If your business is getting squeezed by tight cash flow, you must take immediate action to correct that situation. Here are three things you can do right now that should help your cash flow improve.

1. If you bill for work after it’s been completed, don’t be an invoice laggard. Get that invoice out the door as soon as the work is completed. No need to wait thirty days to bill. Do it now and you’ll have your payment in hand sooner.
2. Get a merchant account or set your business up with PayPal so you can accept credit cards. This will cost you a few bucks, but you’ll have your money in days rather than weeks. Then all you’ll have to say to your customers is, “May I put that on your credit card?”
3. Consider setting up your billing on an incremental basis. There are no rules that say you must do the work and then get paid. When you negotiate a contract, set it up so you receive a portion of the payment when you begin, another portion when you are half done and the rest when the project is complete. Setting payment milestones will go a long way in keeping the cash flowing.

Do you have other suggestions? Please leave a comment.

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1. Pump Up Your Cash Flow By Getting Paid
2. Selling On Credit Is Risky Business
3. Improving Your Cash Flow by Getting Paid Faster
4. Become a Debt Collection Master and Collect More Money Today
5. The Cash Flow Story In A Tiny Texas Town

The maze of credit card services can be quite confusing and the lingo is often very tough to understand — payment processor, discount rate, merchant account, etc. If your mind is a bit boggled about it, set aside some time to attend this free webinar on Thursday, July 9 from 2pm – 3pm edt.

Here’s the scoop:

In today’s electronic driven world, customers and donors want to, and expect to, make payments and donations quickly and easily by credit/debit cards to your organization. You MUST be ready to accept their plastic card at any time, in any medium, by any method: face-to-face, email, fax, snail mail or online. How do you know if you are set up optimally for plastic cards? Are there special rates that you are not taking advantage of? How long should it take for the proceeds to arrive in your bank account? Should you let a third party operate your merchant account or should you have your own?

Topics include:

• Card pricing criteria: debit/credit cards, card brand- and industry-specific pricing
• Processor and merchant responsibilities
• What happens in a transaction: soup-to-nuts
• Avoiding fraud and chargebacks
• E-commerce and online donation sites

The webinar is presented by Marc W. Halpert, Managing Partner, Your Best Interest LLC. Put this on your calendar and sign up for the webinar here.

More on this topic:

1. How Your Business Credit Card Can Help You Prepare Taxes
2. Payment Options Can Increase Your Cash Flow
3. Pump Up Your Cash Flow By Getting Paid
4. Three Things You Can Do Right Now To Help Your Cash FLow
5. Will Credit Card Profiling Kill Your Cash Flow Chances?