Getting paid on time: deposits, progress billing, and the collections call nobody makes
Contractors get paid on time when the payment schedule is written into the signed proposal and each invoice goes out the day its milestone is reached. Most late payments trace back to terms nobody wrote down or an invoice that went out a week after the work was done, and both of those are fixable on your side of the job.
Put the payment schedule in the proposal
The payment terms belong on the same page as the price, and they get signed at the same time. Write down how much is due at signing, what milestone triggers each payment after that, how the customer can pay, and when the final balance is due. When the customer signs the schedule along with the price, the last payment becomes a routine step, and there is nothing left to renegotiate at the walkthrough.
Milestones work better than dates. "Due when the siding is primed" is something the homeowner can walk outside and check. "Due on the 15th" falls apart the first time rain pushes the job a week. The same rule applies when the scope moves: every change order should say whether its cost is added to the next payment or billed on its own, so the final invoice holds no surprises.
What a deposit is for
A deposit pays for the materials you order and the slot on the schedule you give up for this customer. It also tells you the customer is serious. Size it to cover those things rather than to fund the whole job up front, because a very large deposit on a small residential job makes careful homeowners nervous, and they are the customers you want.
Check your state before you set the number. Some states cap residential deposits, California being the one contractors most often run into, while Washington leaves the amount to the contract. Whatever you charge, collect it before materials are ordered and before the crew shows up. A job that starts without its deposit rarely gets one later.
Progress billing on longer jobs
Any job that runs more than a week or two should be billed in stages. The customer pays for work they can see, and you never carry more than one stage of labor and materials on your own account. The stages should match how the work actually moves: demolition and prep, rough work, finish work, and a final walkthrough, or whatever the natural breaks are in your trade.
Send each progress invoice the day the milestone is reached, with a photo of the finished stage attached. An invoice that arrives with proof of the work gets paid faster than one that arrives a week later with a line item and a total. Commercial customers run on their own cycle, usually monthly pay applications against a schedule of values, and the job there is to learn their cutoff date and submit before it.
The collections call nobody makes
Most small contractors will send a second invoice and then go quiet, because calling a customer about money feels awkward. That call is usually what gets the balance paid. A balance that is two weeks late often has a plain reason behind it: the invoice went to the wrong email, the customer is waiting on a touch up, or the spouse who pays the bills never saw it. You only find that out by asking.
Set a rhythm and keep it. Send a friendly reminder a few days before the due date and call within a day or two after it. If the call does not settle it, follow up in writing with the balance and the terms restated. Keep the tone about the paperwork: "I want to make sure the invoice reached you" gets further than anything that sounds like an accusation. If a balance goes well past due, know your lien deadlines before they pass rather than after.
What we do in our own companies
We run painting and flooring companies in Bellingham along with the licensed Washington general contractor they operate under. The payment schedule is built into every proposal, so the customer signs the terms with the price and the deposit link arrives with the signed copy. Progress and final invoices are triggered by the job moving to its next stage, which means nobody has to remember to send them.
Every open balance shows up on one list each morning with its age, and the reminder and the call go out on the same rhythm for every customer instead of depending on who remembers. This is the kind of workflow that tends to slip the week the owner gets busy, so we automated it, and it is the same setup we build for other contractors.
Deposit limits, lien rights, and notice requirements differ by state and change over time. This article describes Washington practice as we understand it as of the date shown, and it is not legal advice. Confirm your current lien and disclosure requirements with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries or an attorney before you rely on them.
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