Late payment drains small businesses in all three of our markets. Rules exist to help, but the biggest gains usually come from designing the payment moment into the service. Here is our approach.
Cash timing is a design problem
A business can be profitable on paper and still struggle to pay its people because customers pay late. In the UK, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts legislation lets businesses claim statutory interest at 8 percent above the Bank of England base rate on overdue business invoices, plus fixed compensation. In Australia, large businesses must report how quickly they pay small suppliers under the Payment Times Reporting Scheme. In New Zealand, payment terms are largely set by contract.
These rules matter, but chasing interest damages relationships. The better move is to make paying you on time the easy, expected default.
The Studio payment path
We map payment the same way we map the customer experience. When is the customer most confident in the value? That is when payment should happen. A deposit at booking. A milestone invoice when something visible is delivered. Final payment at sign-off, not thirty days after it.
We also remove friction. One clear invoice, a named contact, a payment link and terms stated in the proposal, not only on the invoice. Late payment often starts with confusion, not unwillingness.
- Put payment terms in the proposal and the acceptance.
- Take a deposit before work starts.
- Link invoices to milestones the customer can see.
- Make paying one click, with your bank details correct and verified.
- Follow up kindly and early, by a person, on day one of being overdue.
Put it to work
A practical next step
List your last ten invoices and how many days each took to be paid. For the slowest three, find the step where things stalled and redesign that step for the next job.
Explore the toolsSources and method
- GOV.UK on late commercial payments
Statutory interest and compensation for late business payments in the UK.
- Payment Times Reporting Scheme
How large Australian businesses report payment times to small suppliers.
- business.govt.nz on getting paid
New Zealand guidance on invoicing and cash flow.
The methods in this article are Maurice Studio recommendations. External sources inform the underlying principles and rules referred to. They do not validate the Studio approach or guarantee commercial results. Rules change, so check the current position for your business and get specialist advice where it matters.