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3 SUREFIRE TIPS TO
GET YOUR INVOICES
PAID FASTER
By Rachel Rodgers
CASH FLOW IS KING
It is not uncommon for lawyers’ invoices to get paid late or not get paid at all. For a (short) period of time, I worked for a small law firm where it was quite common for client relationships to deteriorate and become adversarial (lawyer vs. client instead of lawyer + client) over unpaid invoices. And I have heard complaints from many lawyers wondering how they should go about collecting on all of their old, unpaid invoices.
I, too, have had this problem. I’ve had two instances of unpaid invoices since starting my law practice. It sucks. Luckily, they weren’t huge bills and my practice was probably not the best fit for those clients anyway.
It’s pretty obvious why this is a problem – cash flow is king. If your invoices aren’t getting paid timely, then you probably have a cash flow problem in your business. That means you can’t pay your bills and cover your overhead in a timely manner because you are not getting paid by your clients on time. But guess what? Your virtual assistant, subscription provider or utility company doesn’t want to hear about your clients who didn’t pay their invoices. They expect to get paid on time. Late paying clients is a quick way to sour relationships with your providers and can even cause services to get cut off, if you don’t have savings or other funds available to cover them.
If your invoices aren’t getting paid at all, then you have an
even bigger problem. Having multiple invoices go unpaid for weeks or months can rapidly lead to the shuttering of your doors (whether physical or virtual). You cannot continue to function as a law practice if there is no money coming in. Even if you have very low overhead, your own personal finances will likely take a hit that you may not be able to recover from. I’ve heard from plenty of solos who closed their doors due to unpaid invoices and a general lack of actual revenue collected.
So how can you avoid this fate and ensure that your invoices are not only paid but that they are paid on time?
Here Are Three Surefire Tips That I Use To Obtain Timely Payments From My Clients:
1. CLARITY IS QUEEN.
The first step to getting paid on time is being as crystal clear as possible with clients on that first initial client interaction and throughout the relationship. I make sure that before a client becomes a client, they know exactly how much my handling their matter is going to cost them. I make it very clear when and how they will be invoiced. If it’s the type of matter that could possibly incur additional fees depending on currently unknown outcomes, I let them know what the possible variables are and am sure to get any additional fees required approved before they are incurred. I go the extra mile
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