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Getting Paid: Invoicing, Net Terms and Chasing Late Payments in a Rental Business
The job went well. The tent went up on time, the event happened, the crew struck it and the trailer came home clean. Six weeks later the invoice is still open, and nobody at the client is answering email.
In a rental business you pay for a job before you are paid for it: labour, fuel, wear on the vinyl, the weekend that unit could have earned elsewhere. An unpaid invoice is not a paperwork problem. It is inventory you gave away. This post covers how to set payment terms by client type, what an invoice needs to say, and a collections routine that is firm without being hostile.
Set the payment model by client type, not job by job
Most late payments start with a vague agreement at booking. Decide your default terms for each type of client in advance, write them into the contract, and stop negotiating them one job at a time.
| Client type | Sensible default | What to collect up front |
|---|---|---|
| Private client (weddings, parties) | Deposit at booking, balance due before delivery | Signed contract, deposit, card on file for damage and extras |
| Corporate | Often insists on net terms; offer them only after a credit check | Purchase order number, vendor registration, W-9, named accounts payable contact |
| Schools, municipalities, churches | Purchase order, often net-30 or longer; approvals can run on a board or council calendar | PO, tax-exempt certificate if applicable, approval date |
| Venues and planners (trade) | Monthly statement if volume justifies it | Written trade agreement, credit limit |
The contract is where these terms live. If yours does not state the due date, late fee and what happens to future bookings when an account is overdue, start with the contract clauses that actually matter. Deposits and weather cancellations are covered separately in Cancellations, Deposits and Weather.
Balance-before-delivery is the default for a reason
For private clients, collecting the balance before the truck leaves the yard (commonly 7 to 14 days before the event) removes most collection risk. After the event, the client has what they wanted and your invoice drops down their list. Once the tent is up, your leverage is close to zero.
Keep a card on file, with written authorisation, for items you cannot know until afterwards: extra hours on site, cleaning, lost parts, damage. Bill those on a separate invoice so a dispute over a stained sidewall does not hold up payment for the whole job. How to raise those charges without losing the client is covered in Damage Claims: How to Charge a Client Without Losing Them.
When you do offer net terms
Corporate and institutional clients pay reliably but slowly, and many will not work with a vendor that demands payment up front. If you want that work, treat terms as credit you are extending:
- Credit application. Legal entity name, billing address, accounts payable contact, trade references.
- A credit limit. Do not let one account carry more open balance than you could absorb losing.
- Vendor onboarding early. Large organisations often need your W-9, insurance certificate and banking details in their vendor system before they can issue a PO. This can take weeks. Start at quote stage, not after the event.
- PO on everything. An invoice without the client's PO number is often bounced back by accounts payable, and the clock restarts.
Price the cost of waiting
Net terms cost you money. Example: an $8,000 job on net-30 that is actually paid on day 50, funded in the meantime by a credit line at 10% a year, costs about $8,000 × 10% × 50 ÷ 365 ≈ $110 in interest, plus admin time chasing it. On one job that is small. Across a season of corporate work it is real, and it is a fair reason to price corporate jobs with terms slightly higher than prepaid private work.
What every invoice should say
- Your business name, address, phone and invoice number
- Client PO number and the name of the person who ordered
- Event date and site address
- Line items that match the signed quote, item by item
- A due date written as a date (for example, 3 December), not just net-30
- Accepted payment methods and remittance details
- The late fee wording exactly as it appears in the contract
Send the invoice the day the job closes. Every day you wait to invoice is a day added to when you get paid.
A collections cadence you can run every week
The fix for late payment is mostly routine: the same steps, on the same days, for every account.
| Day | Action |
|---|---|
| 3 days before due | Friendly reminder email with invoice attached |
| Due date | Statement showing the balance due today |
| +7 days | Second email; ask whether anything is holding up payment |
| +14 days | Phone call to the accounts payable contact, not only the person who booked |
| +30 days | Formal written notice citing the contract terms; hold new bookings for that account |
| +60 days | Decision: payment plan, small claims, collection agency or write-off |
Late fees and interest only hold up when they are written into the signed contract and stay within your state's limits.
Measure it, or it will drift
Two numbers tell you whether collections are under control:
- Aging report. Open invoices grouped into 0 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and 90+ days. Anything in the 90+ column is worth less every week it sits there.
- Days sales outstanding (DSO). Accounts receivable ÷ revenue for the period × days in the period. Example: $24,000 open at the end of a 90-day quarter with $120,000 billed gives 24,000 ÷ 120,000 × 90 = 18 days. If that number climbs season over season, your terms or your follow-up have slipped.
Slow collections hurt most in autumn, when bookings drop and the receivables from summer corporate work are still open. If that sounds familiar, read The Off-Season Cash Gap alongside this.
Quick checklist
Written default terms per client type. Balance before delivery for private clients. Credit application and limit before any net terms. Vendor paperwork started at quote stage. Invoice sent the day the job closes, with PO and a due date. A weekly collections routine. Monthly look at the aging report and DSO.
Building out for corporate and institutional work
Corporate, school and municipal clients pay on terms, but they also book repeat dates and larger footprints. If you are building a fleet to serve them, see our page for tent rental companies, browse frame tents, or start with a versatile size such as the 20x40 range. For sizing by guest count, use the tent size guide.
Questions about equipment for your rental fleet? Call Beyond Tent on 866-296-3868. Se habla español.