Guides · Getting paid
How do you make sure clients pay you?
Get paid before the work whenever the work is short. Take part of it up front when the work is long. Put one due date on everything else, and send a reminder a few days after it passes. Most late money was never refused. Somebody forgot, and each of these makes forgetting harder.
Where the money comes in depends on how long the work runs. A session lasts an hour, a project lasts a month, and a retainer keeps going. Each one is paid at a different moment, and that moment is agreed before anybody starts.
| The work | When you’re paid | What it saves you from |
|---|---|---|
| A session or a package | At booking, before the time is held | Chasing, and the no-show who never meant to come |
| A project | A share up front, the rest when it’s delivered | Six weeks of work for somebody who changes their mind in week five |
| A retainer | On their card, every month | Writing the same invoice every month |
Before the work
A $180 session paid as it’s booked can’t go unpaid. There’s nothing to send and nobody to remind. On a WorkWith page, anything with a price is paid by card when it’s booked, and the time isn’t held until the card goes through. Should you take payment at booking? covers the few times to wait.
When the work is long
Take half up front on a $5,000 project and $2,500 is in your account before the first draft. That tells you the client is serious, and it pays for the weeks you’ve set aside if they go quiet halfway. On a WorkWith page, set what’s due at booking on Link, and the rest waits on Today until you send it. How much deposit should you take? has a share for each kind of work.
Everything else gets one due date
Pick a number of days and put it on every invoice. The coaching setup starts at 14, and a weekly practice at 7. 3 days after an invoice passes its date, WorkWith sends a reminder in your name, then up to two more, and Today shows it as overdue with a button to chase it now.
When it’s late anyway
It happens, and it’s usually a busy week. What do you do when a client doesn’t pay? takes the four weeks after the due date one message at a time, and shows where chasing starts to cost more than the invoice.
Settle when you’re paid before the work starts. Afterward, it’s a negotiation.
Everything on getting paid
- What do you do when a client doesn’t pay?
Send four short messages over four weeks, starting the day before it’s due. Every hour you spend chasing is an hour you could have billed, so under about $500 the chase costs you more than the invoice is worth.
- Should you take payment at booking?
For anything an hour or two long, yes. A client who has paid tends to show up, and an invoice you never write is one you never chase. Wait until afterward only when nobody can know the price before the work starts.
- How much deposit should you take?
Half, for a project with a fixed price. The first month, for work that runs for months. Enough to cover the day, for anything that blocks a date nobody else can book. Take it before the work starts, and say in your terms what happens to it if either of you cancels.
- How do you take payment before a session without seeming pushy?
Make paying part of booking, not a request that comes after it. When the price, the time and the card are on the same page, nobody reads it as pushy. They read it as how you work. What feels pushy is the email asking for money once the time is already agreed.
- What should an invoice include?
A number of its own, your name and how to reach you, who it’s for, what the work was and when, the date, the amount, the due date and how to pay. In the UK, add the client’s address, and VAT if you’re registered for it. The clearer it is, the less there is to ask about before paying.
- What payment terms should you use?
Fourteen days for most work, seven for anything weekly, and due on receipt when the amount is small. A shorter gap leaves less time to forget. Whatever you choose, put the same number on every invoice so neither of you has to remember which client gets which.
- How do you bill a company instead of a person?
Ask three things before you start: who approves the invoice, where to send it, and whether it needs a purchase order number. A company pays when its paperwork is complete. Get it right on the first invoice and the ones after it tend to follow on time.
- What happens when a client’s card is declined?
Usually nothing serious. The bank stopped one payment, often for something as small as a new card number. At booking, the client tries another card, and the time isn’t held until one works. On a monthly renewal, Stripe tries again on its own, and a new card from the client fixes it for good.
- How do card fees work, and who should pay them?
Two fees come out of a card payment: the processor’s and the platform’s. On a $180 session, Stripe’s US rate takes $5.52 and WorkWith’s 0.75% takes $1.35. You pay them, and the place for them is inside your price. A fee added at checkout reads as a surprise.
- When does the money from a client reach your bank?
Stripe pays a card payment out to your bank on its own schedule, usually about two business days after the client pays. The first payout on a new account takes a few days longer. Standard payouts cost nothing.
- Should you charge a late fee?
Only if it was agreed before the work, and only if you’ll apply it every time. A late fee nobody agreed to is a dispute, and one you waive for some clients is a favor you’ve given the rest. For most practices of one, a reminder on a schedule recovers more than a fee does.
- Is it worth taking a client to small claims court?
Sometimes, for a debt large enough to be worth a few days of your time and small enough to fit under the limit. In England and Wales the small claims track covers most claims up to £10,000. In the US the limit is set by each state, from a few thousand dollars to $25,000. Send a final letter first.
Checked 2026-10-10.