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View Full Version : Quoting and billing suggestion.



Jack Harper
09-03-2008, 11:32 AM
I've noticed several threads lately about billing, quoting and deposits so I thought I would throw out a practice I use that may be of some use for others. This concerns both the quoting and the subsequent billing and really only applies to term accounts i.e. those you give 30 days to pay.

When I quote a job that will be on terms, I quote for net 10 payment with an asterisk and footnote showing billing terms of net 10 and to add 4% for net 30. This allows me to show a lower quote. However, when I bill the account, I bill for the full 30 day amount and show terms of net 4/10/30. We all know that large companies (the ones we are offering these terms) will pay only when they are good and ready and rarely will pay early for the discount.

Of course this is really nothing new as many of the older readers will have memory of when it was very common to have net 2/10/30 terms for almost any bill.

At the end of the day, more often than not, it's another 4% to the bottom line.

Joe Pelonio
09-03-2008, 12:31 PM
I try to avoid any terms other than COD but then as you say there are companies that won't do it that way. Some have gotten to 45 days lately and even an offer of a discount won't help, as the invoice has to go from me to the regional office, then to the national office for some coding, back to regional for approval and back to national for payment. :mad:

One customer dictates it's terms, take it or leave it, which is all invoices submitted by the 10th of the month will be paid on the 20th of the following month. If I deliver the work on the 11th I missed the date and will have to wait for the 20th of the 2nd month!

They build large apartment buildings and the average job is $6,000+
so it's a little hard to handle but worth it. Of course they have gone from 2-3 jobs a year to none so far in 2008.

Mark Winlund
09-03-2008, 4:40 PM
Just add 10% to the job when quoting. Then assume you won't be paid for 60 days. Covers everything in the long run.

Mark