[cujo450]

I have a small business with regular clients. I was thinking on starting to charge a few of them on a monthly basis instead of each visit. I was thinking the clients that have had a cleaner for years and money is not an issue would be OK with this. I find it hard to manage my money and pay bills at the end of the month getting paid cash every day.
My main concern is they will see what they are spending and decide that they do not want my service anymore. I would appreciate any advice I can get and the more specific it is the better.

[Clough]

Hi, cujo450!

I would think that if they like the kind of service that you are providing and are pleased with your work, that paying on a monthly basis shouldn't be a problem.

You mention being paid in cash. If any clients do pay you by check however, I would think that writing one check for the month would look better to them than writing more than one.

Do you have enough customers to keep you busy all week? Do you do any advertising for what you do, and if so, how do you do it, please?

Hopefully, others will also be along to address your question.

Thanks!

[Stringer]

As you grow, monthly billing makes much more sense and helps in controlling your books and saves time and al;lows you to plan much better.

There is the possibility that when you convert them over to monthly that it could change your billing/payment cycle though.

For example, you perform the service for the complete month and then you give them your bill, then they assume that they have another 30 days to pay you. This will disrupt your income flow/stream considerably.

My suggestion and what we do is send the invoice for the month coming up to them in the beginning of that month and list your terms as "payment due in 30 days" or "net 30 days."

We however are fortunate in that we send the invoice about 5 days before the upcoming month so it arrives to their billing department at the beginning of the month. And we state that our net date is on the 15th of the month for full payment.

We have had most of our clients for 8 to 10 years or more and we know them well, however the question can come up as to why they have to pay the whole month on the 15th instead of the end of the month. We explain that our service is labor driven, approximately 45 to 65 % of our billing is labor and related costs (plus other expenses such as insurance, supplies, etc), it is fair to share the cost factors in this way. We are extending our resources for half of the month. 85% of our customers pay on the 15th of the month that we are working in.

Stringer