VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[michaelhagerty]

As I noted in my hello post, I'm reactivating my V/O career after some time away.

Some of the clients I've worked for recently have been great about payment. E-mail the invoice, they'll cut the check within 24 hours...a week at the outside. That squares with how clients paid when I did V/O before.

Others, though, are saying 30 to 60 days is their norm. And one client has just crossed the 60 day line.

I'd like to hear what your experience is as far as the standard (if there is one), and how to handle the slow clients (apart from not doing business with them again).

Thanks!
Michael
http://hagertyvoiceover.blogspot.com

[Lance Blair]

I discuss payment time during invoicing communications, and make known that 30 is the ideal. When the date passes a business week from the set time (to allow for delivery) I send reminders every week.

I've only been flat out denied payment by one early Vee Un Duh Twa client. They're no longer in biz.

Everybody else who has been late gets right on it when I remind them, and I appreciate that.
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Skype: globalvoiceover
and now, http://lanceblairvo.com the blog is there now too!

[flaspots]

I typically work with the billing cycle of the client. Some are a week, some as long as 90 days. Half run right around 30 days.

When signing, I ask up front when they do A/P during the month, and when I should invoice for timely turnaround. I send reminders of past dues with each new invoice, and stop service after three reminders.

I have never been stiffed on payment.

[bransom]

I pretty much follow Lance's example. One thing to mention: the larger the corporation, the more likely your invoice got snagged on some procedural issue — invoice received but the PO was improperly marked or numbered; accounts payable received the invoice but never received an "okay to pay" from the buyer; buyer received the invoice but didn't properly enter into the AP system, etc. In other words, many big companies aren't malicious in their late payments but, rather, bureaucratic. So it pays to keep an eye on the due date of your invoice and, once it passes by a little bit, begin nicely inquiring as to the status of your invoice. And making friends with the AP staff at your regular clients is one of the best things you can do.

BTW: There are some companies (really big ones) that ARE malicious with 90 or 120 day (or longer) pay timelines. A lot of ad agencies fall into this category. In fact, many agencies are both bureaucratic AND have a policy to pay late. So it's important for you to keep a close eye on your money.

[Pam]

Just a note to follow up on Bransom's comments about the 90-120 days delay, when I was working on the media side of the business several of the very large agencies-Starcom (media side of Leo Burnett), BBDO and Mindshare (media side of JWT) instructed their buyers to delay matching and clearing invoices until 90 days had passed. This meant the TV stations weren't going to be paid until at the earliest 120 days but more commonly 150 days. The agencies were playing the float on the money. Stations that had stricter payment requirements and were the squeaky wheel were able to bypass this by becoming a PITA every single month. It was an unfortunate turn to the business but one that had to be endured to get paid in a timely manner.
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Pam Tierney
www.pamtierneyvo.com
imdb profile http://imdb.com/name/nm1941932/

Now what did I come in here for?

[Lee Gordon]

[Michael Schoen]

It's great when they pay right away -- but with some it just takes awhile and takes nudging.
I always seem to have a share of accounts: receivable going.
I have been stiffed in the past, but nothing recently.
Slow pay? Sure.
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http://MichaelSchoen.com

[michaelhagerty]

Thanks for the insights! I learned a lot.