There are a lot of people who are not able to pay their legal bills on time. Some of them miss the due date by a small margin, but others make it a habit to pay late. If you are a lawyer, you will have to deal with clients who make late payments. You can try to persuade them, but if they don’t pay on time, your business will suffer it. If you don’t want to lose money because of late payments, you can follow these tips to make sure your clients pay on time.

Create a billing policy

Clients are notoriously bad at paying their bills on time. In fact, they can be so bad that they’ll pay you twice! Yes, that’s right, they’ll pay twice if you don’t have a billing policy in place. So, why don’t you have a billing policy in place? It could be because you don’t want to scare away your clients with a policy that doesn’t look too friendly, or you don’t want to sound too harsh. However, there’s no way around it. To be a professional service provider, you need to have a billing policy. Without a billing policy, you’re sending a message to your clients that you’re not serious about your business. 

A billing policy is pretty much a legal contract stating how much a client must pay, when they must pay and how they must pay. Make sure your billing policy is written in a clear and concise way so the client knows exactly what they are paying for and when they are paying for it.

Clearly communicate the payment terms 

In the world of legal work, there is no shortage of billable hours. With fees for lawyers varying from state to state, the cost of taking on a new client can seem like a gamble. Lawyers often have problems with getting paid by their clients. But the fact is that you can easily avoid this situation if you do your job from the very beginning. Your client expects you to be responsible, reliable, and a person who can make things happen. So, if you fail to communicate with them about your fees and everything involved clearly, you can be sure you will get a poor payment history.

Understanding the payment terms is step one in making sure you are paid for your work. A client that knows the payment terms ahead of time is more likely to stick to them.

Provide several options for clients to pay you 

Billing is one of the most challenging aspects of any business. You want to get paid for your services, but you don’t want to give up too much of your profit to collect payment. At the same time, clients want to get the services you offer for the best possible price. Providing multiple ways for clients to pay you is important because not everyone uses credit cards. 

There is no one-size-fits-all payment method. Clients have different preferences and needs. And different trust levels. This is why it’s important to give clients several options for payment. Whether you want to accept credit card payments, invoice payments, PayPal or any other type of payment, you should offer the client a choice of payment options. 

Some people use checks; others use PayPal. If you provide just one way for a client to pay, they might have a hard time paying you in time because they might not have the right account. So, if you provide multiple ways for your clients to pay, you will have more chances to get paid on time. When it comes to invoicing, it’s important to have a system that allows your clients to pay you without needing to chase them for payment. This will not only enhance your client’s experience, but it will also help you build trust.

Send a structured and well-written invoice

Structured and well-written invoices are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they can very easily help you to get paid on time. On the other hand, they also help you avoid your client changing the number of hours and otherwise trying to get away with not paying you.

Everyone hates writing invoices. But that’s not the point. The point is that you should always send an invoice to your client when a job is done. You don’t need to be mean or rude about it. Just write an invoice as if you were dealing with your best friend. The way you structure your invoice is more important than you’d think. It’s important to structure your invoice in a way that your client knows what they are paying for. And it’s important to structure it in a way that your client can understand the price they need to pay.

One of the easiest ways to ensure your client pays you on time is to send well-written invoices with all the necessary information. Legal billing software can help you do this if you don’t have the time or staff. These tools also help you choose desired templates and offer detailed and easy-to-understand invoices. Not only should your invoices have clear and easy-to-read numbers, but they also include all information about how to pay you and any discount offers you have, and billing software can help you do this.

Track time for billing clients through software

Nothing is more frustrating for a lawyer than a client who does not pay bills on time. It is difficult to get paid for the work you do if your clients are paying you late. It is not uncommon for clients to pay their lawyers over 90 days after the legal services are provided. There are a number of reasons why clients do not pay on time. They may be waiting for an invoice, waiting for the funds in their trust account, or simply being slow payers. Whatever the reason, you can ensure that you are getting paid on time using time tracking software. Time tracking software is a great way to track your time in the office and bill clients for your legal services. It is a very simple process, and it can save you valuable time.

Send bills timely 

If you want to be paid on time, you should send your bills on time. It’s a simple rule, but you will be surprised how many lawyers who are not very business-savvy and not very good in their billing practice fail to send their bills on time. 

If you are running a small law firm and have to deal with clients on a daily basis, you will have to send invoices and eventually collect money. That’s why it’s crucial to keep your clients informed about the progress of their cases. In order to make sure that they are informed and to do that in time, you must send them invoices in time.