From issue to payment
Terms, ageing, chasing, disputes, and the bill as the only account of the work that survives.
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Terms, and What Thirty Days Means
Payment terms say a number of days. Four separate clocks run between issue and payment, and the agreed one is usually the shortest.
The Ageing Report Read Backwards
An ageing report is usually read as a list of slow clients. Read the other way it is a list of the firm's own billing failures.
Why a Bill Goes Unpaid
Six reasons, and the one firms assume first is rarely the one that applies. How to tell them apart in a single phone call.
Chasing Without Damaging the Relationship
Chasing is a separate activity from the relationship, done by a different person at a different register. Six rules that keep them apart.
When It Becomes a Dispute
A query becomes a dispute at an identifiable moment. What changes at that moment, and what can still be done afterwards.
Writing It Off at the End
A bill eventually written off has cost the firm twice. What the decision should be based on, and when it should be made.
The Bill as the Only Evidence Left
People leave, files are archived and memories go. After a few years a bill is the only surviving account of what was done, which is what it has to be written for.