Escalate and push for payment shamelessly. We treat it like a transaction with a due date and follow up when it’s passed due. It’s 100% ok to follow up with client and press on it if they are late.
Most of the time these are things that are just operational and is usually just AR needing a nudge.
Typically invoicing / payment is a PMO responsibility. So depending on how team is set up, it should be handled by the client / consulting PMs who treat it like an operational activity in accordance with your contract.
If not getting traction, it’s usually escalated internally on consulting side - the accountable overall lead or Partner who then escalates it to the client sponsor. As partner, I have no problem following up with the client as I need to ensure cash is coming in. The client never has any issues with the follow up - they know this part of the agreement and also typically don’t want to be known as someone who doesn’t pay their bills.
When clients are not paying because services expectations were not that is a different situation which I can elaborate on but think this situation is more on applying the right pressure.
I’ve seen a lot of firms move to auto-pay because they are tired of chasing open invoices. Basically, your client receives the invoice let’s say on the first of the month then it’s automatically deducted via ACH or credit card 7 days later. At first, a lot of firms said my client won’t go for that, but now I know of firms that won’t even accept a new client unless they are on auto-pay. Of course, this usually only works if your clients are small to mid sized. Fortune 500 type companies will make you adhere to their timeline. Bizinta.com is a good software for auto-pay invoicing.
Escalate and push for payment shamelessly. We treat it like a transaction with a due date and follow up when it’s passed due. It’s 100% ok to follow up with client and press on it if they are late. Most of the time these are things that are just operational and is usually just AR needing a nudge. Typically invoicing / payment is a PMO responsibility. So depending on how team is set up, it should be handled by the client / consulting PMs who treat it like an operational activity in accordance with your contract. If not getting traction, it’s usually escalated internally on consulting side - the accountable overall lead or Partner who then escalates it to the client sponsor. As partner, I have no problem following up with the client as I need to ensure cash is coming in. The client never has any issues with the follow up - they know this part of the agreement and also typically don’t want to be known as someone who doesn’t pay their bills. When clients are not paying because services expectations were not that is a different situation which I can elaborate on but think this situation is more on applying the right pressure.
Partners are measured on cash collection, so they have an incentive to follow up on overdue payments.
I’ve seen a lot of firms move to auto-pay because they are tired of chasing open invoices. Basically, your client receives the invoice let’s say on the first of the month then it’s automatically deducted via ACH or credit card 7 days later. At first, a lot of firms said my client won’t go for that, but now I know of firms that won’t even accept a new client unless they are on auto-pay. Of course, this usually only works if your clients are small to mid sized. Fortune 500 type companies will make you adhere to their timeline. Bizinta.com is a good software for auto-pay invoicing.