Many clients have no problem with paying in advance of services, but some clients do object to paying before delivery.
Sometimes it’s because of the associated risk of paying upfront (i.e., what if we just take the money and never deliver?). Other times it’s because they have an organizational policy that mandates Net-30, Net-45, etc.
To those objections, my answers are simple.
First, I agree that there is real risk in paying someone ahead of time. But that risk is directly correlated with who you engaged in business with, and, with Accessible.org, we’re going to deliver.
We don’t have any client reviews. I refuse to solicit clients — I don’t believe I’m owed a review simply because someone purchases from us. But isn’t it rather telling that, despite operating for 7+ years, there’s no mention of us ever not fulfilling on services ordered?
No Reddit post. No LinkedIn post. No YouTube comment. Nothing.
Speaking of YouTube, I’ve posted 700+ videos over the last 2.5 years as the founder of Accessible.org. My reputation is personally on the line. I have skin in the game. And not that I would rip anyone off, but, given my social media visibility, it wouldn’t make sense to.
In summary, we deliver.
As far as organizational policies mandating net payment, there are many clients who have had such policies in place and yet still opted to choose Accessible.org as their service provider.
Policies are put in place for a number of reasons. One of which is to protect the best interests of those organizations. But when searching for a digital accessibility provider, once you find out about Accessible.org, the value is clear enough that organizations decide to make an exception.
And many times they do not. Such is the marketplace.
We have to agree to terms, and sometimes a mutual bargain for both parties isn’t in place.
Regardless, here are the primary reasons why we have advance payment in place.
The Cost of Post-Delivery Billing
Most service providers bill after work is delivered. That sounds standard, but it introduces real cost.
When a provider delivers work before receiving payment, they carry financial risk. Some clients pay on time. Some take 60 days. Some take 90. Some require multiple follow-up invoices, escalation to accounts payable, or collections activity. Every one of those scenarios costs time and money.
Providers who operate on post-delivery billing have to account for that. Late payments create cash flow gaps. Collections activity takes hours. Write-offs on unpaid invoices are a real line item. And the longer a provider waits to get paid, the more working capital they need to keep operations running in the meantime.
All of that gets priced in. Not as a separate line item you can see, but baked into the rate itself. When you receive a quote from a firm that bills after delivery, part of what you are paying covers the risk that you, or another client, might pay late or not at all.
How Advance Payment Changes the Math
When we receive payment before work begins, that entire category of risk disappears. There is no collections activity. There are no cash flow gaps from waiting 60 or 90 days. There are no write-offs. There is no need to carry extra working capital as a buffer.
Because we do not carry that risk, we do not have to price it in. Our rates reflect the cost of the work itself, not the cost of the work plus a margin to absorb payment uncertainty.
This is the direct connection between advance payment and lower pricing. It is not a minor difference. For firms that regularly deal with late payments and extended billing cycles, the overhead can be significant, and it gets spread across every client engagement.
What This Means for You
Every dollar you pay goes toward the project. There is no invisible surcharge covering the possibility that someone else pays late. There is no buffer built in for collections or write-offs. The price is the price.
Our advance payment policy is not a restriction. It is the mechanism that allows us to keep our rates where they are. We would rather be upfront about how we operate than quietly build those costs into what you pay.
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