Placement fees tend to be paid on time when the invoice is correct first time, goes out on the candidate's start date with the client's purchase order on it, and is followed by a reminder before the due date as well as after it. Because clients are businesses, a late fee also carries statutory interest of 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026 plus fixed compensation, with no reminder needed. On a €7,200 fee paid 30 days late, that comes to €61.55 in interest and €70 in compensation.
In this article
The short version
- Invoice placement fees on the candidate's start date with the purchase order.
- Confirm the accounts payable contact before the candidate starts.
- Statutory interest is 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026 between businesses.
- A €7,200 fee paid 30 days late carries €61.55 interest and €70 compensation.
- Small Claims can't be used for unpaid invoices.
Where the days go between start date and payment
A placement fee is usually a single invoice, raised once the candidate starts, and it goes to a client whose hiring manager may never have dealt with their own accounts team. Delay can build up before the payment terms even start counting.
Take a candidate who starts on Monday 2 November, with a fee due 30 days from the invoice. If the invoice goes out that morning with the right purchase order and reaches the right accounts contact, it's due on 2 December.
Now suppose it waits for a purchase order that nobody requested in advance and goes out on 13 November, then comes back a week later because it was sent to the hiring manager instead of accounts payable. Re-sent on 20 November, it falls due on 20 December. Nobody has paid late yet, but the money arrives 18 days after it would have, and if the client's payment run falls just before Christmas you may wait into January.
ISME's survey of SME owners for Q1 2026, a small sample of 80, found they waited 44 days on average to be paid. On 30-day terms, some of the gap between the two can be days like these.
What a late placement fee adds up to
Under S.I. 580 of 2012, interest runs from the day after the payment date until the fee is paid, at the ECB's main refinancing rate plus 8%. That's 10.4% a year from 1 July 2026, and the rate is reset each 1 January and 1 July. On top of it, you're entitled to fixed compensation of €40, €70 or €100 per invoice, depending on its size. The table works interest out on a simple daily basis.
| Placement fee | Days late | Interest at 10.4% | Fixed compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| €4,500 | 14 | €17.95 | €70 |
| €7,200 | 30 | €61.55 | €70 |
| €15,000 | 45 | €192.33 | €100 |
The interest on its own isn't large, and the same ISME survey found 82% of respondents don't charge interest on late payments at all. What the figures do give you is a cost the client can see, set out in terms they've already agreed. If your terms don't set a payment date, the fee is due 30 days after the later of the client receiving your invoice or the service being provided. Terms longer than 60 days have to be expressly agreed and can't be grossly unfair to you.
Habits that shorten the wait
Several of these happen before the invoice exists, at the point the offer is accepted.
- Ask for the purchase order number, the accounts payable contact and any supplier set-up form when the offer is accepted, so the invoice can go out on the start date.
- Put the candidate's name, start date, fee basis and purchase order on the invoice, so nobody in accounts has to email the hiring manager to check it.
- State your payment terms, and the fact that statutory interest and compensation apply to late payment, in your terms of business, so adding them later isn't a surprise.
- Send a reminder about a week before the due date, while there's still time for the invoice to make the next payment run.
- Include a payment link so the client can pay by card or bank transfer from the reminder itself.
- Give each fee an owner, whether that's the consultant who made the placement or someone in accounts, so follow-ups don't stall when a consultant is busy with the next role.
Reminders and interest without the awkward call
Chasing a client you want to place with again can feel awkward, and the timing slips when the person chasing is also the person filling the client's next role. Handing the routine part to software keeps it consistent.
Adfin's free Essential credit control sends unlimited reminders by email, SMS and WhatsApp, and you can send payment links the same ways. Clients can pay by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, bank transfer or SEPA direct debit, and its aged debtors view shows every open fee with an owner and next steps. It's a certified Xero app and a certified QuickBooks app, so a paid fee is marked paid in your books automatically, and it works alongside the recruitment software that produces your invoices.
With Enhanced credit control, at 0.3% per paid invoice and only when it's used, Adfin's collection agents decide when and how to follow up within rules you approve, emails go from your own address, and statutory interest is added to overdue client invoices automatically. You can set a grace period, and waive interest for a client you'd rather not charge.
Common questions
When should a placement fee invoice go out? On the candidate's start date if you can, with the purchase order and the right accounts contact already confirmed. Where your terms run from the invoice date, every day it waits pushes the due date back by a day.
How is late payment interest on a placement fee worked out? On a simple daily basis, multiply the fee by 10.4% (the rate from 1 July 2026), then by the days late, and divide by 365. A €7,200 fee paid 30 days late carries €61.55.
What fixed compensation can I add to a late placement fee? €40 if the fee is up to €1,000, €70 if it's over €1,000 and up to €10,000, and €100 above that, plus reasonable further recovery costs.
Do I have to send a reminder before interest applies? No, between businesses interest and compensation apply automatically from the day after the payment date. A reminder still helps the client pay before it gets that far.
What payment terms can a client insist on for a placement fee? You can agree any date, but terms over 60 days must be expressly agreed in the contract and not grossly unfair to you. With no agreed date, the fee is due 30 days after the later of invoice receipt or the service.
Can I use the Small Claims procedure for an unpaid placement fee? No, it excludes debts, and an unpaid invoice is a debt. A claim of up to €15,000 goes to the District Court, and up to €75,000 to the Circuit Court.
Sources
- Irish Statute Book - S.I. No. 580 of 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
- Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment - Late payment interest rate (accurate as of November 2026) https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/what-we-do/supports-for-smes/late-payments/late-payment-interest-rate-
- Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment - Compensation for recovery costs (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.enterprise.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Supports-for-SMEs/Late-Payments/Compensation-for-Recovery-Costs-
- ISME - Prompt Payments Report Q1 2026 (accurate as of November 2026) https://isme.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Q1-2026-Prompt-Payments.pdf
- Courts Service - About small claims (accurate as of November 2026) https://courts.ie/guides/about-small-claim
