Confident Cashflow

We’ve all got those clients who can be relied upon to pay late. You know the ones.

There’s never an issue. They’re usually lovely to deal with. Yet they never pay on time.

You send the invoice. Nothing happens. You send a reminder. Most likely more than one.

Eventually, the payment arrives. Sometimes you may even get a reply; a thank you for the nudge, or a vague “I’ll sort it.”

They’re not refusing to pay, and they’re not asking for more time. They’re just not paying until you chase, or until they reach a point on their own private timetable that you’re not aware of.

It’s become part of how they work with you. Over time, it starts to feel normal.

Why ‘eventually’ is easy to miss

It doesn’t feel like a problem.

There’s no confrontation. No refusal. The money always turns up in the end.

They’ve been a client for a while. You know them. You get on. Maybe you’ve become business buddies, and that over-familiarity subconsciously flexes your boundaries and makes it easier to overlook the behaviour.

So you let it slide. You tell yourself it’s fine. You’ve got bigger things to worry about, and this isn’t urgent.

Eventually becomes part of how you work together. Not something you’ve agreed. Just something that’s crept in. You wait. They pay. No one questions it.

What ‘evetually’ actually costs you

It doesn’t feel like much at the time. A few days here, a week there. If it’s just one client, it may not cause an immediate problem.

When it starts happening with several clients, though, it soon adds up.

You can’t rely on the payment date, so your cash flow forecast starts to slip. You hesitate before making payments of your own. You find yourself checking the bank account more often than usual.

You’re chasing the same clients again and again, but nothing’s changed. It’s part of the rhythm of how you work together now. Because it feels normal, it tends to go unchallenged.

How ‘eventually’ becomes routine

At some point, it just becomes something you do.

It becomes a habit. Like brushing your teeth before bed or putting your seatbelt on. Something automatic. Something you do without thinking about it.

And sometimes, it was always going to happen.

Because what you want to happen, such as your payment terms or your process, doesn’t match how the client works. Their internal routines were already in place, and you didn’t know enough about them to spot the mismatch.

So what you see as delay might be, to them, perfectly normal.

Either way, you’ve ended up working around someone else’s process, whether that was intentional or not.

What you can do about it

If you ever catch yourself saying something like, “Our clients are great, they always pay us… eventually,” it’s worth asking why eventually has become acceptable.

Maybe you’ve never needed the money urgently. Maybe you haven’t wanted to rock the boat. One of our clients once realised, “Just because we can afford to wait, doesn’t mean we should have to.”

So, why is it late?

This isn’t something you’ll solve over email. It needs a proper conversation. Pick up the phone.

Once you ask, the reasons usually fall into one of a few distinct categories:

• It’s just how they work
  Their payment process doesn’t match yours. Maybe invoices need approval from multiple people, or their payment run is tied to specific dates. They might not be able to change it, but once you understand how it works, you can choose how to respond.
• They always forget
  It’s not deliberate. They’re disorganised. Maybe a bit apologetic. But they always need a nudge. In that case, use tools that make it easier for both of you. GoCardless, automated reminders, anything that stops the whole thing being a memory test.
• They wait to be chased
  Some clients don’t act until they’re prompted. That’s just how they operate. It doesn’t make it acceptable, but it does mean you need to decide whether you’re prepared to keep working that way.
• It’s a timing issue
  Maybe your payment terms fall before their income does. You might agree to adjust your terms, or move to payment upfront. If the problem runs deeper, into cash flow management territory, it may be time to introduce them to someone who can help.

Once you know the reason, you can decide what to do.

That might mean being open about how their delays affect you. It might mean changing how or when you invoice. Or it might mean agreeing to a more realistic timeline for payment, so you know exactly when to follow up if it doesn’t arrive.

Eventually isn’t good enough

It might not feel urgent. The money comes in, the work carries on.

So you stop chasing. You start planning around it. You tell yourself it’s fine. Until it isn’t.

Because when you stop paying attention, you stop noticing when eventually gets longer. Or when it stops altogether. By that point, it may be too late to fix things.

If this has made you pause and reflect on what you’ve been accepting, and you’re ready to change it, we’re here to help.