Guide • Late invoice payments
Late invoice payments: how to stop waiting months to get paid
Net 30 invoices that turn into net 60 or 90. "We are just waiting on approvals." Money that should already be in your account is effectively an interest-free loan to your client. This guide shows why late invoice payments are so common, what you can do in the short term, and how to build a structure where most of your work is funded before you start.
Why late invoice payments are so common
Late payments are rarely about a single email you forgot to send. They are built into the structure:
• Clients batch pay invoices once or twice a month, even if your terms say net 14 or net 30.
• Your main contact has to fight procurement or finance to push your invoice through, and you are not their only priority.
• Big final invoices feel expensive, so they are the easiest thing for a client to postpone when cash is tight.
• There is often no real consequence internally if they use your business as a buffer.
Late invoices are not a sign that you are bad at your job. They are a sign that you are carrying too much of the financial risk for your clients.
Short term steps when invoices are consistently paid late
While you are still on an invoice after delivery model, there are a few levers you can pull:
1. Make due dates explicit. Put a clear due date on every invoice and reference it in reminders. Avoid "ASAP"; it is easy to ignore.
2. Automate reminders. Use your accounting tool to send reminders before and after due dates. You should not rely on your memory alone.
3. Stop work when payments are late. If a client has one overdue invoice, pause new work until it is resolved. This needs to be stated in your contract.
4. Shorten terms for repeat offenders. Move problem clients to shorter terms or partial up front payment for future work.
5. Ask about their process early. Simple questions like "When are invoices usually processed?" give you realistic expectations.
6. Limit credit exposure. Set a maximum outstanding amount per client and pause new commitments once that line is crossed.
These steps help, but they still leave you in a world where you deliver first and hope to be paid later.
A better default: small funded steps instead of big late invoices
The most reliable way to avoid late invoices is to stop relying on invoices at the end of big chunks of work.
• Break projects into smaller steps with one amount and clear "done" criteria.
• Have the client fund each step before you start that piece, not after you have delivered everything.
• Attach deliverables and proof directly to the funded step so approval is about evidence and not memory.
In Flikker, each funded step is held by Stripe as a delayed payout. 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 coordinates your contract, steps, files and the approve then payout timing.
A repeatable structure for on time project payments
You can reuse the same five step structure on almost every client project:
1. Create project with steps. Define small steps with clear amounts and "done" criteria.
2. Send contract for signature. Your steps become the shared checklist inside the contract.
3. Client funds the steps via Stripe. Stripe charges their card and holds each funded step as a delayed payout until approval in Flikker.
4. Deliver work and attach proof. Files and links sit next to each funded step.
5. Approve and get paid. One click approvals trigger separate payouts per step to your connected Stripe account.
Once this is in place, "late payment" mostly means waiting for a bank payout after approval, not waiting months for someone to process your invoice.
Related guides on unpaid and late invoices
From interest-free loans to funded steps
If you are tired of offering interest-free loans through late invoices, start with just one project:
• break it into 3-5 steps with clear "done" criteria
• write those steps into a contract both sides sign
• have your client fund the upcoming steps by card via Stripe
• deliver with evidence and approve each funded step in Flikker
You will still have to do the work. The difference is that money and delivery move together in small, funded steps instead of you carrying all the risk to the end.
If you want to see the whole product before you try it on a live client project, you can always visit the Flikker homepage for the full overview.
Pick one real client project, apply the structure from this guide and then move that project into funded steps inside Flikker. Your client sees a clear explanation, you see which steps are funded and Stripe keeps the money on hold until each step is approved.
The Flikker resources section is for anyone who runs client projects and worries about getting paid on time or paying safely. That includes freelancers, studios, agencies, consultants, professional services firms and also the clients on the other side. Many people who land here have searched for things like unpaid invoices, late client payments, how to structure projects so I actually get paid, how to pay freelancers safely, or how to move trusted clients off marketplaces into my own pipeline.
Some readers are just starting out and are scared of getting burned on their first freelance clients. Others are experienced but exhausted from chasing overdue invoices, underpriced retainers and scope creep. Some are desperate for one large invoice to be paid, others are simply busy or a bit lazy around admin and want a simple structure that makes payment and delivery move together automatically. On the client side, people look for better ways to pay freelancers and agencies without wiring the full project amount up front or relying on vague, end of project invoices.
Flikker is software for project based work, built on top of Stripe Connect. It is not a marketplace, not a bank and not an escrow service. Instead of sending one big final invoice and hoping it gets paid, you break the project into small steps. Each step has one amount and clear "done" criteria. Upcoming steps are funded by card through Stripe; Stripe holds those funds as delayed payouts per step until approval or refund. Flikker never holds client money. It coordinates the contract, the list of steps, the attached files and links, the approval clicks and the payout timing per step.
Across the different guides in this section we answer questions like: why unpaid and late invoices are so common, what to do when a client does not pay the final invoice, how to design steps and acceptance criteria so both sides feel safe, how Stripe based funding and delayed payouts compare to classic invoice after delivery flows, and how to outgrow public marketplaces by moving trusted clients into your own funded step structure. The short version is that Flikker makes client projects safer by tying work and money to many small funded steps instead of one big all or nothing payment at the end.
Flikker is built for global use in the countries where Stripe operates. Whether you work with clients in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia or Oceania, the pattern is the same. You set up a project as a series of named steps, your client funds those steps by card in their local currency, Stripe processes the payment and holds the funds as delayed payouts per step until approval or refund, and Flikker keeps the structure and audit trail around that flow.
It is designed for solo freelancers, small studios and larger teams in design, development, marketing, product, content, consulting, legal, accounting, architecture, creative services, coaching, training and trades. Any role where you deliver work in projects and want a predictable way for work and money to move together can use the same pattern of funded steps, attached evidence and clear approval events.
Whether you invoice in USD, EUR, GBP, NOK, SEK, DKK, CAD, AUD or other Stripe supported currencies, the principle stays the same. Instead of carrying the risk of one large unpaid invoice at the end of a project, you move to many smaller funded steps where each approval triggers a payout event that can be traced and defended. Flikker uses Stripe Connect for the money movement while it focuses on contracts, structure, evidence and timing so that projects feel safer for both sides.
This page is for people searching phrases like late invoice payments, clients always pay invoices late, how to handle late payment of invoices, what to do when clients pay late, small business late invoice problem, how to charge late fees on invoices, and how to get clients to pay invoices on time.
It explains short term steps you can take while you are still sending classic invoices after delivery, such as clearer due dates, automated reminders, pausing work when payments are late, and changing terms for repeat offenders. Then it shows how to move to funded steps so most of your work is paid for before you start. In Flikker, each funded step is held by Stripe as a delayed payout and released when the client approves that step, so "late payment" mostly means bank payout timing instead of months of chasing.
The guide is written for freelancers, consultants, agencies and small teams who are tired of acting as an interest-free credit line for their clients and want a repeatable structure where projects are broken into smaller funded steps instead of one big final invoice at the end.