It’s a scenario straight out of florists’ nightmares: You spend hours and hundreds of dollars designing a client’s wedding. And then she stiffs you.</span><span class=”ArticleSource” style=”font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; 14px; color: #333333; margin-top: 0px;”><a href=”mailto:khendrick@safnow.org” class=”ArticleSource” style=”font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; 14px; color: #333333; margin-top: 0px;”></a></span></p><table style=”width: 250px;” align=”right”><tbody><tr><td><a href=”http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/saf/FM%20August15GoodmanMyers.pdf” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/saf/BridalPayUp.png” width=”250″ border=”1″ /></a><
Get more ideas on bridal payment quandaries in <a href=”http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/saf/FM%20August15GoodmanMyers.pdf” target=”_blank”>”Bridal Finances 101″</a> in this month’s Floral Management. <br /></span></span><hr /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span class=”ArticleDescription” style=”font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #333333; margin-top: 0px;”>Now that we have you shaking in your apron, here’s some good news. You can keep yourself out of that terrible predicament with an ironclad protocol: “Don’t order the product for the wedding until the balance is paid in full,” said Derrick Myers, CPA, CFA, PFCI, vice president of Crockett, Myers & Associates, a financial management and accounting firm that has been working with florists for more than three decades. (If that won’t light a fire under a bride, nothing will.) <br /><br /> Myers advises setting up a schedule of payments, with the first segment due with the signed contract, the second due midway to wedding date and the final balance due, in full, at least two weeks before the big day (earlier if you have to rent special items, such as linens, pedestals, arches, etc.). <br /><br /> And be sure to draft a contract outlining the services and fees to protect you if there is a contested charge, Myers said. Requesting payment by check is another safeguard, he added, as “credit card companies are all too quick to reverse the charge and leave you to argue with them and chase down your payment.” <br /><br /> For more details on this and other wedding payment quandaries, check out “<a href=”http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/saf/FM%20August15GoodmanMyers.pdf” target=”_blank”>Bridal Finances 101</a>” in this month’s Floral Management.</span></p><p><<a href=”mailto:khendrick@safnow.org”>Katie Hendrick</a></span><br /></span></p>
