Client did not pay the final invoice? Here is what you can do next time.

The pattern is depressingly familiar:

• You do the work, send the final invoice, and hear nothing for weeks.

• Your contact says they are waiting on finance or approvals while you keep delivering support for free.

• Emails get slower. Maybe they go quiet. You start wondering if pushing harder will hurt the relationship or your reputation.

• Months later you are still chasing money for work that is long finished, while the client has already realised the value.

This page is not legal advice. Laws and your options depend on your country and your contract. The goal here is to show patterns and give you a better structure for next time.

Right now, with an unpaid final invoice, your choices are mostly about damage control:

1. Send a clear, specific reminder. Include the amount, due date, what the invoice covers and a short, calm ask: “Can you confirm when this will be paid?”

2. Offer a payment plan if cashflow is the issue. Three smaller payments are often easier for a client to say yes to than one big one, as long as you trust them enough.

3. Pause further work. If you are still delivering, make it clear that you cannot continue until the overdue amount is paid.

4. Apply late fees if your contract allows it. In some countries that is standard. In others, it is more of a negotiating tool than something you will actually collect.

5. Consider legal or collection help. Talk to a local lawyer, union, or business support organisation about what is realistic to recover in your jurisdiction.

None of these options feel great. The real win is changing your structure so the next project is much less likely to end in an unpaid final invoice.

The core problem with a big final invoice is simple: all your risk is at the end. The client already has the work; you are left negotiating for payment.

A better pattern is:

• Break the project into small steps with one amount and clear “done” criteria for each.

• Ask the client to fund each step before you start that piece of work, not months later.

• Attach your deliverables and proof to the funded step, so approval is about evidence and not memory or mood.

In Flikker, funds are held by Stripe as a delayed payout per funded step. Stripe charges your client's card and keeps the money as a scheduled payout to your connected account. Flikker never holds client funds itself. It orchestrates the contract, steps, evidence and the approve then payout timing.

Here is a concrete five step structure you can reuse on every project:

1. Create project with steps. Break the work into small steps. Each step has one amount and clear “done” criteria.

2. Send contract for signature. Every step is written into the contract so both sides share the same checklist.

3. Client funds the steps via Stripe. Stripe charges their card and holds each funded step as a delayed payout until it is approved inside Flikker.

4. Deliver work and attach proof. Documents and links sit next to each funded step, so approval is about evidence and not memory.

5. Approve and get paid. The client approves funded steps with one click. Flikker tells Stripe to release a separate payout for that step only to your connected account.

To receive payouts you connect your own Stripe account once. Stripe runs standard KYC checks before enabling payouts. The result is simple: you never work far beyond what has already been funded, and every approval is a clear, auditable event.

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