In this concise instructional video, the presenter highlights the significant financial loss small businesses and sole traders face due to late invoice payments, citing an average of £6,200 owed per business from Gas Engineer Software data. He outlines three major downsides of late payments: increased administrative workload, cash‑flow uncertainty that hampers hiring or personal plans, and heightened stress that can affect mental health. The core of the video offers four actionable steps to prevent late payments: (1) include clear payment terms and account details on invoices, (2) automate and send payment reminders, (3) provide multiple payment options to suit customers, and (4) issue invoices on the same day the job is completed, a process facilitated by Gas Engineer Software. The video concludes with a call‑to‑action directing viewers to a full guide linked in the bio.
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Do you know how much you're owed in late payments? Most business owners would have to sift through their accounts to get a somewhat accurate number, and it's probably higher than you would imagine. From invoices sent through Gas Engineer Software, the average falls somewhere around £6,200 per business. That's a lot of money to be waiting for, especially if you're a sole trader. Now, late payments might not seem like a big deal as long as the money makes its way to your account at some point, but there are some serious downsides. Firstly, there's all the tracking and chasing you have to do. It's a lot more admin work and is simply another thing to add to your mental load. Secondly, it hurts your cash flow. If you can't reasonably predict your monthly income, it becomes hard to know whether you can make that hire or take that holiday. And lastly, there's the stress of it all. Surveys have been done showing that late payments can directly affect your mental health when considering all the knock-on consequences. So how can we prevent them? In our full guide, link in the bio for that, We go through several steps that you can take. Here's an overview. Number 1, make sure you have clear payment terms on your invoices. Add a deadline, make sure your account details are clear, and the process is simple as possible for your customer. It's better to catch your customers when they are happy after a job, not weeks later when they can barely remember what you did. Number 2, send payment reminders. This is a big one. Payment reminders have a huge impact on the rate at which invoices get paid. As we've seen in our software, by automating them allows allows you to spend your time elsewhere. Number 3, offer different payment options. An obvious one, but the idea is again to accommodate your customers' preferences so they get the money to you as soon as possible. Number 4, send invoices on the same day. If you can send your invoice before you've even left the job address, they're probably going to pay you on the same day as well. This can be easily done through Gas Engineer Software. And that's it for this video. Remember, you can find the link in the bio. Until next time, thank you.
