What do you do when a client does not pay the bill?

[finerd]

I guess there's a "first-time" for everything. I have never had a client who does not pay until I met this future divorcee. She agreed the service & payment & signed the contract back in Oct. 2011. Now, after I delieverd the financial planning 2 mo. ago, she's still not paying the remaining fee. I sent a few emails, certified mails, & left voice mails to remind her about the remaining payment, yet she just ignored them all. I talked to my BD, and their advice was not to irriate the client & keep waiting. They said the remaining $400 is too small to go through the legal system. So, what should I do?

[Bradly T.]

Learn....and adapt. We charge full fee up-front...covers initial analysis and recommendations and a year of follow-up, up dates, and consultation. For those few clients who cannot pay up front, we divide into 3 equal monthly payments and final plan is not delivered until 60 days from initial check/contract - 1/3 down, 1/3 in 30, 1/3 in 60. It often takes 60 days just to complete data gather and preliminary reports anyway - our plans take minimum of 3-4 appointments prior to final doc and recommendations so it works for us. I'm sure others have their ways...but I agree with BD - let this one go. Better to know you don't have a client NOW than after months of relationship building and work.

[finerd]

Thanks for the reply. It's tough to swallow when you work so hard for the client yet not get paid. I wonder the result will be completely different if it were the other way around. When is it ok for an advisor get abused financially by a client?