The short answer
When a client says “finance is handling it,” ask for three things:
the name or contact of the person handling the invoice;
confirmation that the invoice has been approved;
the scheduled payment date.
“Finance is handling it” may be completely true.
But it is not enough information to manage a receivable.
Your contact may not know what happens next
Imagine your main client contact approved the work and forwarded the invoice internally.
From their perspective, their job is done.
The invoice may now be waiting for:
procurement;
a PO;
budget approval;
vendor onboarding;
accounts payable;
the next payment run.
Continuing to chase the same person can therefore create plenty of communication without creating progress.
Ask to remove them from the middle
A useful response is:
Perfect. Could you introduce me to the person handling it? I can coordinate directly with them so you don’t have to stay in the middle.
This does three things.
It keeps the tone cooperative.
It obtains the right contact.
And it signals that your agency has an actual payment process.
Then ask operational questions
Once you reach finance or AP, ask:
Has invoice #218 been approved for payment?
Is anything missing from our side?
Which payment run is it scheduled for?
What date should we expect the funds?
Notice that none of these questions is:
Can you please pay us?
You are navigating a process.
Why this matters more with larger clients
As your agency moves upmarket, the person buying the work and the person releasing payment become increasingly separated.
A founder who has only worked with smaller companies may misread that bureaucracy as hostility.
Sometimes it is simply bureaucracy.
That does not mean you should passively accept indefinite delays.
It means you need to understand where the invoice actually sits.
FAQ
What does accounts payable do?
Accounts payable is typically the function responsible for processing money a company owes suppliers and vendors.
Should I contact finance directly?
Usually yes, once the client’s internal payment process has been handed to them.
What if my contact refuses to introduce finance?
Ask them to confirm the invoice’s internal status and scheduled payment date. Persistent refusal combined with overdue payment is a reason to escalate.
Who should own this inside a small agency?
Ideally, one person owns the payment thread from deposit through final payment. For agencies without an internal finance-operations hire, that function can also be fractional.