Final Invoice

[glorybound]

Often, I get clients taking a long time to respond with comment. In my contract, I have a clause that they have 2 days to comment on each iteration and if they don't, I reserve the right to reschedule their project. Most of these delayed comments are towards the end of the process. Today, I have 3 projects sitting and waiting for comments, all with money on the table. Typically, if we are close to the end and communication slows, I send the final invoice. Today, I sent 3 final invoices on projects that are almost done (or maybe is done, but not signed off on) and have been sitting for at least a week.

How do you guys handle this?

[PIXELBOX_SRO]

Hi Bobby,
this probably would not pass with our clients
we sedn final invoice once project is done and in most of the case we get payed within month time.
We ask for 50% downpayment with secures the cashflow a bit.
Also the 2 day response time sounds a tad pushy....i mean if it takes weeks for them to respond then your reaction is justified but if its within a week i would them do their thinking.
Probably very different in US than in Czech Were so used to these types of behaviours that we dont give a damn anymore

[chris-x//]

Rescheduling if no answer within two days is, in my opinion, not tolerable. If comments delay is critical, call them to say it's urgent for you to respect the deadline, or make clear (out of your contract clauses) that if comments are not received within x hours/days, you won't be able to match the deadline. Clients are busy too.

There is always the #nocommentsnoproblems, but confirm with them everything is ok with a simple phonecall if they don't react to mails

I never send a final invoice before I get a confirmation that everything is ok and done. I ask generally 30% before starting to cover licenses, VAT paiement etc. Then final invoices can take up to one month after deadline to be paid.

Obviously, there is always a difference between contract clauses and what really happens, depends of your relationship with the client.

[andybot_cg]

Obviously, there is always a difference between contract clauses and what really happens, depends of your relationship with the client.

Yes, exactly. I've maybe only twice ever sent a final invoice before finishing a project, and that was because the client requested it! Having a deposit or an established relationship is, in almost all cases, enough to know that you will get paid for your work. Sending a final invoice before the work is done definitely seems pushy and I can't imagine it sends a very good impression to the client.
The impression you should be giving is that you are striving to do your best work and want to make sure you have their input. I just finished a project where the client and their architect had niggle after niggle about the final images. At least it gave me an excuse to push back their schedule, since some of my other work was more pressing. At the end, I know that when I sent the final invoice, they knew I've been responsive and had given them what they want. There won't be any lingering reason for them to argue or delay the invoice. But then again, there is a relationship there, so I have reasonable confidence that I will get paid.

Andy

[glorybound]

If we have a schedule, I adhere to it, so I expect my client to, too. What I try to avoid is the client dragging his feet and sliding right past deadlines, which jeopardizes the next project. Right now I have 3 projects that are way past their deadlines and new projects starting. The, "I got busy" wouldn't fly if I said it, nor should it fly with them. I only send the final invoice when the project is passed the deadline, on its last set of revisions, and they haven't responded.

[andybot_cg]

The, "I got busy" wouldn't fly if I said it, nor should it fly with them.

Why would you say that? If their milestones change, you can just tell them when they get back to you that it will take you + however many days you need to make the changes.

[glorybound]

When I start a project, I give the duration and milestones. If a milestone is missed, or delayed, it might jeopardize their deadline. Usually, it is the last set of revisions that projects go cold, so to me, the project is complete. As far as I know, they are using the images and are just dragging their feet with final payment. I don't do the whole watermark, which I probably should, so at least I know that they are not using the image. Also, the milestones help when they come back after weeks and they need the final asap. Usually, at that point, I am deep into another project and it might takes weeks to be able to fit their project back in. So, after the final set of revisions, they know that they'll get billed if I don't here back within a few days, assuming that they are please and the project is complete. You would be surprised on how often that happens, anyway.

[andybot_cg]

Well, if you've already communicated asking if they have any more changes, then yeah that's different. At that point, I usually send an email asking if I can send my final invoice. If I don't heard back, then I'll call. I guess most of my work is repeat clients, so I already have a relationship established.

[flino2004]

Architectural projects change and they have different schedules than yours. It has to be a balance but remember that you are providing a service to them it's not their problem if you are one man show or 5-10 or more people working for you so, be careful how you handle it. If I receive an invoice for an unfinished project most probably I wouldn't work with that company again.

[glorybound]

I think the misunderstanding is 'not finished'. Usually, I allow 2 revisions per step. 2 for the gray scale and 2 for the color. If I have complete the second color proof, and then they stop communicating for a few days, or usually longer, I send the final invoice. A lot of the times, it is payed, because the images are done.

[dj_buckley]

I think it's the time frame of 2 days that people think is pushy - too which I agree. I think after two days, I'd send an email with 'Do you have any final comments? If not, I'll send over you're invoice' even then I'd probably still give them a few days to respond to the email. I'd never just send an invoice because I hadn't heard from them. Unless of course it had been weeks. I allow my schedule to be flexible, if they're taking a long time to respond then I'll start working on the next project and get ahead on that, in preparation for them responding. That way the next project isn't delayed as I've already started it before I should have. Your schedule needs to be a little bit flexible. I find with most projects, there are a number of different parties that need to view/comment which involves getting their teams together first, which can be difficult to do in 2 days (with people on holiday/out of the office/meetings etc).

With regards to thinking the images are being used and they're just dragging their feet, I'd put something in your future contracts along the lines of "images can not be distributed/printed/displayed publicly or in the media until payment is received in full". That gives you a comeback if you find that's what they are doing.

I think rescheduling projects that run beyond deadlines is ok to do, or at least some schedule reshuffling as mentioned above. But perhaps you're doing it a little abruptly - just because your contract says you can. I have a client that seems to think I'm his employee that can just pick up his work whenever and wherever he wants. A gentle reminder that I have other projects that are due to start, normally results in me giving him options - usually sending an invoice and then treating it as new project when he's ready to pick it up again. This happens a lot on design development projects.

If I were you I'd probably loosen up a little bit and send a few reminders before issuing the invoice. I mean is that a client you really want to be working with anyway?

[glorybound]

I created my contract from varies references I found on-line. I'll revisit it and change some terms. One critical bit of information is my project typically only last 1 week, 2 at the most. So, 2 days is a large chunk of time.

I think it's the time frame of 2 days that people think is pushy - too which I agree. I think after two days, I'd send an email with 'Do you have any final comments? If not, I'll send over you're invoice' even then I'd probably still give them a few days to respond to the email. I'd never just send an invoice because I hadn't heard from them. Unless of course it had been weeks. I allow my schedule to be flexible, if they're taking a long time to respond then I'll start working on the next project and get ahead on that, in preparation for them responding. That way the next project isn't delayed as I've already started it before I should have. Your schedule needs to be a little bit flexible. I find with most projects, there are a number of different parties that need to view/comment which involves getting their teams together first, which can be difficult to do in 2 days (with people on holiday/out of the office/meetings etc).

With regards to thinking the images are being used and they're just dragging their feet, I'd put something in your future contracts along the lines of "images can not be distributed/printed/displayed publicly or in the media until payment is received in full". That gives you a comeback if you find that's what they are doing.

I think rescheduling projects that run beyond deadlines is ok to do, or at least some schedule reshuffling as mentioned above. But perhaps you're doing it a little abruptly - just because your contract says you can. I have a client that seems to think I'm his employee that can just pick up his work whenever and wherever he wants. A gentle reminder that I have other projects that are due to start, normally results in me giving him options - usually sending an invoice and then treating it as new project when he's ready to pick it up again. This happens a lot on design development projects.

If I were you I'd probably loosen up a little bit and send a few reminders before issuing the invoice. I mean is that a client you really want to be working with anyway?

[dj_buckley]

I created my contract from varies references I found on-line. I'll revisit it and change some terms. One critical bit of information is my project typically only last 1 week, 2 at the most. So, 2 days is a large chunk of time.

My contract is by no means airtight, but I have enough clauses in there to cover for most things. Don't get me wrong I don't slam the rulebook in the clients face as soon as he seems to not be sticking to them - I'd be a hypocrit if I did. I guess the point of the contract is so people don't start taking the p***

Bonsai is a decent place to start for a contract, but our industry is quite unique in terms of process/workflow that a custom one is needed. And over here in the UK, it needs to be checked over properly/officially.

[crazy homeless guy]

......................

[glorybound]

I was thinking about this some more and I do recall reading, in one of my small business books, that you shouldn't worry about sending the final invoice early, even a few days before the project is complete. Basically, it simply said that the earlier you send the invoice, the sooner you'll get paid and with a small business, cash flow is king. Now, if this is good practice I don't know, however, I'm sure that's where I got the idea. I also remember reading, that if the job is going long, don't hesitate to request money between scheduled payouts.