Invoicing runs late
The work finishes, the next project starts, and the invoice gets raised whenever someone remembers. Paid late follows automatically.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Bookkeeping for consultants, agencies and service firms.
Your time is the product. Every hour spent reconciling a bank feed is an hour not billed, and it is almost always worth less than the hour you gave up to do it.
WHAT MAKES IT HARDER
Fewer transactions, but the timing is everything.
Service businesses usually have clean, low-volume books. The problems are not about volume — they are about invoices going out late and nobody chasing them.
Debtors go unchased
Chasing a client you want to keep working with feels awkward, so it does not happen. The balance quietly grows.
Owner and business blur
Drawings, personal subscriptions and business spending on the same card, especially in single-director companies.
Subscription creep
Software billed monthly in small amounts, in several currencies, that nobody has reviewed since it was signed up for.
Contractors and associates
Work subcontracted out, with the employee-versus-contractor question and the paperwork that goes with it.
Lumpy income
A few large invoices rather than many small ones, so one late payment is a genuine cash flow event.
WHAT WE DO ABOUT IT
Get the money in and keep the file clean.
Invoicing and debtors
- Invoices raised on a routine, not when someone remembers
- Aged receivables reviewed and overdue accounts followed up consistently
- Escalation decisions kept with you — the follow-up is the routine part
- Payments matched off so the ledger reflects reality
A file that stays tidy
- Owner drawings separated from business expenses
- Recurring subscriptions tracked and periodically reviewed
- Overseas software and their GST treatment handled correctly
- Simple reporting you will actually look at each month
- BAS periods prepared from a file that is already finished