Most small businesses do not have a 'getting paid' problem — they have a 'making it easy to pay' problem. The tactics below are ranked by impact: each one independently shortens your average collection time, and they stack.
The 10 highest-impact tactics. These are ordered roughly by impact-per-effort. If you only do three of them, do #1, #2, and #5.
What 'days sales outstanding' (DSO) looks like for each tactic. DSO is the average number of days between invoicing and getting paid. Industry-typical DSO for small service businesses is 30–45 days. Each tactic below pulls that number down.
What does not actually speed up payment. Calling customers before the invoice is due, lowering your prices, or being more 'flexible' on terms do not measurably speed up payment in industry data — and the last two reduce your margin. The biggest speedups come from removing friction (payment links), shrinking the window (shorter Net terms), and being consistent
Frequently asked questions
What is the fastest way for a customer to pay an invoice?
Card or digital-wallet payment (Apple Pay, Google Pay) inside a click-to-pay link is the fastest — funds typically settle within 1–2 business days. ACH is cheaper but slower (3–5 business days).
Should I offer an early-payment discount?
Only if your cost of capital is high. A 2% discount for paying in 10 days versus 30 is an effective 36% annualized cost — expensive if you have healthy cash flow.
