To get paid faster as a contractor, agree on payment terms in writing before you start, take a deposit, send the invoice the day the job ends with a card pay link, and follow up on a fixed reminder schedule instead of when you remember. Those four habits fix most late payments.
The rest of this guide covers the details: what terms to use, how to bill bigger jobs, what to say when a customer goes quiet, and what to do when an invoice is truly stuck. For the invoice itself, use our contractor invoice template.
Why contractors get paid late
Look at your last ten slow payments and you’ll usually find one of these behind each one:
| Cause | What it looks like | Fix in this guide |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice went out late | Job done Friday, invoice sent the next Thursday | #4 |
| No terms agreed | Customer assumed “after my next paycheque” | #1 |
| Paying takes effort | Cheque only, or e-Transfer details buried in an email | #5 |
| Invoice raised questions | Line they didn’t expect, extra they didn’t sign | #6 |
| Nobody followed up | One reminder after 45 days, then silence | #7 and #8 |
| Too much at risk at the end | Whole job billed on completion | #2 and #3 |
1. Set payment terms before you start
Payment terms belong in the quote and contract, not the invoice. When the customer signs, they should already know: how much is due up front, what’s due at each stage, when the final balance is due, how they can pay, and what happens if they pay late. Customers rarely argue with terms they agreed to. They argue with surprises.
“Payment terms: 25% deposit on approval. Balance due on completion, payable by card or e-Transfer. Invoices not paid within 14 days of the due date are charged 2% per month.” Adjust the numbers to your contract and local rules.
2. Take a deposit
A deposit gets you money before you buy materials, and it filters out customers who were never going to commit. How much to ask depends on the job and, in some places, on the law: California, for example, limits home improvement down payments. We cover the numbers and rules in how much deposit a contractor should ask for. The fastest way to collect it is to let the customer sign and pay in the same step, from the quote on their phone.
3. Bill bigger jobs in stages
On anything that runs longer than a week or two, billing everything at the end means you’re financing the job. Tie payments to milestones the customer can see, so each invoice matches visible progress.
| Stage (worked example: $36,000 basement finish) | Share | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit on signing | 10% | $3,600 |
| Framing and rough-ins passed inspection | 30% | $10,800 |
| Drywall finished | 30% | $10,800 |
| Substantial completion | 25% | $9,000 |
| Final walkthrough and deficiency list done | 5% | $1,800 |
Milestones beat calendar dates because nobody argues about whether drywall is up. Check local rules before setting the schedule; California, for example, says progress payments can’t run ahead of the work done.
4. Invoice the day the job ends
The single biggest delay is the gap between finishing and invoicing. A customer who just watched you clean up is ready to pay. A week later, your invoice is one more bill. Send it on site, walk them through it, and let them pay while you’re packing the truck. If invoices pile up for an evening session, they go out late. Building the invoice from the quote, plus any signed changes, takes the retyping out of it.
5. Make paying a two-tap job
Every extra step costs days. A text with a pay link gets paid from the couch; a cheque gets paid when someone finds the chequebook. Offer at least one instant option.
| Method | Speed to you | Cost to you | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Card via pay link | Customer pays in seconds; funds arrive on your processor’s payout schedule | Processing fee per payment | Easiest for the customer; works for deposits too |
| Interac e-Transfer (Canada) | Usually fast | Low or none, depends on your bank | Customer has to type your email and the amount |
| ACH / bank transfer (US) | A few business days | Low | Good for large commercial invoices |
| Cheque | Slowest: pick up, deposit, clear | Your time | Fine for customers who insist, never the only option |
| Cash | Instant | Risk and recordkeeping | Always give a receipt |
Is the card fee worth it? On Stripe’s published Canadian rate for domestic cards, 2.9% + C$0.30 (Stripe pricing, checked November 2026), a $4,800 invoice costs $139.50 to collect by card. If that gets you paid three weeks sooner and saves two follow-up calls, most contractors take that trade. Build the cost into your pricing rather than surprising the customer with it.
6. Send invoices nobody questions
An invoice that raises one question gets paid after the question is answered. Itemize labour, materials and extras. Show the deposit as a credit. List each signed change order on its own line, and never bill extras the customer didn’t approve in writing. Our guide on how to handle a change order covers getting that signature before the work, not after.
7. Follow a reminder schedule
Most late payers aren’t refusing. They forgot, or they’re waiting to be asked. A fixed schedule means every overdue invoice gets the same polite pressure, and you don’t have to decide when it’s “OK” to ask.
By text and email, with the pay link and due date.
Short, assumes they meant to pay.
Same tone, pay link again.
Ask if anything about the work or the invoice is holding it up.
Reference the terms they signed and any late fee.
State the next step and a date.
8. Collection scripts that keep the customer
The goal is to get paid and still get the referral. Short, specific, no guilt.
“Hi Sarah, a quick reminder that invoice INV-2207 for $4,424 is due today. You can pay by card here: [link]. Thanks again for having us.”
“Hi Sarah, just checking you got invoice INV-2207. Here’s the link again in case it got buried: [link]. Let me know if you have any questions about it.”
“Hi Sarah, it’s Jordan from Northline. I’m calling about the bathroom invoice. Was everything OK with the work? … Great. Is there anything holding up payment, or would it help if I texted the link again?”
“Hi Sarah, invoice INV-2207 for $4,424 was due on November 17. As per the terms on your signed quote, a late fee of 2% per month applies after 14 days. Please pay here by [date] to avoid it: [link]. If something’s wrong, call me and we’ll sort it out.”
“Hi Sarah, invoice INV-2207 is now 30 days overdue. If we don’t receive payment or hear from you by [date], we’ll move to our next collection steps, which may include [small claims court / a collection agency / registering a lien]. I’d much rather settle this directly.” Only name a step you’re genuinely ready to take.
9. Late fees and early-pay discounts
A late fee works only if it’s in the signed contract and you actually apply it. Keep it modest, give a few grace days, and cap it. Some contractors offer the opposite: a small discount for paying in full within a few days. That trades a little margin for cash flow, and it suits big commercial invoices more than homeowner jobs. Either way, check your province or state’s consumer rules on interest and fees before you set them.
10. When it’s really overdue
If reminders and a phone call haven’t worked after 30 to 60 days, you have three real options. Small claims court suits most residential amounts; limits and filing steps vary by province and state. A collection agency takes a share of what it recovers. Construction or mechanics’ lien rights can be the strongest tool on property work, but the deadlines are strict and short, so learn your local rules before you need them.
General information, not legal advice. For a specific dispute, talk to a lawyer or your provincial or state consumer protection office.
Track your days to paid
Measure one number: average days from job completion to payment. Write it down this month, apply the fixes above, and check again next month. A worked example: if you do $60,000 of work a month and customers pay in 40 days on average, you have about $80,000 sitting in other people’s accounts. Cut that to 10 days and roughly $60,000 comes back into your business, without a single extra job.
- Deposit on every job over your threshold
- Invoice sent the same day, with a pay link
- Reminders on a fixed schedule
- Every overdue invoice reviewed weekly
Contruva runs this loop for you. Customers sign the quote and pay the deposit in one go, the invoice goes out from site by text and email with a card pay link through Stripe (Contruva adds no fee of its own on top of standard processing), and automatic reminders and late fees follow your rules. Ask Contruva AI “who owes me?” and it gives you the list. It isn’t accounting software, but it gets the money in. See Contruva Pro pricing, free for 7 days.