Owed money

Afternoon folks! Hope you’re having a nice Sunday! I thought I would pop my issue on here & see if anyone had been in a similar situation and what you did.

Basically on the 1st of June I did a lino cutting workshop. I was asked the month before I could do it, I stated my price and they were happy with it. It’s actually a fairly large national charity who asked if I would do it- and while it may sound harsh me charging them- it was so they could train their staff and it was through lottery funding for a project they were running, so they weren’t expecting me to do it for free. (Though it was still reasonable- and I had to cover the cost of materials more than anything else)
So- I ran the workshop (for a few hours) and provided an invoice. The lady who I passed it to wasn’t sure how they would pay, so I provided information for a bank transfer, a check or even PayPal if they preferred.
A month passed and I hadn’t received anything- but I wanted to give it a while as I know sometimes things don’t come out until a certain day of the month.
But after a month I emailed them, and was told they would sort it out.
It’s now almost a month and a half later and I still haven’t been paid.
Not sure what to do about it? Do I just keep emailing them and saying I still haven’t been paid? The only email address I have is a lady who was at the workshop who isn’t in charge of payments- so feel sort of bad badgering her. Or do I find an address and write to them sending another invoice?

I don’t like to be pushy but I also don’t think it’s fair that I should teach a workshop for a few hours on a Monday night after my usual day-job and still not get paid for it. :confused: I thought allowing a month was reasonable.

Thanks guys! And sorry to whinge! I think this is why I could never be 100% self employed! Even when you make money you can’t guarantee when you’ll get it.

If it was me I would try to find a different email address (preferably for the finance dept) and send a polite message explaining that you did the workshop (with the name of whoever contacted you to make the arrangements) but haven’t been paid and could they please send the money as soon as possible,maybe adding an offer to send a duplicate invoice in case the original has got lost. I know some companies make all their payments on the same day each month but it should have come through by now (or they should have contacted you to explain why it hasn’t)

Hi Susannah

I am self employed I’m a web developer - oh to be a full time artist !!!’ and my invoices say when the payment is due. This way a follow up or even a statement can be send to politely nudge for payment if need be.

Following up for outstanding payments you are due is fine and as such a long time has passed you shouldn’t feel bad about it at all. A simple, request saying “my invoice xxxx was due for payment at the month end. I have not yet received payment and wondered if it had been over looked? Could you please let me know when the account will be paid”

As Diane says you could perhaps find another email address or the charities registered address online and ask them for their account departments contact info.

Hope you get it sorted.

Hazel

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Could you ask the lady at the workshop if she has the contact details for the accounts department, if the lady is , as you say, not in charge of payments where did she send the original invoice off to?
If not I would see if I could get hold of a phone number for the accounts rather than an email.

Yes definitely get the email to the correct person so you go direct.

Yes do this get the charities headoffice number and give them a call asking for their the person who deals with their accounts as you are still awaiting payment on a late invoice.

Having worked for many years in finance, I would also recommend telephoning the accounts dept and speaking directly to them. They will probably be able to settle your invoice fairly quickly. It may be that your original invoice is sitting on someone’s desk awaiting authorisation (it happens all the time!) so a polite reminder should get things moving.

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Charities have to publish their registered office details. Contact them by phone and follow up with a registered letter.

Thank folks. That’s helpful.
I sort of feel really awful about it- which is silly really as charities these days seem to have someone sitting at the top making a fortune. But I felt awkward about asking and just kept hoping it would get paid.
On the invoice I did write that the payment needs to be made within 1 month of receiving the invoice- but as it hasn’t been, I’m not sure what use putting that on has.

I will find a way to contact them tomorrow! Hopefully I will get to the bottom of it this week.

Thanks for your help though everyone. It’s really helpful & has made me feel a bit better about it. :blush:

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Don’t feel bad about it. I had a similar situation with a non payer last year: in the end it was resolved after we’d emailed several different people in the organisation!

Thanks for the reassurance. :blush: I will make it my mission tomorrow! Haha granted it’s not a fortune, but it’s still enough to make a difference to my bank balance at the moment so I would quite like it. Haha

Thanks again folks!!! I’ll stop being such a wuss and I’ll just contact someone! :blush: