The customer says your invoice came too late.

The account was issued well after completion

A surveyor discovers completed work that was never invoiced during a staff handover. When the account is finally sent, the customer says it is too old to pay. The surveyor needs to establish the contractual billing requirements, the evidence of performance and whether any relevant deadline affects recovery.

Reconstruct the relevant dates

Record completion, acceptance, any earlier payment request and the date the invoice was issued. Locate the cause of the delay without changing historical records to make the account appear timely.

Separate the date of work from the date payment became due under the agreement. Different rights and deadlines may depend on different events.

Ask which requirement was missed

Request the contract provision or other basis for rejecting the account. The customer may be referring to an internal accounting period, an agreed submission condition or a legal time limit.

Business.gov.au identifies time limits as a consideration before court action. Have the actual position checked promptly rather than assuming an internal year-end rule decides legal entitlement.

Source: business.gov.au - When to go to court over a dispute

Provide the performance evidence

Gather the instruction, deliverables, acceptance and records showing the amount claimed. Explain the delay factually and correct genuine errors. An apology for late administration need not become an uninformed concession about the entire debt.

If the customer's records are incomplete, provide a concise package linking work to price. Avoid relying on staff memory where original documents are available.

Decide the next step before more time passes

Obtain advice on any disputed deadline and the appropriate response. Continuing informal discussion should not be assumed to preserve a claim indefinitely.

Fix the completion-to-invoice handover internally: identify who records completion, who issues the account and what exception report catches a missed job. Recovery of this invoice will not prevent another omission by itself.

Check the dates and the actual restriction

Prepare a dated work and billing history and ask for the basis of rejection.

Have applicable deadlines assessed promptly and correct the internal billing gap.

Call CRP today about debt recovery and coordinating the appropriate professional support.