| I had a payment that went months and months late for a couple of thousand dollars. At this point, the company had pivoted and I was no longer doing work for them. I found out who the right person was, and pinged them every two weeks. Very politely, just "Hi, noticed this invoice wasn't paid. Please remit payment" etc. I think what finally caused them to send me my money was the Christmas gift I sent them (chocolates). Enough about me. Let's talk about your situation. Who wants you to continue to work? Talk to them and say something like "I'd love to continue to work, but I have late invoices, and I can't do any additional work until you are caught up." Ask this person to be your internal advocate. Ask them what you should do. Whatever you do, stop working (all the better if you are in the middle of something), and start looking for something else. If they (COO, controller) approach you with a payment plan, that's fine, but make sure they offer a chunk up front (at least 25%) and stick to the plan, otherwise stop working. Make sure the checks clear (banks can call to make sure this is the case) before starting again. Don't loan them money. Don't work for free. Don't believe anything they say that doesn't come with a check. Do change your contract to have a late payment fee for future clients, but right now you're just trying to stop the bleeding. Once they have paid what they owe you, feel free to work for them again, but don't let them get 60 days overdue. At about 35 days I start getting real nervous. If you walk away, make sure to continue to ping them for back invoices. It may not turn up anything, but you never can be sure, and it only takes a moment of your day. |