How long should I give customers to pay up?

[wolfe04]

On my invoices I have been stating " payment due upon reciept of invoice". Of course only a few customers pay the bill immediatley, so I am going to put in a late fee this year. But How long should I give the customer to pay(and avoid late fees) the bill once they recieve it? Thanks.

[Spoiled]

I usually invoice payments with a due date 14 days from when I invoice it.

So lets say 1/8 in invoice date, due date would be the 22nd.

[scagguy]

I send statements out on the 1st of every month. If I don't have money in hand at the end of the month, I debit their credit card. I have cards on file for every customer for exactly this reason. No cc on file then it's pre pay for a year up front. If that's not good enough, then I tell them to find another LCO. Collections are a TOTAL waste of time and I'm an asshole to deal with when it comes to late payers.

[Scaper-S2k]

I bill once per month. Some are net 25, others are net 30.

I've never had to do late fess for anyone. Actually, I'm not sure I ever would.

I'll call a commercial place if it goes up around 45 days.

Residential? I don't have too many residential lawns. And I only have a couple of them that don't pay on time. But I know those certain ones have $$$ issues on occasion, but have always paid me. Most of the residentials I have pay quickly.

[leftovers]

Bill on the 1st of each month and bill due on receipt. If payment is not received by months end a reminder is sent and %10 late fees applied until payment received. Service discontinued after 5th week.

Buy Sell or Trade lawn care accounts
http://www.tradeyouraccounts.com

[2010BC]

Invoices due out by the 5th of the month. Invoice is past due 15 days after invoice date if not paid in full. Late charges are applied to the account 5 days after past due date if the invoice is still outstanding. This gives them around 20 days to pay. I figure that's more than reasonable. However, I rarely impose late charges on anyone unless the customer has a nasty habit of routinely paying very late.

[clclawn]

bill on the first, due by the 20th. 15$ late fee after that. I do let alot of my long time or good customers slide, but seem to hit about 5ish per month.

[Silver]

I give them up to 1 month. Then I politely send them a handwritten note to remind them. This usually shames them into paying up.