Unpaid invoices: they’re every freelancer’s nightmare. Starting up a recovery procedure requires a lot of energy, but doing nothing negatively impacts your liquidity.
Chasing down unpaid invoices is of course very time-consuming. Calling the client, sending them notices, setting up repayment plans, … Sometimes you even have to do this for multiple clients at a time. It takes up many hours of precious time that you can no longer transform into income.
Fortunately, it doesn’t always have to be this way. Through Unpaid, you can quickly, efficiently and easily recover your unpaid invoices.
Unpaid chases down your money, both faster and cheaper
Unpaid is an innovative digital platform, designed by lawyers, bailiffs and IT experts. It allows you to start a recovery procedure for your unpaid invoices in a matter of minutes. You can use it for small and large amounts, and even for a single invoice. Find out how it works here.
Unpaid automates the legally determined IOS procedure (‘Invordering van Onbetwiste Schulden’, or Recovery of Undisputed Debts). This procedure states you can legally recover and collect unpaid and undisputed business invoices without the need for lawyers, courts or collection agencies.
You can use the IOS procedure under these legally determined conditions:
- You have a valid company registration number in Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Spain, Italy or Austria.
- Your client is a Belgian entity with a VAT number or company number. This means that in order to recover invoices from a private person or the government, you can’t use Unpaid or the IOS procedure. In those cases, we suggest contacting a lawyer.
- Your invoice wasn’t disputed by the client.
- Your client wasn’t declared bankrupt and isn’t undergoing judicial reorganization. The latter would mean the client isn’t protected against creditors such as yourself.
- The unpaid invoice has not expired.
That’s a lot to keep in mind, but don’t worry.
How does it work?
Whenever you submit an unpaid invoice, Unpaid automatically checks – in real-time – whether these conditions are met. Unpaid then sends one of its bailiffs to your client. After the client has paid, you will receive the entire invoice amount, and you will be able to recover all prepaid expenses (starting at €169.27). Find out more about Unpaid’s pricing structure here.
It doesn’t matter if you have one or more unpaid invoices. You can use Unpaid for small and large amounts, and it’s always worth the effort. Many freelancers are already using Unpaid! Check out their experiences.
My invoice was disputed! What do I do now?
If the client decided to dispute your invoice, you can’t use Unpaid. You’ll need to contact a lawyer and go to court in order to recover your money. Only a judge is able to decide whether or not the client’s arguments are justified.
My invoice wasn’t disputed.
Perfect. In that case, nothing stands in the way of using Unpaid. You can quickly and easily start a procedure on the website. Usually, the money will be in your account within 38 business days.
Integration with accountancy software
User experience is one of Unpaid’s strong suits. It integrates flawlessly with many popular pieces of accounting and collection software, which makes recovering unpaid invoices even easier. With one click of a button, you can easily forward them to Unpaid using Teamleader, Yuki, Billit, Exact, Octopus, Eenvoudig Factureren, Legal Village, Payt, Breex and Striktly Business Software and more to come.
The client paid my invoice!
If your client decides to pay after Unpaid has taken action, the recovery of your unpaid invoices is completely free. The client will carry these expenses. That makes sense, right? Even the deposit you paid when starting up the procedure will be completely refunded.
What if the client doesn’t pay my invoice?
That’s not an option. If after 38 business days following the notice, the client still hasn’t paid, Unpaid will automatically receive a court order that the bailiff can use to take steps towards confiscation, or even a public sale. Fortunately, in practice, it doesn’t often come to that.
Do you have questions about how Unpaid works? Send them to info@unpaid.be or call +32 9 396 34 00. You can also easily schedule an informal info session.
Want to submit your documents immediately? You can do that here.
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored blog post by Unpaid, a tool for unpaid invoices that has been recommended by members of Freelancers in Belgium