Month three of an unpaid fee
A client's direct debit failed in June. An email went to the partner who handles billing, who meant to call. July's invoice went out as usual and also was not paid. The bookkeeper, who has no idea about any of this, has done the June and July books, filed a VAT return and answered three queries.
By September the partner finally looks at aged debt, sees three months outstanding and has to have an uncomfortable conversation with a client whose work is fully up to date.
Why a firm chases others and not itself
Your own billing is the job that always comes second. Invoices go out from Xero or your practice tool; payments arrive, or not. Nobody owns the follow-up. And there is a wall between billing and production: the bookkeepers see the work queue, the partner sees the debtors, and nothing connects them.
Failed direct debits add to it. A mandate cancelled by the client or a payment bounced for lack of funds generates a notification that lands in one inbox among many.
What unpaid fees cost the firm
Working for non-payers is time you do not get back, and the longer it runs, the harder it is to recover. Staff are demoralised when they learn they have been working hard for a client who stopped paying months ago. Cash flow suffers in a business where wages are the main cost. And you lose the option of pausing work, because by the time you know, the work is done.
| Event | Usually noticed by | Should be seen by |
|---|---|---|
| Direct debit fails | Billing inbox | Billing and the client's bookkeeper |
| Mandate cancelled | Billing inbox, eventually | Partner straight away |
| Invoice overdue | Aged debt report | Work queue for that client |
| Repeat late payer | Nobody | Fee review |
How we build fee collection linked to the work
- We set up or connect collection through GoCardless or Stripe, so monthly fees are taken by direct debit or card against your Xero invoices.
- Failed payments are retried on a schedule you choose, and the client gets a polite, automatic message with a link to pay or update their details.
- Cancelled mandates raise an alert to the partner immediately, not at month end.
- Each client's payment status appears in the work queue and on the month-end board, as a simple marker: paid, overdue, or on hold.
- You set the rule for what happens next, for example work continues but VAT filing waits for a partner's approval, or the client is paused after a set period. The system applies your rule and tells the team.
- A monthly summary shows repeat late payers, which feeds into fee reviews and decisions about who to keep.
Nothing stops work automatically unless you choose that rule. The point is that the decision is made knowingly, not discovered afterwards.
Ad hoc invoices get the same treatment. A one-off clean-up or a year-end handover fee is often invoiced separately and forgotten, so those invoices are tracked with the monthly fees and appear in the same status marker, rather than sitting in a different report nobody opens.
Getting paid for the work you do
Most payment problems are fixed in days, because the client hears about a failed payment straight away and can fix it in a click. The partner sees the rare serious case early. Bookkeepers know when a client is on hold and why. The firm's own debtor book becomes something you look at in minutes rather than dread.
Is your own billing leaking?
- You have found out about unpaid fees months after they fell due.
- Bookkeepers do not know which clients are behind with payments.
- Failed direct debits are handled when someone has time.
- Chasing your own fees feels awkward, so it gets put off.
- The same clients are late every quarter.