Irish agencies and consultancies usually bill in two ways, with monthly retainers and project fees split into milestones, and the useful tools handle both while chasing the invoices that slip. Retainers suit SEPA direct debit, milestone invoices suit payment links that accept bank transfer and card, and statutory late payment interest applies because clients are businesses or public bodies. Payment providers, accounting software, credit control tools and combined tools each cover a different part of that.
In this article
The short version
- Retainers and milestone fees each suit a different payment method.
- Retainers suit SEPA direct debit; milestones suit payment links.
- Client sign-off procedures cannot exceed 30 days unless expressly agreed.
- Public bodies have a 15-day payment policy, which is administrative.
- In the worked example, a year's retainer and milestones cost €33 to collect.
How agencies and consultancies bill
Marketing, design, digital, PR and management consultancies tend to work on a mix of ongoing and one-off arrangements, and each produces a different kind of invoice.
A retainer is a fixed monthly fee for an agreed scope of work. The amount stays the same, the client expects it, and it lands on the same date each month, which makes it the most predictable money you bill. Project work is often invoiced in milestones, such as a deposit to start, a payment when a draft or prototype is delivered, and a final payment on sign-off. Some engagements are billed monthly in arrears for time spent, and some include costs you pay on the client's behalf, such as media, printing or software, which you rebill.
Each pattern can hold up cash in a different way. A retainer invoice that needs approving every month can still drift a week or two each time. Milestone invoices are larger and depend on the client agreeing the work is finished, so a slow sign-off holds up the payment as well as the project.
Which payment method suits which invoice
| Invoice type | Payment method that fits | What to agree with the client up front |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly retainer | SEPA direct debit | The collection date and the notice period for each collection |
| Project deposit | Payment link, paid by bank transfer or card | That work starts once the deposit is paid |
| Milestone or final payment | Payment link, paid by bank transfer or card | What counts as sign-off, how long the client has, and the payment date after it |
| Monthly time or rebilled costs | Invoice with a payment link, or direct debit for regular clients | The billing date, terms and what supporting detail goes with the invoice |
Direct debit works for retainers because the client signs a mandate once and each month's fee is collected on its due date. Under the SEPA rules, you give at least 14 calendar days' notice of each collection unless you and the client agree a shorter period, and that notice can travel with the retainer invoice. If you want to collect each retainer on the 1st, the invoice carrying the notice has to go out at least 14 days before, around the middle of the previous month, unless you agree shorter notice when the client signs up.
For milestones, a payment link on the invoice lets the client's accounts team pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or bank transfer without setting you up as a new payee. Card fees are a percentage of the amount, so on larger milestone invoices bank transfer is likely to cost you less.
What a year of retainer and milestone billing costs to collect
As a worked example, take a design studio with one client on a €1,800 monthly retainer, plus a €6,000 website project billed in three milestones of €2,000.
Adfin charges 20c + 1% for each successful payment. On SEPA direct debit and bank transfer, the 1% part is capped at €2, so each of the direct debit and bank transfer payments in this example costs €2.20. Card payments aren't capped.
- The retainer, collected by direct debit, costs €2.20 a month, or €26.40 over 12 months.
- The three milestones, paid by bank transfer from a payment link, cost €2.20 each, or €6.60.
- That's €33.00 to collect €27,600 in a year from that client, with no monthly fee, setup fee or contract.
If the client paid the milestones by card instead, each €2,000 payment would cost €20.20 at the standard card rate, so the method your client chooses on larger invoices makes a real difference. If you also use Enhanced credit control, it costs 0.3% of each invoice that gets paid while it's in use, which is €5.40 on a €1,800 retainer invoice.
Milestones, sign-off and payment dates
A slow sign-off can hold up a milestone payment, and Irish law sets some limits on how long a business client can take. Under the European Communities (Late Payment in Commercial Transactions) Regulations 2012 (S.I. 580 of 2012), an acceptance or verification procedure can't run longer than 30 calendar days from delivery of the service, unless it's expressly agreed in the contract and isn't grossly unfair to you. Where the invoice arrives on or before acceptance and no payment date was agreed, payment is due 30 calendar days after the acceptance.
In practice, that means writing three things into your statement of work for each milestone.
- What the client is signing off, so there's no doubt about whether the milestone is complete.
- How long they have to review it, ideally well within 30 days.
- The payment date, counted from sign-off or from your invoice.
If a client pays late, you're entitled to interest from the day after the payment date at the ECB's main refinancing rate plus 8%, which comes to 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026; the rate is reset on 1 January and 1 July. You're also entitled to fixed compensation of €40 on invoices up to €1,000, €70 on invoices over €1,000 up to €10,000, and €100 above €10,000, plus reasonable further recovery costs. Neither depends on sending a reminder.
Payment and credit control tools compared
The tools below fall into a few groups, and you may end up combining two of them.
Payment providers take the money from your client. Stripe takes cards at 1.5% + €0.25 for standard European cards, 2.5% + €0.25 for UK cards and 3.15% + €0.25 for international cards, which matters if you work for clients outside Ireland. Stripe Invoicing adds 0.4% or 0.5% per paid invoice, and Stripe can send automatic reminder emails before, on or after the due date. GoCardless collects by direct debit, which suits retainers, but it doesn't take card payments, it doesn't send invoice reminders, and its fees are taken out of your payouts.
Business accounts with invoicing are another route. Revolut Business plans start from €10, €35 and €125 a month, and its invoices send reminders 7 days before the due date, on the day and 3 days after. Without an active Merchant account, clients can only pay those invoices by bank transfer.
Accounting software adds a pay button and reminders. Xero Ireland offers invoice payments through Stripe and GoCardless and sends automatic reminders before or after the due date. QuickBooks Online Ireland can send up to three automatic reminders.
Credit control tools focus on chasing unpaid invoices. Paidnice works with Xero, QuickBooks Online and Stripe, applies late fees and interest automatically, and costs €59 a month on Essentials for up to 150 invoices, with Pro from €85. Chaser prices by company revenue and lets clients pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or instant bank transfer through its own portal, or by card and SEPA direct debit through your connected Stripe account.
Adfin combines payments with credit control. Clients pay by SEPA direct debit, card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or bank transfer, from links sent by email, SMS or WhatsApp, and Adfin is a certified Xero app and certified QuickBooks app, so payments taken through Adfin are marked paid in your books automatically. Essential credit control is free under a fair use policy, with unlimited reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp, client statements and an aged debtors view where each client has an owner and next steps, which suits agencies where account managers own the relationship. On Enhanced, Adfin's collection agents pick the timing, channel and tone of each reminder within rules you approve, emails go from your own address, and statutory late payment interest is added to overdue business invoices automatically, with grace periods and waivers for individual clients.
Large clients and public bodies
In ISME's Q1 2026 survey of 80 SME owners, almost a quarter (24%) named big businesses as the slowest to pay and 14% named government departments. It's a small sample, so read it as an indication rather than a measure.
With large corporate clients, your best protection is a payment date written into the contract. If a client wants terms longer than 60 days, the Regulations require them to be expressly agreed in the contract and not grossly unfair to you, so you don't have to accept long terms by default. Ask early for the purchase order number, supplier set-up form and the right accounts contact, and put the purchase order on every invoice.
Public bodies follow a government policy of paying suppliers within 15 calendar days of receiving a valid invoice. It's an administrative policy rather than law, and the Regulations themselves cap public body payment terms at 60 days from delivery. A correct invoice, sent to the right place with the purchase order and any reference they ask for, gives you the best chance of being paid within the 15 days.
Common questions
Can an agency charge interest on a late retainer invoice in Ireland? Your clients are businesses, so the Late Payment Regulations apply and interest runs from the day after the payment date at 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026. You're also entitled to fixed compensation of €40, €70 or €100 depending on the invoice amount.
How long can a client take to sign off a milestone? Under S.I. 580 of 2012, an acceptance or verification procedure can't exceed 30 calendar days from delivery unless it's expressly agreed in the contract and isn't grossly unfair to you.
Should retainers be collected by direct debit? Direct debit suits retainers because the amount and date are predictable, and once the client signs a SEPA mandate each fee is collected on its due date. You give notice of each collection, 14 calendar days unless you agree a shorter period.
What does Stripe charge for UK client cards? Stripe Ireland charges 2.5% + €0.25 for UK cards, against 1.5% + €0.25 for standard European cards and 3.15% + €0.25 for international cards.
How quickly should a public body pay an agency invoice? Government policy asks public bodies to pay suppliers within 15 calendar days of a valid invoice, though it's an administrative arrangement, not law. In law, payment terms with a public body can't exceed 60 days from delivery.
What's the difference between a payment provider and a credit control tool? A payment provider takes the payment from your client, while a credit control tool chases unpaid invoices with reminders, statements and sometimes late payment interest. Some tools do both, and others need to be paired.
Sources
- Irish Statute Book - S.I. No. 580 of 2012, Late Payment in Commercial Transactions Regulations (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2012/si/580/made/en/print
- Irish Statute Book - S.I. No. 196 of 2014, Late Payment in Commercial Transactions (Amendment) Regulations (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2014/si/196/made/en/print
- Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment - Prompt payment returns (accurate as of November 2026) https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/what-we-do/supports-for-smes/late-payments/prompt-payment-returns/
- ISME - Prompt Payments Report Q1 2026 (accurate as of November 2026) https://isme.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Q1-2026-Prompt-Payments.pdf
- Stripe - Pricing, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://stripe.com/ie/pricing
- Revolut - Business invoices, Ireland (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.revolut.com/en-IE/business/invoices/
