How can Irish law firms get bills paid sooner?

Irish law firms can shorten the wait by issuing each bill promptly with a calendar due date, letting clients pay by card, bank transfer or SEPA direct debit from the bill itself, and following up overdue bills on a fixed schedule. Business clients who pay late owe statutory interest at 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026, plus fixed compensation, while private clients acting as consumers are outside those rules. Any change to how fees are collected has to fit the Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023, and a payment tool isn't a client account.

In this article

The short version

• Fee money goes into client or office account without delay.
• Send each bill promptly with a calendar due date and a payment link.
• SEPA direct debit collects fixed monthly fees on the due date.
• Business clients owe statutory interest on overdue bills; private clients don't.
• Adfin collects fee bills but isn't a client account.

Rules to check before you change how you collect fees

Your accounts obligations come first, so measure any new way of collecting against these points before you change anything.

• Under the Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023 (S.I. 118 of 2023), money you receive for professional fees and outlay must go into client account or office account without delay.
• If fee money lands in client account, it then has to move to office account as the Regulations set out.
• Money you hold for a client can be applied to your fees only once that's been made clear to the client in writing, for example in a bill of costs, and subject to the other conditions in the Regulations.
• A payment tool that collects fees is not a client account, so keep money that must be held for clients out of it.
• Statutory late payment interest and compensation apply to bills for business clients and public bodies, never to private clients acting outside their trade or profession.
• You can't add a surcharge when a private client pays with a consumer debit or credit card.

If you're unsure whether a particular payment counts as fee money or client money, ask your accountant before you route it anywhere new.

A checklist for every bill you send

The delay on a bill can start before your client even sees it. Going through these points for each bill you send gives your client fewer reasons to put it aside.

1. Send the bill as soon as the work or the stage it covers is done. If the bill is also your VAT invoice, Revenue requires it to issue within 15 days of the end of the month in which the service was supplied.
2. Show the due date as a calendar date, not only a number of days.
3. Put a payment link on the bill, so the client can pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or bank transfer without looking up your bank details.
4. Give a payment reference, usually the bill number, and ask the client to quote it.
5. For business clients, say in your terms of engagement and on the bill that statutory late payment interest and compensation apply to overdue bills.
6. Name the person in the firm who deals with queries about the bill, so a question about one item doesn't stall the whole amount.
7. Decide when the first reminder goes, and what it says, before the bill is sent.

For a private client paying a one-off bill, a link on the bill itself gives them a way to pay straight away. With Adfin, payment links go out by email, SMS or WhatsApp, and a client can pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, bank transfer or SEPA direct debit. Pricing is 20c + 1% per successful payment, and on direct debit and bank transfer the 1% part is capped at €2, so a bill of up to €2,000 paid that way costs at most €2.20. Cards aren't capped, and the standard card price applies. The firm pays no monthly or setup fee and signs no contract.

Fixed monthly fees from business clients

You may bill some work at a fixed fee each month, such as ongoing advice to a business client, billed at the end of each month for the work done in it. For bills like these, SEPA direct debit means you collect on the due date instead of waiting for the client to send a payment. Keep each collection tied to a bill you've already issued, and if you'd like to collect before billing, check first how the accounts rules treat that money.

Your client signs a SEPA mandate once, and before each collection you send a pre-notification at least 14 calendar days ahead, unless you've agreed a different timeline with them. The pre-notification can sit on the bill itself. Your client can still ask their bank for a refund of any collection within eight weeks with no questions asked, so a direct debit collects the fees you've billed but doesn't stop a client disputing one.

On a €750 monthly bill collected by SEPA direct debit through Adfin, 1% would be €7.50, but the cap on direct debit and bank transfer brings the cost down to €2.20. The same bill paid by card isn't capped and costs €7.70 at the standard card price.

When a bill goes overdue

ISME's survey of SME owners for the first quarter of 2026 found they waited 44 days on average to be paid, and 82% didn't charge late payment interest. Here's a routine you can adapt for overdue bills.

1. Send a short reminder on the day after the due date, with the payment link again.
2. Follow it with reminders at set intervals, changing channel if email gets no response.
3. Send a statement of what's outstanding when a client has more than one bill open.
4. For business clients, add statutory interest from the day after the due date and claim fixed compensation of €40, €70 or €100, depending on the bill. The interest rate is 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026 and is reset each 1 January and 1 July.
5. For private clients, keep to reminders and statements. Statutory interest and compensation don't apply to them.
6. Before starting proceedings, send a demand letter. Citizens Information describes a 7-day demand letter as usual practice, though it isn't always a legal requirement.

If it comes to court, debt claims can't go through the Small Claims procedure. The District Court deals with claims up to €15,000 and the Circuit Court with claims up to €75,000, with larger claims going to the High Court.

Adfin's free Essential credit control sends unlimited reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp, produces statements and gives you an aged debtors view where each overdue client has an owner in the firm and a next step. Enhanced credit control, at 0.3% per paid invoice and only when it's used, adds statutory late payment interest to overdue bills for business clients automatically, with grace periods and waivers set client by client, and Adfin's collection agents send reminders within rules your firm approves.

Common questions

How long do Irish businesses wait to be paid? ISME's survey of SME owners for the first quarter of 2026 found an average wait of 44 days. The survey had 80 respondents.

Can a solicitor charge interest on an unpaid bill? You can charge statutory late payment interest on bills for business clients and public bodies, at 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026. You can't charge it to private clients acting as consumers.

Can I take fees out of money held in client account? The Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023 allow client money to be applied to fees only once that's been made clear to the client in writing, subject to their other conditions. Check with your accountant before you do.

Can clients pay a solicitor's bill by direct debit? Yes, once your client signs a SEPA mandate. You send pre-notification at least 14 calendar days before each collection unless you agree otherwise, and the client can claim a refund within eight weeks.

Can a law firm use the Small Claims procedure for unpaid fees? No, debt claims are excluded from Small Claims, so you'd take an unpaid bill to the District Court up to €15,000 or the Circuit Court up to €75,000.

Is Adfin a client account? No, Adfin collects payment of fee bills you've issued. It isn't a client account and doesn't make a firm compliant with the Solicitors Accounts Regulations.

Sources

• Irish Statute Book - S.I. No. 118/2023, Solicitors Accounts Regulations 2023 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2023/si/118/made/en/print
• Irish Statute Book - S.I. No. 580/2012, European Communities (Late Payment in Commercial Transactions) Regulations 2012 (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2012/si/580/made/en/print
• ISME - Prompt Payments Report Q1 2026 (accurate as of November 2026) https://isme.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Q1-2026-Prompt-Payments.pdf
• Citizens Information - Court proceedings for recovering debts (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money-and-tax/personal-finance/debt/court-procedures/
• Revenue - What is a VAT invoice? (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.revenue.ie/en/vat/vat-records-invoices-credit-notes/invoices/what-is-vat-invoice.aspx
• European Payments Council - 2025 SEPA Direct Debit Core Rulebook, version 1.0 (accurate as of November 2026) https://europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/sites/default/files/kb/file/2024-11/EPC016-06%202025%20SDD%20Core%20Rulebook%20version%201.0.pdf