Getting paid faster: quoting, invoicing and chasing

In the great majority of cases, not because the customer is dishonest. The reasons cluster into four, and three of them are created before the invoice exists.

1. 01The price was never properly agreed. Extras discussed on site and never confirmed in writing turn into an argument at invoice stage, and an argued invoice does not get paid.
2. 02The terms were never stated. With no agreed payment period, both sides assume something different. The customer assumes when they get round to it.
3. 03The invoice arrived late or wrong. An invoice sent three weeks after completion, missing a purchase order number, goes to the bottom of a pile.
4. 04Nobody chased. A polite reminder on day 31 collects a startling proportion of what is outstanding.

Most late payment is designed in at the quote stage, not at the invoice stage.

A quote is a commercial document and a payment document. Get it in writing, get it accepted in writing, and make the money terms part of what is accepted.

• A scope specific enough that both of you can tell what is not included. List exclusions explicitly — making good, decoration, scaffolding, waste removal, asbestos.
• The price, whether it is fixed or an estimate, and how VAT is treated.
• Payment terms in words: the deposit, the stage payments, and the days to pay on the final account.
• How variations are priced and confirmed. "Additional work will be quoted and confirmed in writing before it is carried out" prevents most disputes on domestic work.
• A validity period, so a quote priced on last quarter’s material costs does not get accepted six months later.
• For domestic work, the cancellation rights notice required where the contract was agreed in the customer’s home.

NoteOn contracts agreed at a consumer’s home or elsewhere off your premises, the consumer normally has 14 days to cancel and you must give written notice of that right. Failing to give it extends the cancellation period substantially and can make the work unrecoverable.

Never fund a job out of your own working capital for longer than you have to. The right structure depends on length and value, not on how comfortable the conversation is.

Tie stage payments to events either party can verify — first fix complete, roof watertight, plaster complete — not to elapsed time. A payment due "at week four" invites an argument about progress; a payment due on first fix does not.

On commercial work under a construction contract, the mechanism is not yours to design. Apply on the date the contract says, and understand that a properly made application the payer fails to answer becomes a sum they must pay in full. See applications for payment vs invoices.

Same day as completion, ideally from site. Every day between finishing and invoicing is a day added to the end of your payment terms, and the detail is freshest the day you finish.

• A unique sequential invoice number, and your VAT number if registered.
• The customer’s purchase order or job reference where they use one. Missing PO numbers are the most common reason a commercial invoice is parked.
• A description that matches the quote, so the accounts department can tie the two together without ringing anyone.
• The due date as a date, not "30 days". "Payable by 14 August 2026" is harder to misread.
• Bank details on the invoice itself.
• The reverse charge wording where it applies, and nil VAT.
• For domestic work, photographs of the completed work attached. It closes the "was it finished properly" conversation before it opens.

An invoice with a missing purchase order number is not late because your customer is slow. It is late because it cannot be processed.

On a schedule, in writing, and without apology. The firms that get paid fastest are not the ones with the best relationships. They are the ones with a process.

1. 01Day 0 — invoice sent, receipt acknowledged.
2. 02Day 7 — a short email confirming the invoice is on the system and asking whether anything is needed to process it. This catches missing PO numbers while there is still time.
3. 03Day of the due date — a reminder sent that morning, not that evening.
4. 04Due + 7 — a chase to the accounts contact and the commercial contact together, stating the statutory interest and compensation now accruing.
5. 05Due + 21 — a letter before action giving a clear deadline and stating what you will do next.
6. 06Due + 30 — do the thing you said. Adjudication where the Construction Act applies, or a county court claim.

NoteWhere the Construction Act applies and a notified sum has gone unpaid, you also have a right under section 112 to suspend work on seven days’ written notice and recover the costs of suspending and remobilising. That is usually more effective than a solicitor’s letter.

Under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, on business-to-business debts you are entitled to simple interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate, plus fixed compensation, plus your reasonable costs of recovering the debt where they exceed that fixed sum.

The reference rate is not today’s base rate: it is the base rate in force on the preceding 31 December for interest starting between 1 January and 30 June, or on the preceding 30 June for interest starting between 1 July and 31 December. That rate then holds for the life of the debt.

If you agreed no payment terms, the default is 30 days from the later of delivery of the goods or services and the customer receiving the invoice. Agreed terms longer than 60 days are open to challenge as grossly unfair. The Act does not apply to consumers.

Naming the statutory interest and compensation in a chase letter costs nothing and changes the tone of the reply.

Quote from a template with line items and VAT, convert an accepted quote straight into a job, raise the invoice against the job so the description matches the quote, and record what has been paid against each invoice. It installs to a phone or tablet as a progressive web app with an offline field mode, so a quote or an invoice can be raised on site with no signal and syncs when you are back in range.

Two things it deliberately does not do. Your customers cannot pay by card or Direct Debit through Estimark — that is switched off — so invoices carry your bank details and are paid by transfer. And there is no automatic dunning: Estimark shows what is outstanding, but it does not send chase emails on a schedule for you. If you want the day 7, day 30 rhythm above, it is a calendar reminder and a person.

Invoices push to Xero, QuickBooks, FreshBooks and Sage Business Cloud Accounting. Estimark does not do Making Tax Digital, VAT return submission or journal posting. See Estimark for sole traders if you are pricing this for a one-person business.