In the 9 years I have been running edgeofmyseat.com I have issued a large number of invoices but also received many invoices for freelancers and small companies working for us. Our policy is simple – we pay our contractors on or before the due date of the invoice. If we ask someone to do some work and they do it, we pay them according to the agreed terms. The odd time we have been chased for a payment due to an accounting mess up on my part, I have felt terrible about it. It’s not how we do things.

在我经营edgeofmyseat.com的9年中，我发行了许多发票，但也收到了许多为我们工作的自由职业者和小型公司的发票。 我们的政策很简单-我们在发票到期日或之前向承包商付款。 如果我们要求某人做某事并且他们去做，我们会按照约定的条件向他们付款。 由于我的会计工作混乱，我们被要求付款的时间很奇怪，我对此感到非常恐惧。 这不是我们做事的方式。

However for many companies paying as late as possible appears to be company policy. Websites such as Pay On Time have lots of excellent advice for getting paid as quickly as possible. For example sending an initial invoice, then a statement before that invoice is due, sending a reminder when it becomes due, then another when it is x days overdue, visiting the client or phoning their accounts department. All of this to receive money for work that your company has already done, to terms that were agreed beforehand. What a phenomenal waste of time! Large companies have people who spend their days dealing with this nonsense, for small companies and freelancers it is usually the business owner who spends their time chasing people who have no intention of not paying, they just want to wait as long as possible.

但是，对于许多公司而言，尽早付款似乎是公司的政策。 诸如“ 按时间付款”之类的网站对于如何尽快获得付款有许多出色的建议。 例如，发送一张初始发票，然后发送该发票之前的对帐单，在到期时发送提醒，然后在过期x天后发送另一条提醒，拜访客户或致电其客户部门。 所有这一切都是为了按照贵公司事先同意的条件为您公司已经完成的工作收取款项。 真是浪费时间！ 大型公司的员工会花很多时间来处理这种胡说八道的事情，对于小型公司和自由职业者来说，通常是企业主花时间去追赶那些无意不付款的人，他们只想等待尽可能长的时间。

Some large companies have very fixed accounting procedures, which is fine if they are up front about this from the outset and we know when and how to submit invoices, and can decide if we are happy to work under those terms. However, more often the accounting system is used as an excuse once payment is already late. Also, this is 2010, if your accounting system means that everyone you pay has to wait 60 days while their invoices crawl through the system, there is something seriously wrong with that system.

一些大公司有非常固定的会计程序，如果他们从一开始就事先做好准备，并且我们知道何时以及如何提交发票，并且可以决定我们是否愿意按照这些条款工作，这很好。 但是，更常见的情况是，一旦付款晚了，会计系统就会成为借口。 同样，这是2010年，如果您的会计系统意味着您要付款的每个人都必须等待60天，而其发票才能通过该系统，则该系统存在严重问题。

If the work is being done by massive company X for massive company Y then it is likely that those doing the work have no idea that invoices don’t get paid for 60 days, however if your company has a policy of late payment, here is something to think about. If you use small companies or freelancers then the person who will be chasing up unpaid invoices will often be the same person who is doing the actual work. Next time you ring with an urgent job that needs doing – will that person be remembering their wasted hours chasing payments from you? By paying on time you demonstrate that you appreciate the work of your suppliers, and become a more valuable client, making it far more likely your work will be fit into busy schedules.

如果工作是由大型公司X进行，而大型公司Y则很可能不知道发票在60天内没有得到付款，但是如果您的公司有延迟付款的政策，这里是要考虑的事情。 如果您使用小型公司或自由职业者，那么追逐未付发票的人通常是从事实际工作的人 。 下次您遇到需要做的紧急工作时，那个人会记住他们浪费时间追逐您的钱吗？ 通过按时付款，您可以证明自己赞赏供应商的工作，并成为更有价值的客户，这使您的工作更有可能适应繁忙的日程安排。

Is this just a UK issue – or is late payment culture as common in the US, Europe or other countries around the world? Or are you a business owner who can give me a reasonable argument for paying suppliers late?

这仅仅是英国的问题吗？还是延迟付款文化在美国，欧洲或世界其他国家普遍存在？ 还是您是一位可以为我延迟付款给供应商的合理理由的企业主？