It has been a rough year chasing payments. It is not usually an issue, but it has become one. My contract states 3% every 15 days, starting 30 days after the due date. So, 6% a month, which seems ridiculously low, since this basically means that I am financing their renderings. Credit cards charge 14%-25% and up, so shouldn’t we? This is compounded monthly, so it is in the client’s best interest to make timely payments. Thoughts?
Well, Mr. Chat GPT has a different idea.
For freelance and creative work (like 3D art/illustration), many professionals choose 1.5% per month or a $25 flat fee, whichever is greater.
I am going to add this to the bottom of my invoices - nobody reads the contract anyway.
Late Payment Policy
Payment due upon receipt. A late fee of 1.5% per month (18% annually), or $25.00 minimum, whichever is greater, will be applied to all overdue balances. Client is responsible for all reasonable costs of collection, including attorney’s fees, should such action become necessary.
I only use e-invoices. I generate my invoices at my accounting environment. Invoices proceed to payment processing once approved by the customer.
I also use that environment for salary and taxes as well as wage declaration. My bookkeeper and my auditor have access to the system as well. I actually have never met my bookkeeper nor auditor since I’m on paperless accounting. I also can’t remember getting paid after due date.
I use 17-Hats, which automates everything for me. My gateway is PayPal, but their fees have gotten so large my clients started sending me checks over the past year. I have also noticed a trend. My clients have their clients pay me directly, so my clients somehow think payment isn’t their problem, but they are the ones who signed the contract. It is tough working weeks on something and having to wait months to get paid. They don’t get their image until their balance is paid, so I can only assume they are screen grabbing and upscaling. I do get a 50% deposit, but that second half has been hard to get this year. The worst group has been the architects.
I asked Copilot for a comparison between the systems. I use Procountor, but I also included Ukko.fi, which is a platform for light entrepreneurs. My son uses the latter. He is full time art student and part time entrepreneur.
