How to get placement fees paid on time
The routine that gets placement fees paid by the due date: agree the trigger early, send a complete invoice and follow an example net-30 reminder timeline.
By the Recruiting ATS team (How we write)Published 6 min read
When a placement fee is paid late, the problem usually started before the invoice went out. Nobody agreed when the fee would be invoiced, the purchase order number was missing, or the invoice went to a hiring manager who forwarded it to no one. Fix the routine around the invoice and paying on time becomes the easiest thing for the client to do.
This guide covers the stretch from the offer to a few days past the due date. Chasing a fee that's weeks overdue is a different conversation, with different tools.
Agree the trigger and terms before the offer
The time to settle payment details is while the client is excited about a candidate, not after the start date, when they've already got what they wanted. Agree these in your terms, or at the latest when the offer goes out:
- The trigger. Do you invoice on offer acceptance or on the start date? Invoicing on acceptance gets you paid sooner, but if the start date is two months out and the candidate backs out, you're issuing a credit. Invoicing on the start date is easier for clients to accept. Pick one and write it down.
- Payment terms. Net 14, net 30, whatever you agreed, and counted from which date: the invoice date or the start date.
- Who pays. The name and email of the person in accounts payable, not only the hiring manager.
- Purchase orders. Does the client need a PO number on the invoice? Ask now. An invoice without a required PO can sit unpaid for weeks without anyone telling you.
- Supplier setup. Larger clients need you registered as a supplier before they can pay: forms, bank details, tax documents. Do it at intake, not on the start date.
Then confirm it in one line when the candidate accepts:
"Great news on Priya. As per our terms, I'll invoice the $22,000 fee on her start date, Monday, November 2, payable within 30 days. Could you send me the PO number and the right contact in accounts payable?"
What the invoice must include
Each missing item gives the client a reason to send the invoice back, and every return quietly resets the clock.
- Your legal business name, address and tax ID
- The client's legal entity and billing address, which can differ from the brand name you deal with
- The accounts payable contact, and the PO number if they use one
- Invoice number and invoice date
- Candidate name, job title and start date
- How the fee was calculated: base salary times the percentage, or the agreed flat amount
- Currency
- The due date as an actual date, not just "net 30"
- Payment details: bank account, routing or SWIFT details, and the reference to use
- A reference to the signed terms and the guarantee period
- Late payment terms, if your contract includes them
- Any taxes that apply where you operate
Two details matter more than they look. If your country requires electronic invoices or specific tax fields, follow the format to the letter: a rejected invoice is the perfect excuse to pay late. And if the client pays from another country, agree who covers the transfer fees. On a SWIFT transfer the sender picks a charge option: with OUR they pay all the bank charges, while with SHA or BEN the receiving and intermediary banks take their fees out of the amount that reaches you (FNB's explanation of the charge options, checked October 2026). Agree on OUR and write it on the invoice, so the amount that arrives is the amount you billed.
About that guarantee line: make sure your terms say the guarantee applies only if the fee is paid by the due date. It's the best reason a client has to pay on time. More on wording it in replacement, refund or pro-rata guarantees, and the short definition is in the guarantee period glossary entry.
Send it the day the trigger happens
Not at the end of the month with everything else. The day the candidate starts (or accepts, if that's your trigger), send the invoice to accounts payable, copy the hiring manager and ask for confirmation that it's been received and entered.
That confirmation is the most useful email in the whole process. If it doesn't come within a few days, something is wrong: a wrong inbox, a missing PO, a supplier form nobody filled in. You want to find that out in week one, not on the due date.
A dated reminder timeline for an example net-30 placement
Example: the candidate starts on Monday, November 2, 2026. You invoice that day on net 30 terms, so the fee is due on Wednesday, December 2.
| Date | Day | What you do | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, Nov 2 | 0 | Send the invoice to accounts payable, copy the hiring manager, ask for confirmation of receipt | |
| Thu, Nov 5 | 3 | No confirmation yet? Call accounts payable and ask if it's in their system and approved | Phone |
| Mon, Nov 23 | 21 | Friendly reminder ahead of the due date, sent a little early because it's Thanksgiving week | Email 1 |
| Wed, Dec 2 | 30 | Check the bank. If the payment isn't there, send the due-date note that afternoon | Email 2 |
| Mon, Dec 7 | 35 | Call accounts payable, then send a firmer note asking for a payment date | Phone, then email 3 |
| Mon, Dec 14 | 42 | Still nothing: call the person who signed your terms | Phone |
With a December due date, also ask in the first reminder whether the client has a last payment run before year end. Finding out on December 20 that the final run of the year went out on the 15th pushes your fee into January.
Past day 42 you're escalating, which needs a different approach and a different tone.
Three short reminder emails
Each one names the invoice, the amount and a date. None of them apologizes for asking.
Email 1: day 21, before the due date
Subject: Invoice 1042, Priya Shah, due December 2
Hi Dana, a quick note before the holiday: invoice 1042 for $22,000 (Priya Shah, Senior Accountant) is due on Wednesday, December 2. Could you confirm it's approved and scheduled, and let me know if your team has a last payment run before year end? Happy to resend it or fill in anything your team needs.
Email 2: on the due date
Subject: Invoice 1042 due today
Hi Dana, invoice 1042 for $22,000 is due today and I don't see the payment yet. It may already be on its way. If so, could you let me know the expected payment date? The invoice is attached again for convenience.
Email 3: a few days overdue
Subject: Invoice 1042, now 5 days overdue
Hi Dana, following up on my call this morning about invoice 1042 for $22,000, due on December 2. Could you tell me by Wednesday the date it will be paid? If something is holding it up, like a missing PO or a question about the fee, tell me and I'll sort it out today.
Habits that keep fees on time
- One person owns collections. In a three-recruiter agency that's usually the owner. If everyone owns it, nobody makes the call on day 35.
- Log every promise with a date. "They said next week" isn't a date. "Dana said Friday the 11th" is.
- Track the invoice, not only the placement. Draft, sent, paid. A placement celebrated in the team chat with its invoice still in draft is money you forgot about.
- Ask clearly, even with clients you like. Good clients pay on time when the request is clear. The ones who don't are telling you something about the next fee too.
You'll still issue the invoice from your accounting tool. What Recruiting ATS adds is the tracking around it: each placement records the fee, calculates the payment due date, keeps the invoice status as draft, sent or paid, and alerts you when a payment is overdue, so the day-30 check happens whether or not anyone remembered it.