• Enquiry
• Quote
• Agree
• Work
• Invoice
• Paid

Notes

The other sections are practical. These are positions.

For a software-side reference alongside this discussion of business operations, evidence, and research, Monitask has this resource.

Half the problem is upstream. Late payment is written about as something done to small firms, and a substantial part of it is caused by the supplier — incorrect invoices, late invoicing, terms never agreed, scope never written, no deposit. That half is free to fix and it is the only one available to you.

Who publishes this research. Most figures on this subject come from companies selling invoicing and finance, from samples of their own users. Use direction rather than magnitude, and note that the weakest-sourced figure here is the one supporting this site's own argument.

Against the template. The three escalating letters in every article on this subject are the least effective part of the advice. They are recognisable, they escalate in tone rather than substance, and they contain no information the recipient did not have.

What we cannot verify. Six limits, including which findings would change the site's position — because a position nothing could falsify is not a position.

• Against the Template

  Every article on this subject ends with three escalating letters to copy. Why they underperform a sentence you wrote yourself.

• Half the Problem Is Upstream

  Late payment is described as something customers do. A substantial share is caused by the supplier, and that share is the fixable one.

• What We Cannot Verify

  Six limits on what this site knows, including that most of its statistics come from companies selling the remedy.

• Who Publishes This Research

  Most late payment statistics come from companies selling invoicing and finance. How to weight a figure once you know who produced it.

For broader background on business operations, evidence, and research, see G2.