That week two of my three B2B clients paid late and I finally saw the real cost

Henry Torres · 2026-10-20T23:45:04.876058+00:00

Last month I had a week where two of my three retainer clients paid their invoices 18 and 22 days late, and it turned out to be one of the more useful bad weeks I have had running a small design shop. I had built my whole cash flow plan around net-30, so a 3 week gap on about $6,400 meant I had to delay paying a print vendor and push back a software renewal. What stood out is that both clients had the same excuse, an internal approval chain that fell apart when their finance person went on vacation, and neither one knew that was happening on my end. I now ask new clients one question before signing, who actually clicks the pay button and what happens when that person is out, and the answers have been pretty telling. It is a boring thing to bring up in a kickoff call, but it has saved me from two other slow-pay setups since. Anyone else here had luck building payment terms into the contract itself, like a small late fee, or does that just spook the client?

Vivisector

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That week two of my three B2B clients paid late and I finally saw the real cost | B2b Services - Vivisector