My tax guy's offhand remark about my billing habits stopped me cold

I was reviewing my quarterly numbers with my accountant in Phoenix last month and mentioned that I invoice clients every two weeks. He just said, "You know most freelancers who bill weekly collect 12 percent more on average, right?" I laughed it off at first, but then I pulled my own records for the past two years and saw a pattern. Every time a client paid late, it was during those longer billing gaps. I switched to weekly invoicing back in March, and my average payment time dropped from 34 days to 21. Has anyone else tested different invoice frequencies and seen results like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

alexc9321d ago

Wait, your accountant just happened to have a stat like that sitting in his back pocket? That's wild. I did the same thing with my own clients a couple years back, switched from monthly to bi-weekly, and my net-30s started paying in like 12 days. The weird part is it wasn't even about the money being due sooner, it just reset the clock in people's heads more often.

kim81921d ago

Did your accountant also mention that client emails get 40% shorter when you invoice weekly, because I've noticed mine went from paragraphs to "sent, thanks" in like two weeks? Kinda makes me wonder if we're accidentally training people to be more efficient.