Getting paid as a small subcontractor: billing records, follow-up and advice
A painting contractor finishes work on a small retail redevelopment but discovers that her invoice went to the wrong address. Another submission is missing backup the customer had requested. She needs a payment routine that begins before the first billing date.
Confirm the billing process before starting, submit an accurate invoice with the required support and track what happens afterward. Keep receipt, review, disputed amounts and actual payment separate. This routine can reduce avoidable administration gaps, but it does not guarantee payment or replace timely advice about the contract and applicable legal rights.
Set up the payment routine
- Record the actual billing arrangement. Confirm the contracting party, invoice recipient, submission method, billing cutoff, payment terms and review contacts. Check what dates refer to submission, approval or payment. Put unresolved wording to the appropriate adviser before committing; another trade's experience is not your agreement.
- Confirm the required backup. Ask for the forms, progress evidence and other records the customer requires for this job. Check any declaration's wording and the proper signing process with appropriate advice. Do not sign a statement you cannot truthfully make or assume every customer requires the same declaration and attachments.
- Keep the invoice consistent with the work. Identify the agreed scope, completed work, approved changes and amounts claimed using the actual contract and billing requirements. Separate pending change requests from approved amounts. Resolve differences in quantities or status before submission rather than hoping the reviewer will interpret an unexplained total.
- Confirm delivery and track review. Save the submitted version and record when and how it was received. Ask promptly about missing items or disputed amounts and record the response. Correct administrative omissions while preserving the history; an acknowledgement of receipt is neither payment approval nor money available in the bank.
- Follow up against the agreed arrangement. Review the account when payment is expected and contact the named person if it is missing. State the invoice, amount, submission history and request for a specific update. Record any proposed payment date and check it afterward without treating a verbal promise as a completed collection.
- Check legal questions without waiting for a long dispute. Ask a qualified adviser about applicable holdback, lien, payment and notice provisions for the actual jurisdiction and contract. BC's lien legislation uses distinct triggers and procedures; an invoice date is not a universal legal clock. Check current application and commencement of any payment legislation rather than relying on a headline or waiting for another friendly call.
Common mistakes
- Assuming another contractor's cutoff or forms apply.
- Treating receipt or approval as actual payment.
- Letting repeated follow-up calls postpone advice about time-sensitive rights.
Action list
Keep one payment routine per job
- Party, terms, cutoff and recipient.
- Required forms and truthful backup.
- Submitted version and receipt evidence.
- Review status and disputed amounts.
- Follow-up dates and actual collections.
- Legal questions and timely advice route.
Check your understanding
The customer says your invoice is in the system. Can you stop tracking it?
Show the answer
Record the receipt, then continue tracking review and actual payment against the arrangement. Seek timely advice on any legal questions rather than assuming an administrative update preserves every right.
