Mrs Flowerpot
New member
My husband and I run a small business. He repairs industrial machines and has over 400 clients he will service. He may only get to some customers once per year and then others several times per year. When he invoices he fills out the worksheet with repairs and the final cost on the spot and hands the paperwork to the floor manager. If they pay him a cheque on the day they get a 5% discount as an incentive otherwise it is 30 days credit. He works on his own and I do the accounts. The thing is that once a month I chase up unpaid invoices. I email overdue notices and call if they fall really behind. Lately they have all been saying the same thing "you haven't sent us an invoice". I try to explain that we don't work that way and have discussed it with my partner more than once about this method of payment. I see it as an excuse for them to hold off paying as long as possible. My husband says that he would only be posting out the paperwork he gives to the floor manager anyway as it has the original signature of whoever approved the job to be done. He also says that it is double the paperwork etc and the cost of stamps plus my extra time. I think he has a point. If someone comes to repair something at your house they give you paperwork on the spot - not post it later. He is also not always able to wander around the factory floor unaccompanied to hand it to accounts. To me it should be the responsibilty of the floor manger who approved the job to hand it to accounts - otherwise we could make up what we are charging them for. If we start to send out invoices it puts the pressure back on us especially if it is only 30 days credit and if it gets lost in the mail etc. What do you think?