Jason Rose
10-11-2009, 04:52 PM
Ok, so first off, I'm a terrible bookkeeper when it comes to getting my invoices out when I should. I admit that. I try to get them out by the end of the first week of each month. One month a summer though I tend to never get around too it, and then I end up billing for 2 months of service at once. Sooo, I billed out for August and September combined. Not a big deal, because neither month I fertilize in so most bills for 2 months combined aren't that much higher than for one month in the spring...
So this older female customer calls me, asking about her bill. Can't figure out why it's for $200 (8 weeks) when she JUST paid me in September. I explained I never sent a bill for Sept. She swears she has the cancelled check she wrote on Sept. 12 to me. For the amount of $125, which was the total for July mowing, as there was 5 fridays in July... Thankfully I do make copies of every check I receive, and have past invoices on file. I took her a copy of her check, which was CLEARLY dated 8-12-09. Yes, that's AUGUST, not september... She looked at it, and her book, back and forth, and finally relaized her error. She promptly wrote me a check for $200 and felt really bad... I didn't get angry with her, and didn't want to make her feel worse, but I was glad I had what I needed so I didn't get the shaft for a months worth of mowing!
Moral of the story... Don't get behind on your billing, and keep good records of not only what people OWE you, but also payments RECEIVED.
So this older female customer calls me, asking about her bill. Can't figure out why it's for $200 (8 weeks) when she JUST paid me in September. I explained I never sent a bill for Sept. She swears she has the cancelled check she wrote on Sept. 12 to me. For the amount of $125, which was the total for July mowing, as there was 5 fridays in July... Thankfully I do make copies of every check I receive, and have past invoices on file. I took her a copy of her check, which was CLEARLY dated 8-12-09. Yes, that's AUGUST, not september... She looked at it, and her book, back and forth, and finally relaized her error. She promptly wrote me a check for $200 and felt really bad... I didn't get angry with her, and didn't want to make her feel worse, but I was glad I had what I needed so I didn't get the shaft for a months worth of mowing!
Moral of the story... Don't get behind on your billing, and keep good records of not only what people OWE you, but also payments RECEIVED.