How contractors and trades can get paid faster

Contractors get paid faster by not waiting until the end of the job to invoice: take a deposit, bill in stages as work is completed, invoice the day each stage is signed off, and follow up within a day or two of the due date. The longer the gap between finishing the work and asking for the money, the further down the client's list it falls.

Before you start

• Agree a deposit for materials and scheduling, and put it in writing.
• For longer jobs, agree stage payments tied to visible milestones, not dates.
• Find out who pays. On commercial jobs it is usually an office or accounts team, not the site manager you deal with.

Invoice on the day

Send the invoice the same day a stage is signed off, ideally before you leave the site. Include the job address or reference, the amount, the due date, and how to pay. A clear invoice that matches the client's own records is approved faster than one they have to query.

Following up

A short message the day after the due date, asking when it is scheduled to be paid, is enough for most clients. If you hear nothing after a week, ring the office rather than sending the same email again. If a client raises a snag, fix it or agree what is owed for the rest, and ask for that part to be paid now instead of letting the whole invoice wait.

Hi Mark, invoice 88 for the kitchen fit-out, $6,400, was due yesterday. Could you let me know when it's going out? If anything on the job needs looking at, tell me and I'll come back to it.