Sometimes clients pay late. It just goes with the territory of freelancing. But if you have a client that routinely pays late, it might be time to cut the cord.
Slow paying clients take more of your time and energy. You have to take time to follow up on the unpaid invoice, and you may have to rework your budget when those expected payments don’t arrive.
If your “slow-pays” are creating a hardship for you, you need to ask yourself if they’re worth it. The time and energy you are spending chasing down your money could be better spent doing work for clients that pay you on time.
If you can’t quite bring yourself to cut the cord, at the very least, press the pause button on any new work until you’ve been paid for the past hours you have put in.
Be sure to communicate why, so your “slow-to-pay” client understands what your expectations are.