Chasing payment of invoices - reasonable or not?

BTW - I didn't realise he'd not invoiced me. He does enough work for me for me to lose track of what hasn't been invoiced for. Mind you, I'm on the ball enough to know when he has invoiced me twice erroneously (which he once did!)

Being married to a plumber I can see both sides.

Yes, I'd be annoyed if he were now chasing me to pay up when he'd not invoiced me. However, if he's like my H he will be doing his invoicing when he gets home after a full day's work and mistakes will happen.

Incidentally, I think you get 28 to pay, legally (don't quote me on that) but what I do know is that many tradesmen are experiencing a cashflow problem at the moment as their customers are feeling the pinch, taking longer to pay, and fuel prices etc are going up. H was debating last night whether he could chase some customers after three weeks (he decided not to ) for this very reason.

Because it won't go into last years accounts. Not the end of the world though. Just annoyed me a little.

I think I'm ticked off because he's never chased me before. In all the years I've used him. He's never had to - and now all of a sudden he's chasing me for a) an invoice that is 2 weeks old and b) for an invoice that he never sent from last December!!

Rising fuel prices, costs .. yep. That's probably why. Either that or he's winding up and wants payment from everyone first? It wouldn't surprise me if he stopped trading due to elderly family problems. Or because his son is taking over?

Whatever .. I digress.

Just off to pay them. His chasing worked - clearly!

If it was me, i'd remind him that the normal date for paying an invoice is 30 days after the date of the invoice. And either pay him on the 30th day or sooner if my cash flow allowed it (as it sounds like he needs it )

the "normal" date for payment of invoice is what is stated on the suppliers terms and conditions. ie, there is no "normal".

i m surprised that you didnt realise peaches that he had done 400 worth of worth and not invoiced for it. do you have a large portfolio of houses which he works on?

If he works like the plumber/electrician for one of our old landlords then I imagine it would be very easy not to notice as the tenants used to have to ring them direct to do the work. If he then forgot to mention that he had done the work for whatever reason, then she would have no way of knowing it had been done.

NickJ's right. It's normally stated on the invoice when the supplier wouldlike payment. I'm self employed and when I send an invoice I put "payment within 28 days" at the bottom. Then after that time is up I start to chase. Normally I don't need to.

How long does he normally leave you to pay?

It's not that my portfolio is particularly large Nick, it's more to do with the fact I'm half way round the world, and not on the ball as I much as I'd like to be / used to be.

As for his terms - his invoices state 7 days. But I've never paid him in 7 days before. Then again, he's not chased me in the past either. Maybe he should have as an invoice managed to get filed in the wrong place and I only discovered it last week. It was also dated last December for £23.50, so I paid it straight away via BACS. Maybe it was the payment of that which prompted his text? Who knows.

Anyway, it's not a biggie. I was just miffed at the time yesterday.

Sorry Peaches, if the invoice says 7 days then he's got every right to chase. The fact that he hasn't chased before within 7 days is not relevent. It may be that in the past he's had enough capital / work to cover late payment, and that may not be the case now.

I know that H (in a similar business) is really agitated at not getting his money in at the mo. My heart sank when the postman came today with no cheques for him. He hasn't got a leg to stand on as his terms state 28 days and they are not outside that yet but at the same time I don't like to see him so worried about cash flow.

Zippy, you're missing the point

I was miffed not because he was chasing me for an invoice, but the fact he was chasing me for one I'd not received (well, 2 actually), and was dated back to December.

I know him. He's not hard up. Clearly that's not the point - he needs paying. What I was ticked off at was the invoice was over 6 months old but he'd not invoiced it - then does, and after such a short time chases.

Yes, I'd be miffed at that too, although to be honest like some have said I would be aware that I hadn't paid an amount that big and would have it put to one side ready for immediate payment, if I hadn't already contacted the tradesman in question to settle up.

However, from your first post I think I understood that he chased, you then told him you hadn't received either, and then he said that the fact you hadn't got the December one was his fault. So, at the time of the original chasing, he probably hadn't realised he hadn't invoiced?