Freelancers asking for payments

When you’re self-employed, you’re in charge of everything from the hours you work, your meetings, finding new work and the most important thing, getting paid. Unfortunately, working as a freelancer means getting paid isn’t always as smooth as you’d hope. Asking for payments is often the most difficult part of being a freelancer- but it doesn’t have to be!

If you’re not on YunoJuno and don’t have access to the benefits of our payment system, here are some tips to overcome those awkward client conversations and set out your payment expectations before working with new clients.

Be clear with your day rate

The first point to remember is that you’re in charge of setting your day rate and receiving the right amount for your work, so when you’re working with a new client, be clear about what you expect as a day rate.

If you’re fairly new to freelancing and you’re not sure what you should be charging, we’ve previously covered an average for day rates, depending on what services you offer.

If you’re working with an ongoing client and have changed your day rate, make sure you’ve let them know when agreeing to your new workload with them. This avoids any awkward conversations when you’ve finished your work or invoice them for the first time and it’s not what they were expecting

Set out your payment options

The second point to remember is to have a discussion about your payment options; when you get paid and how often you invoice with your client. Understanding when you need to invoice and likewise, letting your client know when to expect to pay you, helps avoid that awful ‘chasing payments’ moment.

If you’re working on a project that allows you to share your payment options (when you invoice and get paid) or pays you all at once, it’s best practice to discuss when to expect that money and avoid delays

Set up a payment schedule with your client

Another way to handle chasing payments as a freelancer is to set up a payment schedule with your clients so you can manage your invoicing and payments all in one. The biggest issue for freelancers is late payments and even worse - unpaid invoices, so having a schedule where both freelancers and clients know when to expect payment helps everyone involved.

It might not be possible for every freelancer to do this which is why using a freelance management system like YunoJuno can help. Using a platform like ours helps automate a payment schedule so you never miss a paid invoice and your client avoids being chased.

Why using YunoJuno helps freelancers handle payments

Using a freelance management system automatically removes the need to ask any client for payments as it regularly automates payments for you.

YunoJuno has been designed with freelancers in mind and our partnership with HSBC allows us to offer a 14-day payment term as a direct solution to chasing payments. We recognised chasing payments was a widespread problem for all freelancers and we wanted our freelance management tool to offer a direct solution.

Since starting up in 2012, there have been less than 1% late payments made as we approach £500 million in freelancer payments, which isn’t a bad record! All your timesheets and invoicing are done over our platform too which creates a digital archive you can keep on top of too.

Sign up today and enjoy a hassle-free payment term with your clients.