Content hub
How to Get Paid Faster as a Tradesperson
How to set deposits, write clear payment terms, invoice on time, and follow a professional chase sequence to get paid faster.
Deposits, staged payments, clean invoices and a chase process you actually follow.
Start here
Getting paid is a system, not a personality trait. Businesses that get paid quickly usually agreed terms in writing before starting, invoiced the same day, and had a written chase sequence that ran whether or not the owner felt like ringing.
This hub covers deposits, stage payments, payment on completion, terms, reminders, overdue invoices, when stopping work is appropriate, payment links and cards, retention on commercial work, disputes and basic credit control.
Start with the numbers
What this hub covers
Topic clusters
Written in the order the decisions actually arrive.
Agree money before tools
Deposits and stage payments set at quote stage.
Invoice properly
Fewer questions means faster money.
Chasing and escalation
A sequence, not a mood.
Markus on this hub
What matters most here
The three things that change the numbers fastest in this part of the business.
Terms only work if they are in the quote
Payment terms agreed at the invoice stage are a request. Payment terms written into the accepted quote are part of the contract: deposit, stage payments, days to pay, and what happens if payment is late.
Seven or fourteen days is standard for domestic work. Thirty days is a commercial convention, not an obligation you have to accept.
Make paying you the easiest thing on the customer's list
Invoice on the day you finish, from your phone if necessary. Include a payment link or clear bank details, the job address, and a one-line description that matches what they agreed to.
Most late payment in domestic trade work is not refusal — it is drift. Same-day invoicing and a polite reminder on day eight collect more money than any threat of interest.
Escalate on a schedule, not on how annoyed you feel
Day 8 a friendly reminder, day 15 a firm one restating the terms, day 22 a formal notice adding statutory interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 for business customers, day 30 a letter before action.
Because it is a schedule, it happens whether or not you have the energy for a confrontation — and the paper trail is exactly what a small claim needs later.
Tools
Calculators for this area
Templates
Paperwork for this area
- TXTLate-Payment Email PackA written sequence so chasing runs on a timetable instead of on how annoyed you feel. Five stages, from a polite nudge to a final notice.
- CSVProfessional Trade Quote TemplateA quote structure that answers the questions customers ask before they say yes: what is included, what is not, when it happens, what it costs and how payment works.
- CSVJob Completion FormSign-off evidence that prevents 'it was never finished' three weeks after the invoice.
Disclosed partner offers
Accounts worth setting up
We are paid a referral reward if you open an account using our links. It changes nothing we have written above.
Business bank account
TideFree Tide business account with invoicing and payment links — plus up to £200 with code REFER200, subject to the qualifying steps and Tide's live terms.
£200 free cash when you open a Tide business account with code REFER200
T&Cs apply. £75 free when you complete transactions of £100 within 30 days, and another £125 free when you deposit at least £5,000 in a Tide Instant Saver within 7 days. Affiliate link.
Straight answers
Common questions
- Can I charge interest on a late invoice?
- For business-to-business debts you can claim statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate plus a fixed compensation sum. For consumer work you can only charge interest if your contract terms say so and the term is fair.
- What deposit is reasonable?
- Enough to cover materials plus a day of labour on most domestic work. For long lead-time items, invoice the item cost separately with the order. Very large upfront percentages make customers nervous and are hard to defend.
- What do I do when a customer simply will not pay?
- Stop work, put everything in writing, send a letter before action with a deadline, then use the money claim service for undisputed amounts. Keep the quote, variations, photographs and messages — that evidence decides it.