Unless your clients request specific billing arrangements, billing your clients every two weeks is the most efficient cash flow billing period for most small companies in the office cleaning business. Generally, unless you extend terms, your clients will pay on their invoices about two weeks after you have billed them. As your company grows and you feel that you can handle monthly billing on larger accounts, feel free to do so. However on small accounts under no circumstances should you bill your clients on a monthly basis. If you bill monthly you will be going between six to eight weeks between payments and that will have a negative effect on your cash flow. For one-time clients you will want to bill them immediately, and should demand payment upon receipt of your invoice.

As your business grows you will come to understand why cash flow is such an important element of any successful business. It is no secret that most businesses fail because they are under capitalized or have poor cash flow. Because the start-up capital required for an office cleaning business is so small cash flow will be your primary concern.

After you have been in the office cleaning business for awhile you will notice that some of your clients will fall into the category of slow payers. These accounts are usually using funds that had been budgeted for their cleaning service for other purposes, delegating the cleaning company’s invoice to a place on the bottom of their accounts payable pile. Do not allow even one account to get too far delinquent. If they are behind in paying your company then they are probably behind in paying other vendors and suppliers as well. Pick up the telephone and if possible speak directly with their accountant or bookkeeper. Find out exactly what the problem is and address it accordingly.

In order to appear professional, we recommend that you refrain from using cheap standardized invoices that can be found at most stationary stores. Instead, have your discount printer print a customized invoice with your company’s name, address and phone number at the top. The higher the degree of professionalism you project to your clients the more courtesy they will show you and your company when you submit your invoice for payment.