Claim your due, for your financial and psychological well-being

The period of forced confinement, which is gradually coming to an end, has allowed many of us to highlight certain harmful effects on our private and professional lives. Late payments are unfortunately part of this since they negatively impact the well-being of freelancers and managers. Here are several reasons to demand payment of your invoices.

For financial reasons...

Self-employed people and businesses constantly need liquidity. In this period of economic recovery, their needs are increased and no one can afford to leave money behind.

Before providing a service or delivering a product, the entrepreneur must generally pay significant sums. The raw material, the delivery costs, the work of the craftsman or even his administrative team has a cost, which he often only charges once the service has been rendered or the product has been delivered safely. These charges weigh heavily on the cash flow of entrepreneurs. Very often, the entrepreneur waits for payment of these invoices to pay for subsequent supply orders. The need for working capital, this minimum cash flow is essential to maintain healthy and sustainable management of their business.

Let's not forget that the entrepreneur must also pay his suppliers' invoices on time. If he is not paid upstream, he risks finding himself unable to pay his suppliers downstream. It therefore risks losing the trust of its suppliers, no longer obtaining the equipment necessary for its future orders on time and therefore unfortunately missing out on new markets. It is therefore very important for the financial health of your company to demand payment of your invoices and to set up a structured and realistic flow in order to avoid late payments and the vicious spiral of unpaid debts as much as possible.

But also for psychological reasons.

The entrepreneur carries out work, provides a service, provides a good. He does his part of the bargain. Then, it issues an invoice for the work accomplished. If this invoice is not honored within the allotted time, there may be several reasons (temporary forgetfulness, financial difficulties or even bad will of the debtor for example). But very often the entrepreneur who is not paid feels cheated, betrayed, or even expresses doubts about his own work, which was nevertheless carried out correctly since there was no dispute, but is not not respected. While he traveled on a public holiday to repair a boiler or she postponed her birthday party to accommodate a patient, while she took out a bank loan to honor this juicy new contract or he took on his/her private life to complete the project even before the deadline and thus satisfy his/her new client, he/she is not even thanked by the on-time payment of their invoices.

Don't we say that all work deserves wages? Entrepreneurs deserve respect for the work accomplished.

But the psychological impact of non-payment does not only apply to the supplier. The non-paying customer sets a precedent. Very often still today, customers are acquired through word of mouth, virtually or not. Customers know each other, talk to each other. Via social networks, information circulates even faster. A supplier who does not always demand payment of his invoices becomes known very quickly and spreads like wildfire. Failing to claim an invoice can have a snowball effect with the number of unpaid invoices increasing year after year.

For the financial health of your business as well as for your psychological well-being, don't let unpaid debts accumulate. React directly by sending regular reminders, setting up a simple and effective litigation flow and, if necessary, do not hesitate to call on a debt collection company.