Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
(OP)
For those of you who own your businesses, or those who don't, but who handle this task for the companies that you work for, I'm curious about what methods of delivery you use to invoice your clients (e.g. email, ftp, regular mail, etc.)? Do you take any extra security or record keeping precautions, like encrypted email attachments, unique username and password for each client for ftp, certified mail, etc. Mainly I'm wondering if you all feel that it is important to obtain acknowledgement from your clients or proof of receipt of your invoice, whether directly (e.g. signature for certified mail) or indirectly (e.g. ftp download logs). Any positive or negative experiences that have influenced the policies you use?





RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
No special encryption or security. Usually deliver invoice with related project materials through the mail, or they pick up at office.
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Motto: KISS
Motivation: Don't ask
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
Certified mail can be a real problem. I have one client that will not accept any certified mail that is not expected. My invoices are not on their "accepted" list so they would bounce right back. And even if they would accept it, what is the gain? I've sent out 500+ invoices in the last 7 years and all but one have been paid. Certified mail would not have improved that record.
Adding security is a dumb move in my estimation. I have contacts that simply will not open anything with a read reciept on it, adding a password would ensure you never get paid. Using ftp protocols is another good way to never get paid. I don't publish my invoices on my web site, but there is nothing on them that I wouldn't tell someone who asked, what would be the benefit to me to having it harder to open?
David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
www.muleshoe-eng.com
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RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
Civil Development Group, LLC
Los Angeles Civil Engineering specializing in Hillside Grading
http://civildevelopmentgroup.com
http://civildevelopmentgroup.com/blog
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
Email is convenient and it did flow down to Account Payable at first. But if you don't get paid in a reasonable amount of time, definitely snail mail (or get the email address to their Accounts Payable directly).
--Scott
http://wertel.eng.pro
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
I think you've decribed the key element of invoicing--what does the client want? Get that wrong and you e-mail an invoice to someone who doesn't read their mail or you snail mail it to a box designated for junk mail (or to a manager who has no clue how to get a bill paid and who will plan to "find out tomorrow").
David
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
I just want to respond to the root of the question...
Invoicing is a mere formality for record keeping at the very end of the whole process of ensuring getting paid.
You ensure payments by taking the following steps:
1. Choosing a professional client.
2. Have a written contract and/or a PO. With good terms and conditions.
3. Meeting clients expectations by providing a good service. Quality and schedule and budget.
4. Keep records of services and correspondence.
5. Invoicing at appropriate time and intervals.
To me the first three are the most important.
Rafiq Bulsara
http://www.srengineersct.com
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
David
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
David
RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
It is important to get acknowledged by the clients. But i think an email verification is sufficient enough.
Pumping Equipment //sourcing .indiamart .com/engin eering/pum p-pumping- equipment/
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RE: Best Practices for Invoicing Your Clients
But of course it really depends on the client on how you get paid and how to tell them to pay you. We do a lot of due diligence work and the client's don't like to pay that final payment until you are forced to hold something related to that project back. If you can't, it's very difficult to collect.
Snail mail seems to get the non payers to actually pay most of the time. Maybe because it's more formal than email and they know you are spending a stamp and printing out a paper to get them to do something??
Civil Development Group, LLC
Los Angeles Civil Engineering specializing in Hillside Grading
http://civildevelopmentgroup.com
http://civildevelopmentgroup.com/blog