Late payment is usually not deliberate
The common causes are an invoice that never reached the right person, a purchase order number missing, a dispute nobody escalated, or an approval sitting in someone's queue. Chasing harder does not fix any of these; removing them does.
Fix the invoice itself first
- Correct recipient, which is often accounts payable rather than your contact.
- Purchase order or reference number where the customer requires one.
- Clear description matching what was agreed.
- Payment terms and methods stated explicitly.
- Issued promptly, because invoicing late signals the deadline is soft.
A cadence rather than a confrontation
A short sequence works better than escalating emotion: a courtesy note before the due date confirming everything is in order, a prompt the day after, a call within the week, then escalation. Most invoices resolve in the first two steps because the issue was administrative.
Know your actual DSO
Days sales outstanding tells you how long collection really takes. If your terms are net 30 and your DSO is 52, your working capital is financing three extra weeks of customer operations. That is a real cost, and quantifying it usually motivates the process change.
When to stop
Have a written point at which an account goes on hold or to collections. Businesses without that line tend to keep delivering to non-payers, which converts a collection problem into a bad debt.
TallyWise provides this as part of our fractional CFO services. Book a call to talk through your situation.
