For technicians

How to get paid on time, and what to do when you aren't

By the Techwhere editorial team Last updated 8 October 2026 8 min read

In short

Late payment is usually a paperwork problem, not an unwillingness to pay. Most held invoices are missing a signature, a photo, a serial number or the work-order number in the format that company expects. Invoice immediately, attach every required deliverable, track each invoice against its due date, and follow up in writing the day terms lapse.

What do net terms actually mean?

Net terms are the number of days a company has to pay you after it receives a correct invoice. Net 30 means thirty days from the invoice, not from the day you did the work. That distinction matters more than anything else in this guide: if you sit on an invoice for two weeks, you have added two weeks to your own wait.

Term	What it means in practice
Net 15	Fast by field service standards. Often smaller or regional companies.
Net 30	The most common arrangement .
Net 45 / Net 60	Appears on larger contracts. Price it in before you accept.
Fixed pay cycle	Paid on set dates regardless of invoice date — can add weeks.

Some companies pay on a cycle rather than per invoice. A “net 30, paid on the 15th” arrangement can mean an invoice submitted on the 16th waits closer to sixty days. Ask which model a company uses before your first job, not after.

How do you invoice right the first time?

Match their format exactly. Every dispatch company has a work-order number scheme, a preferred submission channel and a list of required attachments. Getting any of the three wrong moves your invoice from the payment queue into someone's exception pile.

Quote the work-order number exactly as they format it — including any prefix, dashes or leading zeros.
Submit through the channel they specify. A portal upload often bypasses a queue that email sits in for weeks.
Attach every required deliverable before you submit, not afterwards.
Invoice the same day you complete the ticket, or the next morning at the latest.
Keep your own copy with the date you submitted it and the date terms expire.

Which deliverables stop a ticket being held?

A missing signature is the single most common reason an otherwise finished ticket sits unpaid. The others are close behind.

Signed sign-off sheet or a captured customer signature in the app.
Photos before, during and after — even when nobody asked for them.
Serial numbers of anything installed, removed or swapped.
Closing notes that a stranger could act on: what you found, what you changed, what is still outstanding.
Shipping tracking for any parts returned.
Check-in and check-out times recorded in their system, not just in your head.

If you cannot get a signature because nobody on site is authorised to give one, document why, get a name, and note the time. A documented exception is payable. A blank field is not.

How should you track what you are owed?

A spreadsheet is enough. What matters is that every open invoice has a due date you can sort by, so a late payment becomes visible on the day it happens rather than the month you notice the gap.

Field	Why it is there
Company	Who owes you.
Work order number	The only reference they will search on.
Amount	What you expect, so short-pays are obvious.
Date submitted	Starts the clock.
Terms	Net 15, 30, 45 or cycle.
Due date	Submitted plus terms. Sort by this column.
Status	Open, paid, queried, short-paid.

What do you do when an invoice is late?

Follow up the day after terms lapse, in writing, and keep it unemotional. Most late invoices are stuck rather than refused, and the person who can unstick it needs a reference number, not a complaint.

Email the dispatch coordinator with the work-order number, invoice number, amount and submission date. Ask for a status, not for money.
If there is no answer in a few working days, escalate to accounts payable and copy the coordinator.
Ask directly whether anything is missing from your submission. Half the time something is, and you will have it fixed the same day.
Keep every message. A written trail is what makes a later escalation credible.
If it keeps happening with the same company, price their terms into your rate or stop accepting their work.

What about disputes and short-pays?

A short-pay is when a company pays part of an invoice and withholds the rest — usually over hours claimed, a trip charge, or whether a ticket was completed. Deal with the disputed portion on its own and ask them to release the part that is not in question. A reasonable company will.

Your position in a dispute is only as strong as your documentation. Timestamped photos, app check-in and check-out records, and a signature or a documented refusal settle most arguments before they start. Verbal agreements made on site rarely survive contact with an accounts department.

Platform fees

If you take work through a work-order marketplace, read how the fee is applied before you accept. A percentage can be taken from your rate, charged on top to the client, or deducted at payout, and the three produce very different take-home figures. Techwhere itself takes nothing from your jobs — you contact companies directly.

Red flags before you accept a job

The rate will not be put in writing before you accept.
Scope is vague: no site contact, no equipment list, no expected duration.
Net terms are not stated, or keep moving once the work is done.
An upfront fee to join a dispatch list or to buy mandatory proprietary tools.
No named coordinator and no number you can call from the site.
You are expected to buy parts and claim them back later.
The paperwork and the conversation disagree. Trust the paperwork.

Checklist

Net terms confirmed in writing before the first job
Work-order number format matched exactly
Submitted through the channel they specify
Signed sign-off, or a documented exception with a name and time
Photos before, during and after
Serial numbers recorded
Invoice sent the same day the ticket closed
Every open invoice logged with its due date
Follow-up reminder set for the day after terms lapse
Undisputed portion requested separately on any short-pay