The short answer
Most late invoices are decided before the work starts, by information nobody asked for. 6 questions at kickoff cover almost all of it:
Who approves invoices for this project, and who covers when they are away?
When do your payment runs happen, and what is the cut-off for an invoice to be included?
Do you need a purchase order, and who raises it?
Which address should invoices go to?
What do you need from us to set us up as a supplier?
What are your payment terms, and do they run from the invoice date or the end of the month?
Ask them in the kickoff email, alongside the questions you already ask about brand assets and logins. A client with a finance team will answer all 6 in a couple of lines, because it is their process and they know it well.
1. Who approves invoices, and who covers for them?
The most useful name you can have. An unapproved invoice is the most common reason a payment stalls, and your day-to-day contact is often not the approver. The 7 reasons clients pay late starts with this one.
A good answer
A name, a job title and an email address. Better still, a second name for when that person is on holiday, which is what turns a 2-week delay in August into a same-week approval.
What to do with it
Record it with the client’s details and address the invoice email to that person, copying accounts payable. When an invoice is late, you are asking a named person about a specific invoice rather than asking your contact to find out.
2. When are your payment runs?
Many clients pay in batches on fixed dates. An invoice that is not approved and due by the cut-off waits for the next run, which is how net 14 terms turn into 30 days without anyone deciding anything. The client who pays late every month shows the pattern in a set of real dates.
A good answer
“We run payments on the 15th and the last working day. Invoices need to be approved 5 working days before.”
What to do with it
Set your invoice dates so each invoice falls due before a cut-off. On a monthly retainer, this single change can move every payment forward by weeks.
3. Do you need a purchase order?
In many mid-size and larger companies, accounts payable cannot pay an invoice that has no matching purchase order, and nobody tells you when it is missing. The invoice sits in an exceptions queue.
A good answer
Either “no PO needed”, or a PO number raised before the work starts, with the name of the person who raises it and what needs to appear on your invoice.
What to do with it
Put the PO number on every invoice, and check the total does not exceed it. If the scope grows, ask for the PO to be increased before you invoice, rather than after.
4. Where should invoices go?
Sending an invoice to your project contact adds a forwarding step and a delay. Most clients with a finance team have an address that invoices must go to.
A good answer
An accounts payable address, plus whether they want the invoice as a PDF attachment, through a supplier portal, or both.
What to do with it
Send invoices there, copy your contact for visibility, and send them from your own shared billing address so replies reach whoever handles payment on your side.
5. What do you need to set us up as a supplier?
A new supplier usually has to exist in the client’s system before any invoice can be paid. Vendor forms, tax forms and bank detail checks can take weeks, and they are almost always started after the first invoice arrives.
A good answer
A list: the vendor form, the tax form, proof of bank details, and who to send them to.
What to do with it
Complete it during the first week of the project. Setup finished before your first invoice removes a delay that otherwise lands at exactly the wrong moment.
6. What are your payment terms, and from what date?
Terms are worth confirming even when your contract states them, because the client’s system may apply its own. The difference between 30 days from the invoice date and 30 days from the end of the month can be a month of cash.
A good answer
A number of days and the date they count from. If their standard terms are longer than yours, that is a negotiation to have now, not after the first invoice is late. The payment terms guide covers what to ask for.
What to do with it
Write the agreed terms into the contract or statement of work, in the same words the client used.
The kickoff email
All 6 questions fit in one message, sent with the usual project setup questions:
Subject: Setting up billing for [project]
Hi [Name],
Before we start, a few admin questions so invoices go to the right place and nothing gets stuck later:
1. Who approves invoices for this project, and who covers when they’re away?
2. When do your payment runs happen, and what’s the cut-off for an invoice to be included?
3. Do you need a purchase order? If so, who raises it and what should appear on our invoices?
4. Which address should invoices be sent to?
5. What do you need from us to set us up as a supplier?
6. What are your payment terms, and do they run from the invoice date or the end of the month?
Thanks,
[Name]
Nobody has ever found this email rude. It reads as organised, and it gives the client’s finance team a supplier who will not create work for them later.
Where to keep the answers
The answers are worth as much as the contract, and they are useless in an email thread from March. Keep them with the client record, wherever you track open invoices:
Approver name, title and email, plus the backup.
Payment run dates and the cut-off.
PO number, and who raises it.
The accounts payable address and portal, if there is one.
Supplier setup status.
Agreed terms, and the date they run from.
When an invoice does go late, this list turns a vague follow-up into a specific question, which is what the follow-up templates are built on.
FAQ
What should I ask a client about payment before starting work?
Who approves invoices, when their payment runs happen and the cut-off, whether a purchase order is needed, which address invoices go to, what supplier setup they require, and their payment terms and the date those run from.
Is it rude to ask a client about their payment process?
No. Finance teams deal with these questions daily and answering them saves them work later. Asking at kickoff, alongside brand assets and logins, reads as organised rather than distrustful.
When should I ask these questions?
At kickoff, or during the proposal stage for a larger client. Asking once an invoice is already late costs you the advantage, because the answers then arrive slowly.
What if the client won’t answer?
Ask again once, then ask their accounts payable team directly. A client that cannot say who approves invoices or when payments run is telling you something useful about how the invoice will be handled.
Do these questions matter for small clients?
Less. A small client where the owner pays the bills has no payment run, no purchase orders and no supplier setup. For them, agree the terms, take a deposit, and set a fixed payment date.