Getting Paid Quicker by Corporate Clients

The majority of payments given to caterers by corporations are automatically prepared using computer-generated payment checks. This payment system is based on approval from the department head, who ordered the catering and th vendor information stored by the computer onthe caterer. Your client turns your invoice in with an approval code along with the customer identification number you gave them—if you in fact gave them one. It is this customer number that a caterer gives to the client, which in turn generates the specific vendor number that the client’s accounts payable department gives to the caterer’s contact and payment information that makes the payment happen.

If the client doesn’t have a unique customer number to alert the computer that your company is already approved for payment, your payment for invoices are slowed down dramatically. The reason for the slowness is that your client needs to walk through your invoice for payment. In other words, blame for slow payment goes to the caterer not the client!

The solution is to always place a specific unchanging customer number on every invoice you send to that client. This would be true also for any requests or invoices for deposits. Caterers will get paid quicker if they do two things: Place an order/invoice number on each invoice sent so the client can do more efficient bookkeeping and their computer can keep proper records of the payment history. Then, place a very small discount on the invoiced amount if it’s paid within 10 days. A simple 2 percent discount will prompt the computer to pay your invoice before invoices that don’t offer a quick-payment discount. If you do this, be sure to display the amount they will pay if they take advantage of the discount, in addition to the non-discounted amount.

Many caterers offer a prepayment discount to corporations if the client pays the invoice in full before or on the day of the event itself. Sometimes payment is slow simply because it may take 45 processing days for an invoice to be paid. Consider giving your client an invoice for the majority of the amount due 50 days before the event. You will bill for staff overtime and other charges after the event, but you will have the bulk of the money owed you in a timely fashion.