The check is in the mail.

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Author Message David G. Axt, CCS, CSI ,SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1458 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, February 10, 2016 - 01:01 pm:    Yesterday, I received a check from my client. The check was postmarked November 5, 2015. It took that piece of mail 3 months to go about 11 miles! Do any of you independent consultants have electronic bank transfer set up with your clients? BTW, my client did cut me a new check after I kept sending him reminder invoices. Now I know why he was so late to pay me! David G. Axt, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant Axt Consulting LLC Colin Gilboy Senior Member Username: colin Post Number: 421 Registered: 09-2005 Posted on Wednesday, February 10, 2016 - 01:17 pm:    I would recommend you look at Intuit (yes Quicken) Payment Network. Checking to checking account is a 50 cent charge and takes 2 days. https://ipn.intuit.com/ Colin Gilboy Publisher, 4specs.com 435.200.5775 - Utah 800.369.8008 Guest (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Wednesday, February 10, 2016 - 03:17 pm:    David, Get real! Your client entered in it's books that your fee was "paid" on Nov 5, but he didn't physically mail the check until last week. It's called "float"! In the IRS's eyes, you've constructively received payment in 2015, so you need to report income on 2015 tax returns; yeah, I know it sucks, but that's the ways the taxman cometh...to get your money! David G. Axt, CCS, CSI ,SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1459 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, February 10, 2016 - 05:24 pm:    Anon, I had already been paid by the client back in December. When I opened the letter I was puzzled why the client was sending me another check. I always scan checks before depositing them in the bank. The scanned check had a later date and later check number. My client was not trying to cheat me. Somehow the check got lost in the mail. As to the IRS, it depends on whether a person uses the "cash method" or "accrual" method. I use the cash method which means income is counted when I receive it. David G. Axt, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant Axt Consulting LLC Ron Beard CCS Senior Member Username: rm_beard_ccs Post Number: 433 Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Friday, February 12, 2016 - 07:32 pm:    David: But if you get a Form 1099 from him for that year, you better acknowledge it in that year even if you didn't receive it until the next year. Yes, you can fight it (because you are right if you are on a cash basis but it isn't worth the effort). "Fast is good, but accurate is better." .............Wyatt Earp David G. Axt, CCS, CSI ,SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1461 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Sunday, February 14, 2016 - 01:33 pm:    Ron, Good point. Yes I did get a 1099 from my client for the year 2015. The 1099 form came a few days before the "second" check. Thus another reason why I was puzzled why my client was paying me twice. David G. Axt, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant Axt Consulting LLC David G. Axt, CCS, CSI ,SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1499 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2016 - 07:02 pm:    Well it happened again. Another local client sent me a check two weeks ago that never arrived. They are writing a new check and mailing it to me. I wonder if I should have them pay for tracking or delivery confirmation or something. Am I the only one experiencing this issue? David G. Axt, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant Axt Consulting LLC Dewayne Dean Senior Member Username: ddean Post Number: 77 Registered: 02-2016 Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2016 - 07:32 pm:    Seems strange. Do you have reason to suspect the client or the delivery service? Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: michael_chusid Post Number: 191 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2016 - 07:34 pm:    I have used terms such as 5% off if paid in 5 days. 2% in 10 days. I offer to come pick up checks. Gives me a chance to say hello to client. I used to be able to take credit cards. Best of all, I now have retainer accounts that pay me at beginning of month. Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS www.chusid.com www.buildingproduct.guru 818-219-4937 J. Peter Jordan Senior Member Username: jpjordan Post Number: 907 Registered: 05-2004 Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2016 - 09:30 am:    I had a client who sent two checks that I never received. This was a good client whom I trust and continue to do business with. Both checks were deposited at a mail box on USPS property so I have some reason to believe that the checks were mislaid or stolen. I wound up collecting that check in person. J. Peter Jordan, FCSI, AIA, CCS, LEED AP, SCIP David G. Axt, CCS, CSI ,SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1501 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2016 - 12:11 pm:    Seems I am not the only one with mail issues. There is another specification consultant in town who also had a problem recently of not receiving a check. I did, however, notice that my mail carrier now delivers the mail from his new Mercedes Benz while he wears a very nice Armani suit. ;-) David G. Axt, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant Axt Consulting LLC Ron Beard CCS Senior Member Username: rm_beard_ccs Post Number: 435 Registered: 10-2002 Posted on Friday, August 12, 2016 - 12:08 pm:    Be thankful for your late payments. It's the no payment at all that pisses me off the most. "Fast is good, but accurate is better." .............Wyatt Earp David J. Wyatt, CDT Senior Member Username: david_j_wyatt_cdt Post Number: 151 Registered: 03-2011 Posted on Friday, August 12, 2016 - 01:36 pm:    It hurts bad when you finally receive the long-awaited check and it isn't signed. Once I drove thirty miles to pick up a promised and much-needed check and the guy wasn't there. I had to use all the loose change under my car seats for gas to get back. Now that I am full-time employed by a firm, I thank my boss when I get paid, which is on time, every time. ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 1006 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Friday, August 12, 2016 - 03:40 pm:    David Axt, I don't know how your fees are structured but I'm impressed if your postal carrier can pull all that off one check. Maybe you need to bill more often. Back when I was consulting I had a client that was perpetually bad at paying. Once he wrote me a check from an account that had been closed. I found that out when I went to his bank (I had already learned not to just deposit it in my bank). I had to talk with the bank manager, asking whether the amount in question didn't make passing bad checks a felony. The bank manager was nice, called the client, asked me to wait, and 15 minutes later I had a new check in my hand that I cashed immediately. Heck of a way to earn a living. David G. Axt, CCS, CSI ,SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1516 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 - 02:37 pm:    And yet it happened again. One of my clients told me that their accounting software has not been working for 11 days and counting. I am driving down to the client to pick up a handwritten check. David G. Axt, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant Axt Consulting LLC Robin E. Snyder Senior Member Username: robin Post Number: 655 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 - 02:48 pm:    David - do you ask for a retainer? David G. Axt, CCS, CSI ,SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 1517 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 - 01:43 pm:    Robin, It is unusual that I have had issues with three different architectural firms. I sure hope that the handwritten check arrives today. I have a sneaking suspicion that someone might be stealing my mail. If so I sure wish they would steal (and pay) my bills! Do the rest of the independent specifiers ask for a retainer? David G. Axt, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant Axt Consulting LLC Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: michael_chusid Post Number: 219 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 - 01:55 pm:    1/3 on notice to proceed 1/3 on first draft balance on completion Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS www.chusid.com www.buildingproduct.guru 818-219-4937 Robin E. Snyder Senior Member Username: robin Post Number: 657 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Wednesday, September 28, 2016 - 02:37 pm:    i didn't realize it was 3 different clients. Yes, i ask for a 20-30% retainer on new/slow paying clients Guest (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Thursday, September 29, 2016 - 11:13 am:    And what do you do if new clients balk? Or better yet, what if clients are slow to pay for anything...whether retainers, invoices for deliverables, etc.? Not do/start the work? Delaying start of work then impinges on your meeting their deadline? Robin E. Snyder Senior Member Username: robin Post Number: 658 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Thursday, September 29, 2016 - 11:22 am:    I have never had a new client protest the retainer. If i did, i wouldn't work with them. It is business and not an unreasonable requirement. I have had to delay issue of specifications on a couple of occasions due to severely delayed payment. If they aren't paying, then they are not holding up their end of the contract, so their deadline becomes irrelevant. Usually, a phone call to discuss can resolve everything, but in the unusual circumstances where the payment just isn't coming...neither are my specifications. Anne Whitacre, FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: awhitacre Post Number: 1415 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Monday, October 31, 2016 - 08:45 pm:    David: When I consulted, I also had a post office box because mail would get delivered there at 10 am, and it would be closer to 5 pm at my house on Queen Anne. it was a small price to pay, but it also reduced the number of places mail could get lost. you might think of that as an option. George A. Everding, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, AIA Senior Member Username: geverding Post Number: 833 Registered: 11-2004 Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2016 - 01:23 pm:    Wait a minute? Anne, you lived on Queen Anne Street? Self-named, or just a delicious coincidence? Dave Metzger Senior Member Username: davemetzger Post Number: 663 Registered: 07-2001 Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2016 - 01:35 pm:    What else would be expected for the Queen of Specifications?