Charging a late fee

[Marisa]

Hello. Just a question about late fees. I have partnered with another VA and occasionally do some work for her. I have not been paid for the last project I completed back in November. I have politely "asked" for payment and sent an invoice and each time she has promised payment. I have yet to receive it. Should I charge a late fee or should I be nice and let it go this time? If I should charge a late fee, what would be a standard amount to charge? A percentage of the bill or a flat fee?

Thank you for your input.

[Lori]

Hi Marisa,

Bummer. :sad:

If it were me I would not charge a late fee. If you want to have that to fall back on you probably should draw up a contract to use with her in the future...

Have you ever worked with her before? If this is the first time, it isn't a good sign. But if you have experience with her - she just might be nuts because of the holidays.

Let us know how it goes!

Lori

Hello. Just a question about late fees. I have partnered with another VA and occasionally do some work for her. I have not been paid for the last project I completed back in November. I have politely "asked" for payment and sent an invoice and each time she has promised payment. I have yet to receive it. Should I charge a late fee or should I be nice and let it go this time? If I should charge a late fee, what would be a standard amount to charge? A percentage of the bill or a flat fee?

Thank you for your input.

[Anonymous]

Hi:

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate the input. I did decide to go ahead and charge a late fee only because I've had this problem before with work done over the past year. I understand what you are saying about the holidays and all, but since this was work done clear back at the beginning of November and was supposed to have been paid upon completion I guess I felt like enough time had been given along with many reminders so...I have waited up to 90 days to be paid sometimes and I guess I'm just getting tired of it.

Thanks again for you input. I do appreciate it.

Marisa

P.S. We do have a contract. I will review it.

[Debbi]

Hi Marisa,

I hope you resolved your problem with your client. My philosophy on late fees (coming from the fact that I do bookkeeping for clients, and have for over 15 years) is that the late fee is often a means to get the client's attention and let them know that they are serious. I have charged my client's late fees in the past (typically 1.5 percent/month, a standard credit card rate, which equals 18% annually) and what usually happens is that it causes them to contact me about payment. I say something like 'if I receive payment in full within the next 14 days, I will gladly write off the late fee'. It doesn't always work, but it's worth a try. Let me know how it goes.

Debbi

[Nellers]

I don't charge late fees. I have been fortunate that most clients pay me on time. I do have a great client that has been up to two weeks late before, but I just let it go as I knew she would pay me.

I suppose if it happened all the time then I would be upset about it. I do know that if a client paid me late a lot then I would either not do future work with them or I would put it in my contract that a late fee would incur.