I am looking for tips on how to deal with a large newspaper and it`s accounting dept.I sold 3 photos 7 weeks ago, and agreed on a rate of 100$ per photo.
After 3 weeks, I emailed the newspaper back, asking when I should receive my check. They told me in a week or two.
Now, it`s week 7 and I did not receive payment form them.
After emailing them again, they told me that I would have to be patient and they will cancel the check and send a new one, but that it`s going to take 3-4 weeks from now. It`s the first time I deal with them,
and the first time I sell to a newspaper.
Yes, next time preload your invoice with a late fee. If they pay within X days, they get to deduct it and if not, they pay your late fee.
Just don't call it a late fee. List it on the invoice as a discount if paid by X days.
Many companies only cut checks on a 30 day cycle. It's part of "big business". I've had smaller companies take 4 months to pay and large corporations pay within a week. You just never know.
If you are a new vendor to them that can sometimes delay the check while you get added to their accounting system.
Be happy they are responding to you. If they were not, then you would have problems.
I once did some work for a local hospital. 3 months later I was still waiting for the check.
Then I had to put my daughter in that hospital. When I checked her out a month later they wanted the balance due, which was less than they owed me! So I told them to take it out of what they owed me.
They said "It's against our policy to do it that way."
To which I said, "I have policies, too. One of them is that I don't pay somebody who has owed me longer and more."
And I took my daughter and went home.
Got a check in the mail 3 days later, ironically, post marked the day after I left the hospital with daughter in tow!
Dealing with big business can be a painful experience, and I've learned to add to my bid to accommodate their using my money additional time. As was mentioned above, add to your bid and Invoice, then give a discount for prompt payment, as in Terms, Net 30, 2% 10
