How is this different from the client billing profile record?

The billing profile holds static identity and terms — legal name, bill-to address, tax ID, payment terms, remittance details. This record holds the people on the payment side: who approves, who pays, who to escalate to. Keep them as separate records so each stays focused and easy to scan.

Where do I put the portal URL and submission steps?

On the client invoicing instructions record, not here. This contact record is about people. How you actually deliver the invoice — portal, email, or post, with the login identity and required fields — is a procedural record kept separately so neither one gets cluttered.

What if one person approves, pays, and is the escalation?

Common with small clients. Record that one person and note in the role field that they cover all three. The structure still helps because when they hire an AP clerk later, you have a clear place to split the roles out.

Does Cash Workspace pull these contacts in automatically or send reminders?

No. Cash Workspace does not sync with email or your client's systems, does not read your documents, and does not send automatic payment reminders. You type the contacts in and update them yourself; the workspace keeps them organized and attached to the right client.

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Client finance records

Client Billing Contact Records

When an invoice goes quiet, the first question is always "who do I actually chase?" The person who hired you is rarely the person who approves the invoice, and almost never the person who cuts the payment. A billing contact record keeps the accounts-payable side of each client in one place: the name who signs off on what you billed, the name (or AP mailbox) who releases the money, and the name to escalate to when a payment is overdue. Cash Workspace gives you a free, organized home for those contacts — one record per client, kept beside the rest of that client's finance records. This page is about payment-side contacts only. Your day-to-day project contact and the channel or portal you submit through (email, AP portal, post) are deliberately kept on their own records so this one stays the clean answer to "who handles paying us."

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The problem

Why a separate contact record for the payment side

Most overdue invoices aren't refusals — they're routing failures. The invoice landed in one inbox, the approver who needed to OK it never saw it, and the AP clerk who pays on a Friday batch was waiting on that approval. If the only contact you've stored is the project manager who briefed you, you have no one to call. Worse, that information usually lives in scattered email threads and your own memory, so when a payment slips you spend an afternoon reconstructing who's who instead of sending one targeted message.

The person who approves an invoice is often a different role from the one who pays it, and both differ from your project contact — three names you need at the moment a payment stalls.
Larger clients route payables through a shared AP mailbox or a clerk you never meet, so 'just reply to the brief email' goes nowhere.
When an invoice goes overdue, you need an escalation name (a finance manager or controller) ready, not a frantic search through old threads.
Contacts churn — the AP clerk leaves, the approver changes — and without a dated record you don't notice until a payment is already late.

How it works

Build a billing-contact record per client

The goal is one short record per client that answers three questions in seconds: who approves, who pays, who to escalate to. Here's a practical way to set it up in Cash Workspace.

1
Create a billing-contact record inside the client's folder
In each client folder (for example, Clients/Northwind Studios), add a record named 'Billing contacts — Northwind Studios.' Keeping it beside that client's profile and invoices means whoever opens the folder finds the payment contacts without hunting.
2
Capture the three payment-side roles
Record the approver (who signs off the invoice amount), the payer or AP contact (who releases payment — often a shared mailbox like ap@northwind.com), and the escalation contact (a finance manager or controller for when it's overdue). Note the role next to each name so it stays clear even if the person changes.
3
Add reach details and any routing notes
For each contact, store email, phone, and a one-line note such as 'approves under $5k alone; over $5k needs director sign-off' or 'AP pays on the 1st and 15th only.' These notes are what turn a name into a useful contact.
4
Attach the proof that names them
If a kickoff email or PO names the AP contact, or a remittance advice shows who paid last time, attach it to the record so the contact is backed by something, not just memory. Cash Workspace does not read the attachment — you type the contact details into the fields; the file is just evidence on hand.
5
Date it and refresh when people move
Add a 'last confirmed' date. When a contact bounces or someone tells you they've left, update the record and re-date it. A yearly pass to refresh stale contacts keeps every client's record trustworthy.

Record structure

Fields to record per billing contact

Capture these for each client. Group them under the three roles — approver, payer/AP, escalation — so the record reads at a glance. Not every client needs all three filled in; a small client may have one person doing everything.

Role: Which payment-side function this person serves: invoice approver, payer / AP contact, or escalation. The role is the anchor — the name behind it will change over time.
Name: The individual's full name, or the team label if it's a shared function (e.g. 'Accounts Payable team').
Email: Direct email, plus any shared AP mailbox (ap@ or invoices@). Note which address invoices and which address chasing should go to if they differ.
Phone / extension: A number for the escalation contact especially — overdue conversations move faster by phone than by a fourth email.
Approval limit / authority note: For the approver: any threshold where a higher sign-off kicks in (e.g. 'over $10k needs CFO'). Knowing this prevents an invoice stalling at the wrong desk.
Payment routine note: For the payer/AP: when they run payments (weekly batch, 1st and 15th, net-30 from approval) so you know whether an invoice is actually late or just not due yet.
Escalation trigger: A short note on when to escalate (e.g. 'if no payment 7 days past due, contact the controller') so the escalation contact is used deliberately.
Last confirmed date: When you last verified this contact was current. Old dates flag a contact worth re-checking before you rely on it.

Example setup

An example billing-contact record

Here's how the records might sit inside one client's folder. The billing-contact record is one focused file; the sibling records around it hold the profile, the how-to-invoice steps, and the invoices themselves.

Clients / Northwind Studios / Billing contacts

Approver: Dana Vogel, Project Director, dana.vogel@northwind.com — approves up to $10k alone, above needs CFO. Payer/AP: Accounts Payable, ap@northwind.com, +1 555 0140 — pays net-30 from approval, batch runs Fridays. Escalation: Marcus Lee, Financial Controller, marcus.lee@northwind.com, +1 555 0142 — contact if 7+ days past due. Last confirmed: 2026-06-15.

Clients / Northwind Studios / Billing profile

Static identity and terms — legal name, bill-to address, tax ID, payment terms, remittance details. (Separate record; kept on the billing-profile page.)

Clients / Northwind Studios / Invoicing instructions

How to actually submit — AP portal URL, login identity, required PO field, accepted format. (Separate record; the channel/portal procedure lives here, not in contacts.)

Clients / Harbor Cafe (small client)

Billing contacts record with one entry: Owner, Sam Ortiz, sam@harborcafe.com — approves, pays, and is the escalation, all one person. Note: 'pays on receipt, prefers a phone reminder.'

Common mistakes

Common mistakes to avoid

Storing only the project contact. The person who hired you usually can't approve or pay the invoice — capture the AP side separately.
Recording a name with no role. When 'Dana' moves on, a record that doesn't say she was the approver is useless. Anchor every entry to its role.
Leaving the escalation field blank until you need it. The moment a payment is overdue is the worst time to start hunting for a finance manager's name.
Treating a shared AP mailbox as a person. Note it as a team contact and still capture a human escalation name behind it.
Never re-dating. Contacts go stale silently; an undated record gives you false confidence that the AP clerk you have is still there.
Folding submission steps in here. How you deliver the invoice (portal, email, post) belongs on the invoicing-instructions record so this one stays purely about people.

How it helps

How Cash Workspace helps

One record per client, kept in context

Store the billing-contact record inside the same client folder as their profile and invoices, so the payment-side names sit right next to what you billed.

Type the fields you control

You enter the names, roles, emails, and notes yourself into a clean record. Nothing is guessed or auto-filled — the record says exactly what you put in it.

Attach the proof beside the contact

Keep the kickoff email or remittance advice that names an AP contact attached to the record as evidence. You read it; the workspace just holds it.

Export when you hand off

Hand the workspace to a teammate or your accountant and the billing contacts go with the rest of the client's records. You can export the records when you need a copy elsewhere.

Client billing profile records

The static identity-and-terms reference per client — legal name, bill-to address, tax ID, PO flag, payment terms, remittance details. The 'what' to the contact record's 'who.'

Client invoicing instructions records

The per-client how-to-submit playbook — delivery channel, portal URL, login identity, required reference fields. Where the channel/portal procedure lives, kept off the contact record.

Client record annual review checklist

The yearly pass to refresh stale client fields including contacts, so your approver, payer, and escalation names stay current.

Client communication finance notes log

Where to log money-related conversations and promises to pay — distinct from storing the standing payment-side contacts here.

Client payment follow-up

Organize the chasing of overdue invoices once you know, from this record, exactly who to escalate to.

Client finance dashboard

See each client's billing picture in one place; the contact record tells you who to act on what the dashboard surfaces.

Finance organization library

Browse the full set of finance-record templates and workflows, from client records to invoices, expenses, and accountant handoff.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from the client billing profile record?: The billing profile holds static identity and terms — legal name, bill-to address, tax ID, payment terms, remittance details. This record holds the people on the payment side: who approves, who pays, who to escalate to. Keep them as separate records so each stays focused and easy to scan.
Where do I put the portal URL and submission steps?: On the client invoicing instructions record, not here. This contact record is about people. How you actually deliver the invoice — portal, email, or post, with the login identity and required fields — is a procedural record kept separately so neither one gets cluttered.
What if one person approves, pays, and is the escalation?: Common with small clients. Record that one person and note in the role field that they cover all three. The structure still helps because when they hire an AP clerk later, you have a clear place to split the roles out.
Does Cash Workspace pull these contacts in automatically or send reminders?: No. Cash Workspace does not sync with email or your client's systems, does not read your documents, and does not send automatic payment reminders. You type the contacts in and update them yourself; the workspace keeps them organized and attached to the right client.

What this record is — and isn't

This is organizational guidance for keeping your clients' payment-side contacts tidy, not collections, legal, or accounting advice. Cash Workspace is a place to record and organize the contacts you already know; it does not sync with your bank or your client's systems, does not read or extract details from attached documents, and does not send automatic reminders or chase payments for you. You enter and verify every contact yourself. For how to recover an overdue payment or any debt-collection question, rely on your own judgment or a qualified professional.

Keep every client's payment contacts in one place

Start a free Cash Workspace and give each client a billing-contact record — approver, payer, and escalation — so the next time an invoice goes quiet you already know exactly who to reach. It's free to organize your finance records, with no bank connection and nothing automated; just a clean, dependable home for the contacts you rely on.