Late payment is one of the biggest killers of small businesses in South Africa — profitable on paper, dead in the bank account. You can't force customers to pay, but you can remove every excuse and every point of friction. Here's what actually works.
1. Invoice immediately
The single biggest driver of payment speed is how fast the invoice goes out. Invoice the day you deliver, not at month-end.
2. Put your banking details on the invoice
Obvious, and constantly missed. Account name, bank, account number, branch code — printed on every invoice, with a payment reference (use the invoice number). Every missing detail is a reason to "pay it later".
3. Give them a link to pay, not just details to retype
A "View & pay" link in the invoice email lets the customer settle by card or Instant EFT in under a minute — no captured beneficiary, no typing errors. Businesses that add online payment options consistently get paid days faster.
4. Ask for a deposit
For project or made-to-order work, send a pro forma invoice for 50% upfront. A customer with money in the job pays the balance faster too.
5. Shorten your terms
"Due on receipt" or 7 days beats 30 days. Nobody pays before the due date — the due date IS the payment date, so set it deliberately.
6. Remind before and after due date
A friendly reminder 2–3 days before due, and a firmer one the day after, recovers a surprising share of invoices. Automate it — chasing manually is the first thing that slips when you're busy.
7. Use the right reference
If customers pay by EFT with random references, you waste hours matching deposits. Insist on the invoice number as the reference — and reconcile weekly so problems surface early.
8. Stop work for non-payers
Make continued delivery conditional on the account being current. It feels hard the first time; it changes customer behaviour permanently.
9. Know who your slow payers are
Track payment behaviour per customer. Quote higher, ask bigger deposits, or decline work from chronic late payers — a sale you're never paid for is worse than no sale.
Where 360books helps
360books does most of this automatically: banking details and references on every invoice, a public View & pay page (EFT + card/Instant EFT into your own account), pro forma invoices for deposits, automatic overdue reminders, and a Customer 360 view that shows exactly who pays late — all from R199/month.