VanlyThe job is done, the customer is happy, and now you need the money. How you ask for it decides how fast it lands. Some tradesmen wait three weeks for a cheque that never quite arrives. Others are paid before they have pulled off the drive. The best way to take payment as a tradesman is not one method. It is the right method for the job in front of you, set up so the money moves fast. Here is the honest run through.
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The payment methods that actually matter
There are five ways a UK customer pays you. Four are worth using. One you should quietly retire.
| Method | Speed to your account | Fees | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer | Same day to next day | None | Your default for most jobs |
| Payment link | Minutes to next day | About 1.5 to 2 percent | Remote customers, paying on the spot |
| Card reader or tap to pay | 1 to 3 working days | About 1.5 to 2 percent plus reader cost | Face to face when the customer wants to tap a card |
| Cash | Instant | None | Small jobs, but bank it and record it |
| Cheque | A week or more once it clears | None | Almost never. Avoid if you can |
The rule of thumb: offer two or three of these, not all five. Bank transfer plus one card option covers nearly every customer you will meet. The point of having a backup is so nobody ever says "I have not got the cash on me" and walks off owing you money.
Bank transfer is your default
For most jobs, a bank transfer is the cleanest way to get paid. No fees, no card reader, no third party sitting between you and your money. The customer pays straight from their banking app and it lands in your account same day or next morning.
The thing that makes bank transfer fail is not the method, it is a vague invoice. If your bank details are buried at the bottom of a screenshot, or you ask the customer to "send it to the usual account", you have invited delay. Put your sort code, account number, and account name on every invoice, clearly, with the invoice number as the payment reference. When the money comes in marked INV 0117, you know exactly which job it cleared. No invoice number, no clean paper trail, and you are back to guessing who paid what.
Faster Payments is the system behind most UK bank transfers and it usually moves money in seconds. The hold ups are almost always at the customer's end: they meant to do it, they forgot, the job slipped down the list. That is a chasing problem, not a payment problem, and we cover the fix in how to chase late payers as a tradesman.
Card readers and tap to pay: when they earn their keep
A mobile card reader pays for itself the first time a customer says they would rather tap a card than fiddle with a transfer. Providers like SumUp, Zettle by PayPal, and Square sell a small reader for somewhere between £30 and £80, with a transaction fee of roughly 1.5 to 2 percent and no monthly contract. The money settles into your account in one to three working days.
The newer option is tap to pay on your phone. A recent iPhone or Android can take a contactless payment with no separate reader at all. You open the app, type the amount, the customer taps their card or phone on the back of yours, done. For a solo tradesman who hates carrying extra kit, that is a tidy setup.
Where card payments earn their keep is the doorstep moment. The job is finished, the customer is standing there, and you want the money before you leave. A card tap closes it on the spot. The downside is the fee and the one to three day wait for the cash to land. For a £90 call out the fee is loose change. For a £6,000 bathroom it is real money, so steer the big jobs to bank transfer and keep the card reader for the smaller ones.
Payment links: the fastest route from job done to money in
A payment link is a single tappable link you send the customer. They tap it, pay from their phone, and you get a notification. No card reader, no reading out account numbers, no waiting for them to find a pen.
This is the method most solo trades underuse. It works brilliantly when the customer is not standing in front of you. You finish the job, they have already left, you send the invoice plus a payment link in the same message, and they pay from the sofa that evening. It also drops neatly into the channel you already use, which is usually a chat thread. We go deeper on that in WhatsApp invoicing for tradesmen.
The fees are the same ballpark as a card reader, around 1.5 to 2 percent. The win is speed and clarity. The shorter the path from receiving the invoice to paying it, the sooner the money is yours. Every extra step you make the customer take is another chance for them to put it off until Friday, and Friday has a habit of never coming.
Cash: fine, but bank it and record it
Cash is not dead. Plenty of customers still pay small jobs in notes, and there is nothing wrong with that. The money is in your hand, there are no fees, and there is no chargeback risk.
Two rules keep cash clean. First, bank it. A wad of twenties in the van glovebox is not income you can prove, and it is money waiting to be lost or nicked. Second, record it. Every cash job goes on the books the same as a card or transfer job. HMRC expects you to keep a record of all income regardless of how it was paid, and "it was cash" is not a category that exists at tax time. The official line on what to keep is in the gov.uk guide to invoicing and taking payment from customers.
If a customer leans on you for a cash discount to dodge the VAT or the tax, that is their saving they are after, not yours, and the risk lands on you. Take the cash if it suits you, give a receipt, put it through the books. The discount conversation is a different one, and usually a sign of a customer worth being careful with.
The deposit habit that kills most cash flow pain
Here is the part that matters more than the method. The best way to take payment is to take some of it before you start.
For anything over about £500, or any job where you have to buy materials up front, ask for a deposit. 25 percent is normal in the UK trades for kitchens, bathrooms, and anything needing parts ordered in. For bigger jobs, stage the payments: a deposit to start, a payment at a sensible midpoint, the balance on completion. You are never out of pocket on someone else's materials, and you are never doing two weeks of labour on the promise of a cheque.
The deposit does two jobs. It protects your cash flow, and it filters out the customer who was never going to pay. A customer who happily pays a deposit is a customer who pays the final bill. A customer who finds a reason not to pay the deposit is showing you exactly how the final invoice is going to go. Better to learn that before you have lifted a tool than after.
Put the deposit terms in the quote, not as a surprise later. The job is far easier when the customer agreed the payment plan before you started. We cover how to lay that out in how to write a quote as a tradesman.
Getting paid faster is mostly about the invoice, not the method
You can have every payment method going and still wait a month for your money if the invoice is a mess. Speed comes from three habits, and none of them are about which app you use.
Send the invoice the same day you finish, not the following Sunday. The longer the gap between the job and the bill, the longer the customer feels they have to think about paying it. If your invoicing always slips to the weekend, the hidden cost of doing invoices on a Sunday explains what it is quietly costing you.
Put one clear payment route on the invoice, not a wall of options that makes the customer pause. Bank details with the invoice number as reference, or a payment link, right there in the same message.
Then chase the ones who forget, on time, every time. That last habit is where most tradies leak money, because chasing is the job that always gets bumped for the next job. This is the bit an AI office manager handles without being asked. Vanly puts a clean payment line on every invoice, sends it the day the job is done, and nudges the slow payers in your own voice so you do not have to remember. The money comes in faster because nothing falls through the cracks.
FAQ
What is the cheapest way for a tradesman to take payment?
Bank transfer. There are no fees, the money usually lands the same day, and you only need to put your sort code, account number, and the invoice number on the bill. Card readers and payment links cost roughly 1.5 to 2 percent per transaction, which is fine for smaller jobs but adds up on the big ones. For most work, transfer is your default and a card option is the backup.
Do I need a card machine as a self employed tradesman?
Not strictly, but it pays for itself. A reader from a provider like SumUp, Zettle, or Square costs about £30 to £80 with no monthly contract, or you can use tap to pay on a recent phone with no reader at all. The value is the doorstep moment: when a customer wants to settle up on the spot, a card tap closes the job there and then, rather than waiting on a transfer they might forget.
How can I get paid faster after finishing a job?
Send the invoice the same day, put one clear payment route on it, and take a deposit on anything sizeable so you are never fully out of pocket. The biggest delays come from a late invoice and a customer who forgets, not from the payment method itself. Same day invoicing plus a payment link in the same message is the fastest combination most tradies can set up today.
Should I take a deposit before starting a job?
Yes, on anything over about £500 or any job needing materials bought up front. 25 percent is standard in the UK trades, and bigger jobs are best staged across deposit, midpoint, and completion. A deposit protects your cash flow and weeds out the customer who was never going to pay. Put the terms in the quote so it is agreed before you start, not sprung on them later.
Is it legal to only take cash as a tradesman?
You can take cash, but you must record it. HMRC requires you to keep a record of all income whatever the payment method, so cash jobs go on the books the same as any other. Bank the cash rather than leaving it in the van, and give a receipt. Refusing every other method tends to put customers off and signals something is off, so it is rarely worth it.
What payment terms should I put on a tradesman invoice?
Keep them short and clear. Payment due within 14 days is standard, with your bank details and the invoice number as the reference, plus a line on your late fee policy. Boring and clear beats clever. Customers rarely read the small print, but its presence changes how seriously they treat the deadline. If a payment does run late, the templates in how to chase late payers as a tradesman get most of them paid without a fuss.
The bottom line
The best way to take payment as a tradesman is to make paying you the easy option. Bank transfer for the default, a card reader or payment link for the doorstep and the remote jobs, cash where it suits you, and a deposit on anything big enough to hurt. Then send the invoice the day you finish and chase the stragglers on time. Get those habits right and the money comes in fast, whatever method the customer chooses.
If you want the invoicing, the payment line, and the chasing handled for you in the chat your customers already use, try Vanly free for 14 days. No card needed to start.