I spent 10 years as an independent contractor working direct with clients (no recruitment agency in between) and chasing them to pay is unfortunately sometimes just part of the work you have to do.

Most clients (even smaller ones) will pay on time but every now and then you get one who just seems to have an excuse every time you remind them - at that point you have to decide how much you need their income stream, and whether it’s worth the hoops you have to jump through to keep it.

In your case, I’d simply submit your invoice and attach a copy of your own timesheet and a copy of the client’s timesheet (use the printscreen key if you can’t print to pdf).

If they complain the timesheet is wrong you can ask them which bit is wrong on the copy of their timesheet that you included with your invoice.

And review any late payment terms in your contract - in the UK there’s a statutory law called the “Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998” which lets small businesses charge the Bank of England base interest rate plus 8% on debts older than 60 days. You don’t even need a reference to this in your contract as it’s a statutory law - I only ever had to gently mention once in 10 years that I’d be charging interest from date xx/xx/xxxx and the name of the Act, and the invoice was paid the next day.

However, even if you fix the timesheet problem, be prepared for another smokescreen - the sort of person who quibbles repeatedly over timesheets is certainly going to have other delaying tactics up their sleeve.

Ultimately if you’re losing a lot of billable hours chasing payments from one client, have a think to yourself about whether they’re worth the hassle…

I spent 10 years as an independent contractor working direct with clients (no recruitment agency in between) and chasing them to pay is unfortunately sometimes just part of the work you have to do.

Most clients (even smaller ones) will pay on time but every now and then you get one who just seems to have an excuse every time you remind them - at that point you have to decide how much you need their income stream, and whether it’s worth the hoops you have to jump through to keep it.

In your case, I’d simply submit your invoice and attach a copy of your own timesheet and a copy of the client’s timesheet (use the printscreen key if you can’t print to pdf). Then, if they complain the timesheet is wrong you can ask them which bit is wrong on the copy of their timesheet that you included with your invoice.

And review any late payment terms in your contract - you can’t suddenly add terms unless they agree to them. Luckily, in the UK there’s a statutory law called the “Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998” which lets small businesses charge the Bank of England base interest rate plus 8% on debts older than 60 days. You don’t even need a reference to this in your contract as it’s a statutory law - I only ever had to gently mention once in 10 years that I’d be charging interest from date xx/xx/xxxx and the name of the Act, and the invoice was paid the next day.

However, even if you fix the timesheet problem, be prepared for another smokescreen - the sort of person who quibbles repeatedly over timesheets is certainly going to have other delaying tactics up their sleeve.

Ultimately if you’re losing a lot of income because you’re chasing payments from one client rather than working billable hours, have a think to yourself about whether they’re worth the hassle of doing business with…