Late Fee's

[VALLEYWIDELAWN]

does anyone here charge late fee's and if so what do u charge and how many days do u wait before u charge

i would like to set up mine as "a late fee of 5% or $10 whichever is greatest will be assessed if payment is not made by the 15th and recieved no later than the 20th"

[Georgia Fan]

I charge a 10 dollar late fee for every bill under 200 dollars. I tell my customers the bill is late on the first. But if I get the payment before the next cycle of bills goes out, I wave the late fee. I am not trying to make my money off late fees. I don't want to ever lose a single customer over a $10 late fee.

Just my 2 cents,

Georgia Fan

[srlawnservice]

No late fees. Warn them service will be discontinued. If service is discontinued and they want to start back with me, I charge a "rescheduling" fee, equal to price of one service....only had to do it once in four years, and they paid it.

RL

[Countryside]

1.24% of the outstanding balance over 30 days.

I hate doing it but, sometimes you have to push those commerical guys a little.

[lclandscapes]

If you have a big enough customer base, ask for a automic debit payments. I do this on 70% of my customers, and the other 30% pay up front for the year. They still get their invoice 15 days before I charge their credit card. Some like it to get points or miles on their cards, but others like not having to write a check. By doing this, you avoid having to call and remind that payment is due or charging late fees.

[lawn hopper]

I like the last posts methods because this saves lots of time and energy for everyone. Wonder if my customer would be so thoughtful...

Bet the effort to get that going would easily pay for itself in a month or two.
About late fees, there are lots of good threads to search.

I just wrote my first agreement: fees are one point five percent after thirty days and small claims court after sixty with all legal, late payment and court fees added to bill. They are going to sign this or find someone else. Although I have had good success with collecting: been burned on about five hundred dollars across the one hundred and twenty thousand I've done in four years. There are customers who are very late paying right now though where a signed payment agreement would have solved the problem. It's going to be a challenge to get all my customers to sign the agreement but it's be worth it in peace of mind, credibility and timely payments. Go for it if your ready.

[mariner]

2% a month. Theyll get cut off after a couple months but the late fees keep building. Then in the winter I take em to small claims court if they don't pay within 14 days of the certified letter I send them. The certified bill is also an additional $5. I'm not losing a dime on someone elses money problems!

[dennis]

2% a month. Theyll get cut off after a couple months but the late fees keep building. Then in the winter I take em to small claims court if they don't pay within 14 days of the certified letter I send them. The certified bill is also an additional $5. I'm not losing a dime on someone elses money problems!

This is wonderful in a perfect world, but even carrying them to small claims court is no gaurantee you will get your money. I have judgements on several past customer right now. And if they file bankruptcy you can forget it.