How to vet a new client before you start

Chasing late payment is a problem you can often avoid before it starts — by being a little more careful about who you take on. Most payment nightmares show warning signs early. Learning to read them, and putting a few protections in place, saves far more grief than any reminder email.

Red flags before the work begins

None of these is a dealbreaker alone, but stack a few and be cautious:

Haggling hard on price before scope is even clear — often a sign payment will be a fight too.
Reluctance to sign anything or pay a deposit.
Vague about who actually pays or how their approvals work.
Urgency with no respect for your process — “we need it yesterday” but slow to answer basic questions.
Bad-mouthing their last freelancer — you may be next in that story.

Questions worth asking

Who signs off and who handles payment?
What’s your usual payment process and timeline?
Is the budget confirmed and approved?

Straightforward clients answer these easily. Evasiveness is itself an answer.

Protect yourself up front

Vetting isn’t only about saying no — it’s about setting terms that make a bad outcome survivable:

Take a deposit so you’re never working fully at risk.
Use a contract with clear payment terms, milestones and consequences.
Bill in stages for larger jobs, so you can stop early if payment stalls.

A client who balks at reasonable, standard terms is showing you exactly how the invoice stage will go.

Get a read on the risk

If you want a quick second opinion on a new client or a specific invoice, the AI collection risk predictor estimates the likelihood of late payment and suggests a next step — a useful gut-check before you commit.

Start every client on the right footing

Good clients don’t mind structure — deposits, contracts and clear terms are normal. Duefy keeps that structure running after you start: it tracks each invoice and follows up automatically, so even a client who turns slow gets chased without you having to wonder whether you should have taken the job.