Getting paid faster

Waiting to get paid is one of the biggest frustrations in small business. Here are practical strategies to speed things up — and what to do when you can’t wait.

1. Invoice immediately

Don’t wait until the end of the month to invoice. Send the invoice the day the work is completed (or the day goods are delivered). Every day you delay invoicing is a day added to your wait.

2. Make payment terms clear

Put your payment terms prominently on every invoice. “Payment due: 30 days from invoice date” is clear. “Please remit at your earliest convenience” is not. Consider tightening terms if industry norms allow it — even moving from 30 to 20 days makes a difference.

3. Follow up on overdue invoices within 24 hours

Most overdue invoices are a result of oversight, not refusal. A polite phone call the day after a payment is due resolves most of them quickly. Email is easy to ignore; a phone call is harder to avoid.

4. Offer early payment discounts

A small discount (e.g. 1-2%) for payment within 7 days can move some clients much faster. Do the maths: is the discount cheaper than the cost of waiting?

5. Use invoice finance when you can’t wait

Sometimes a client pays on 60-day terms and there’s no negotiating it. Invoice finance lets you access money from that invoice without waiting. Fundtap pays up to 90% within hours — 24/7, one flat fee.

“We were drowning in late payments from big clients. Fundtap meant we could keep paying our team on time without taking on any debt.”

Jessica M., Staffing Agency Director, Sydney

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