Getting paid can be surprisingly hard for freelancers and businesses alike. When you offer services that don’t demand up-front payment, getting your hands on the money you’re owed can be very difficult. This isn’t something that you should have to ignore or let slip, though, and there is an easy process that you can go through to make sure that you always get paid.

To help you out with this, this article will be exploring this process, giving you the chance to get started on getting paid the money you’re owed.

Clear Agreements

A clear agreement can be the single best way to make sure that you get paid when you’re working for someone. This doesn’t always have to be a strict contract, but you need to have some evidence that they have agreed to the money you’re charging them. This can help you down the line if you need to take action to get your money back, while also ensuring that there are no surprises for your customers and clients once your work is complete and payment is due.

Making Payment Requests

Once you have an agreement and work is done, you can start to make payment requests. This will usually come in the form of an invoice, and it’s always worth giving your clients a fair window to pay the money they owe you. In most cases, this will be two weeks to a month, enabling your client to raise the money they need or find the time to pay it. Once an invoice has been sent, you shouldn’t contact your client about it until the window has passed.

Giving Reminders

Once the payment window passes and you still haven’t received your money, you can start to issue reminders. It’s always worth giving people the benefit of the doubt in this sort of situation, as it can be easy to forget about invoices when you’re running a busy operation. This reminder should be recorded, giving you evidence that you’ve taken this step. In most cases, it is fair to give your client another month to pay up with reminders coming each week.

Taking Action

While the methods above will usually result in prompt payment, there will always be times when you still haven’t received the money you’re owed after a long time. In this case, you can start to take action against the people who owe you money. Using a collection agency can be a good way to handle this, as this will give you the chance to take legal action without having to go through the process by yourself. Companies like this can often get your money back very quickly.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to take on the challenge of getting paid what you’re owed when you work in the world of business. No matter the status of your work, getting paid is always crucial, and this is something you may have to work hard at to achieve.