3.实施迅速且带有预防性的发票措施

    “客户对你的工作感到满意的时候，立即递送发票，”霍洛维兹指出。“如果客户不满意呢？那就更要立即递送发票和结账了。”她还补充道，发票要“一式三份，分别通过邮寄信件、电子邮件和手机邮件（告知发票已寄送）形式发出。如果这是你的第一轮做法，让他们设想一下第二轮和第三轮会是什么情况。”

    4. 结识会计人员

    “收集有关会计程序的信息，结识几个能在付款延迟时为你提供帮助的人，”霍洛维兹说。“这也能帮助你避免因为账款问题给主要工作关系带来不良影响。”她建议，每次开始新的项目时，可以这样说：“我知道您很忙。在应收账款方面，我可以联系哪位会计人员？”

    5. 考虑把账单上传到云端

    “让事情公开化，而不是私下处理，确实会有所帮助，”霍洛维兹称。“证明文件是决定‘收款游戏’成败的关键所在。所以，考虑使用在线服务追踪你的项目周期，递送项目发票，包括付款延迟追踪和处理支付业务。”你可以通过搜索“在线发票”或“在线账单”找到这些服务。

    6. 制定跟进机制

    “首先发送措辞友好、但语气坚决的电子邮件，说明尚未付款，”霍洛维兹指出。“如果没有得到回应，可以发送更加正式的通知，重新描述账单信息，同时指出，‘这笔款项已经延迟了数日或数周时间。请与我联系，讨论这个严重的问题。’要让你的措辞更专业，以事实为基础，而且重在解决问题。”

    重要的是，要记录与客户的所有联系情况。她补充说：“如果你和客户制定支付计划——例如，你同意接受分期付款，而不是一次性支付欠款——在电子邮件中进行总结，作为正式记录。要保存每封信件和电子邮件，留存通话记录。如果事情发展到一定程度，可以在法庭上使用你留存的证明文件，或将文件转交给收款中介机构。”

    或许，确保劳有所得听起来像是固定工作之外的第二份工作，这也正是许多自由职业者推迟处理付款的一个原因，但这种做法是错误的。“不要延迟跟进，”霍洛维兹指出。“欠款时间越长，就越难收回。”祝你好运。

    反馈：如果你曾经或现在依然是自由职业者，你在付款方面有没有遇到过困难？你是怎么处理的？欢迎评论。

    译者：乔树静/汪皓

    3. Practice prompt, preventive invoicing

    "You should send invoices right away, while everyone's in love with your work," Horowitz says. "No love? All the more reason to bill them and close the books." Invoices should be sent "in triplicate," she adds. "Send each invoice by snail mail, email, and with a phone message saying the invoice was sent. If this is what you do on Round One, let them imagine what Round Two and Three will be like."

    4. Get acquainted with someone in accounting

    "You'll glean information about their procedures and get to know someone in a position to help if there's a delay," says Horowitz. "It's also helpful for keeping your primary work contact unsullied by the money thing." When starting each new gig, she advises, say something like, "I know you're busy. Is there someone in accounts payable I could reach out to?"

    5. Consider delegating your billing to the cloud

    "This is one time when making things less personal can really help," says Horowitz. "Documentation is nine-tenths of the collection game, so think about hiring an online service to track your time on projects, send invoices for them, including late-payment follow-up, and handle payment transactions." You can find these services by searching under "online invoicing" or "online billing."

    6. Have a follow-up system

    "Start with an email, friendly but firm, pointing out that your invoice hasn't been paid," says Horowitz. "If there's no response, a more formal notice could be next, recapping the billing information and saying, 'This payment is now however-many days, or weeks, late. Please contact me to discuss this serious matter.' Keep your tone professional, factual, and solution-oriented."

    It's important to keep track of every contact with clients, she adds: "If you and the client work out a payment plan -- where, for example, you agree to accept the balance due in installments instead of all at once -- summarize it in an email for the record. Keep copies of every letter and email and a phone log. You're building documentation for possible use in court, or to hand over to a collections agency, if it comes to that."

    Making sure you get paid may sound like a second job on top of your regular work, which is why many freelancers put off dealing with it, but that's a mistake. "Don't procrastinate on follow-up," Horowitz says. "The older the debt, the harder it will be to collect." Good luck.

    Talkback: If you've done freelance work, or are self-employed now, did you ever have trouble getting paid? What did you do about it? Leave a comment below.