My old boss in Tampa said to never put a late fee in writing, and a $900 lesson proved him wrong | Client Nightmares - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals

Gray Robinson · 2026-09-15T22:15:05.272873+00:00

Honestly I used to just eat it when clients paid late because my old boss said adding a late fee clause would scare people off. Ngl I believed him for about 2 years until a wedding photographer friend showed me her contract, which had a simple 5 percent fee after 14 days. So I added one line to my invoice template last spring. A client in Tampa sat on a $1,800 logo job for 6 weeks, and when I sent the updated total with the fee he paid in 2 days. He even apologized. Tbh the fee was only $90 but the real win was that I stopped chasing people. Has anyone else had a client actually walk away over a late fee clause, or is that just a scare story?

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My old boss in Tampa said to never put a late fee in writing, and a $900 lesson proved him wrong | Client Nightmares - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals