Forum Discussion

Boxed2Built's avatar
Boxed2Built
Contributor 2
27 days ago

Payment Nightmare: Should Contractors Require a Deposit Before Starting a Job?

I recently had a job where the customer tried to pay in various formats and payment was never able to go through. I ended up leaving and hoping they would pay at a later date. Thankfully they did pay...
accounts receivable
general contracting
getting paid
processing payments
TurfT's avatar
TurfT
Contributor 4
15 days ago

Same approach here — prepaid, deposit, or card on file, no exceptions. I get paid 100% of the time and don't spend any energy chasing people down.

I used to accept cash, knock-and-pay, or send invoices afterward. It became a nightmare to collect, and I won't go back to it. A handful of people decline because of a bad past experience with card on file, and that's fine — I'm okay losing those clients. The headache of chasing payment isn't worth saving a few accounts.