2. Do you send an invoice, a receipt, or both?
We send two invoices (see next question)

3. When do you require payment from the client?
Yes, we send a 30% deposit invoice that needs to be paid before work is to commence. We usually do a mockup and such prior and they pay the deposit, and we wait a few hours and send them a proof.

4. Do you charge late fees, and if so, how much?
No. We’ve considered this a few times, but I realized that generally a client who doesn’t pay on time probably isn’t going to pay at all. We do say that we will charge a late fee though, just haven’t had to use it yet. *knocks on wood*

5. Any other thoughts or advice?
A deposit is critical. If a client isn’t willing to pay a deposit, you don’t want to work with them. Secondly, make sure your work is worth the money being paid =)

2) Do you send an invoice, a receipt, or both?
I usually send an invoice, however, there are times that many of my clients already know exactly what they owe me and just transfer it to me. (Rare occasion though)

3) When do you require payment from the client?
Usually after the project has been aproved and published, however, there are those exceptions where I’ve felt the need to require a certain percentage upfront.

4) Do you charge late fees, and if so, how much?
Nope. I’m confident in my clients ability to send me payments on time, as about 90% of them always have. But it wouldn’t be a bad idea for those “lazy to pay” clients.

5) Any other thoughts or advice?
Keep your head up and never give up. Life’s too short to remain seemingless forever.

Do you send an invoice, a receipt, or both?
I ask if the client would like an invoice – if not, I don’t send anything except my paypal address they can send the payment to.

When do you require payment from the client?
50% to begin – 50% when finished

Do you charge late fees, and if so, how much?
No – my clients always pay once project is complete. I don’t have a net15-30-60

Any other thoughts or advice?
Whatever you’re most comfortable with, do it – and never back down from your payment beliefs. If a potential client gives you grief for it, odds are they’re not the type of client you want anyways.

1. We accept cash, check, or anything Paypal will take.

2. This depends on the needs of our clients. We always send an invoice, through Blinksale (www.Blinksale.com), and then the customer has the ability to look at all open and closed invoices with a link provided to them in the email that has the invoice attached.

3. Usually we note on the invoice that payment is due upon receipt of the invoice for design work. We require a 50% down front payment for the work and then 50% final payment when our work is done. We have had to very careful with this, because as we all know, sometimes we get our work done, and then the client takes a while to get back with content, etc. For other services such as hosting and domain name renewals, we charge in advance (6 or 12 months) and those are typically due within 15 days of the receipt of the invoice.

4. We do charge late fees, normally 1% per month, but so far we have only had to do this once in our 5 years of business.

5. Always make sure you are on the same page with your client from a billing point of view. It is always good to provide a very detailed and to the point estimate of the services you are about to perform for them. This way, if another feature is requested that is outside of this original estimate, you can address that with the proper rate and not surprise the client with any extra billing you may have to do.

Rayanne Langdon — Marketing Coordinator, FreshBooks.com

2. Do you send an invoice, a receipt, or both?
We send invoices and monthly statements for our maintenance clients.

3. When do you require payment from the client?
Most of our clients receive Net 30 terms. For development work, we typically ask for 50% up front and 50% at completion.

4. Do you charge late fees, and if so, how much?
We currently charge a $5.00 late fee for any account that’s past due. If an account goes 90 days past due, their site is disabled.

5. Any other thoughts or advice?
Most freelancers or mom ‘n pop businesses can’t afford to have a lot of accounts receivable and we’ve been known to remind lazy clients that we’re not a bank. [smile]

I think that if a client is not willing to pay anything down they’re probably not someone I want to be doing business with.

PayPal preferred, checks accepted (but must be received, deposited, and cleared for project to begin)

2. Do you send an invoice, a receipt, or both?

I start with a quote and only send the invoice if there’s a balance due at the end of the project.

3. When do you require payment from the client?

50% deposit. For projects under $100, payment in full must be made in advance. Balance due two weeks after project is completed.

4. Do you charge late fees, and if so, how much?

Yes, but I’ve never had to ;)

5. Any other thoughts or advice?

Establish your payment policies early, put them in writing, and make them available to all clients. Keep it simple and consistent. ALWAYS require a deposit, even a small one. Change your policies if they’re not working for you.

Most importantly, do good work. Earn it.