them of your payment terms at this time of year.

Move to Online Invoicing

If you’re not already, switching to online invoicing is a great way to ensure payments are made in a timely manner – especially at Christmas. This removes the need for printing hard-copy invoices and removes the risk of them getting lost along the way. It also gives customers a wider variety of ways to pay, since you can hook your accounting software up to various online payment gateways. It’s a simple step, but it really can make a huge difference.

Get Direct Debits in Place

If you’re taking regular payments from clients for an ongoing service, then you should be trying to get them to set up a direct debit for the payment. This is a hugely efficient way to take recurring payments and can save you a lot of time in reminders and chasing. Direct debits mean that you take payment directly from the customer’s bank account at a pre-arranged time, with no input needed from the client (once it’s set up). That means no waiting around on accounts payable teams to pay you, and you’ll know exactly when your money will turn up each month.

At Debtcol, we see customers struggling with seasonal non-payment every year. It’s something very stressful, but it really doesn’t have to be. With the right preventative steps, Christmas can become the least stressful time of year for your business. If you would like to find out more or ask any questions about how we could help, just get in touch with us today for your free consultation.