Placement fees in instalments: spreading a big fee without chasing every payment

You can let a client pay a placement fee in instalments by agreeing a deposit, a short schedule and what happens if the candidate leaves, all in writing before the candidate starts. Collect each instalment automatically, usually by direct debit, so the plan runs on its own dates and you only step in when a payment fails.

In this article

The short version

• Agree instalments before the candidate starts, in writing, as an addendum to your terms of business.
• A deposit on the start date plus two or three monthly payments gets the fee in before the rebate period ends.
• Make the rebate depend on every instalment due so far being paid, and take any rebate off the instalments still to come.
• A direct debit mandate signed with the plan collects each instalment on its date, so nobody chases each one.
• Adfin turns an invoice into an instalment plan, collects by direct debit or payment link and reconciles each payment.

When it makes sense to split a placement fee

Your perm fee lands as one large invoice, and for some of your clients that's a bigger number than their monthly budget can absorb. A startup making its first senior hire, a small business filling several roles in the same quarter, or a client paying for a hard-to-fill specialist may all ask to spread it.

Saying yes can win the placement and keep the relationship. It can also turn one late invoice into three or four, each needing its own follow-up. Which of those you get depends largely on how the plan is set up before the first payment is due.

Plans work best when the client asks up front, the fee itself isn't in dispute and you've worked with them before or have no reason to doubt they can pay. They help less when a client is already late on a previous fee and wants a plan to buy time. In that case you're agreeing a payment arrangement on a debt, which is a different conversation.

How to structure the plan

You'll usually want it short and front-loaded. A deposit on the start date, followed by two or three monthly instalments, means most of the fee arrives while the candidate is settling in and your team still remembers the placement.

Here's how a £12,000 fee might look, raised as one invoice on the start date:

With a 12-week rebate period, the whole fee is in before the guarantee runs out. Stretch the same fee over six months and you're still collecting long after any rebate question has been settled, which leaves more room for the relationship to cool.

Agree these points in writing, ideally in an addendum to your terms of business that the client signs:

• the total fee, which stays the same whatever the schedule
• the deposit, the number of instalments, each amount and each date
• how each payment is collected, and that the client signs a direct debit mandate at the same time
• what happens if an instalment is missed, for example that the whole balance becomes due
• how the rebate works while the plan is running

If you charge for the extra time, say so at the start. Many agencies don't, and treat the plan as a way to win the placement.

If the candidate leaves before the plan ends

It's easy to leave this out of a plan, and it's the question most likely to cause a dispute later. Published agency terms commonly tie the rebate to the client having paid on time. With instalments, "on time" needs a definition, so write down that the rebate only applies if every instalment due by the leaving date has been paid.

Then say how you'll settle a rebate while money is still owed. The simplest approach is to work out the rebate on the full fee and take it off the instalments that haven't been collected yet, so no money goes back and forth. If the candidate in the example leaves in week 6 and your scale gives a 50% rebate at that point, £6,000 is due to the client. By then the deposit and first monthly instalment are in, so £8,000 has been collected and £4,000 is still to come. You'd cancel the last £4,000 and refund £2,000, or replace the candidate if your terms offer that instead.

Without that clause, a client can stop paying the moment a candidate hands in notice and argue about the rest later. With it, both sides can work out the answer from the signed terms.

How to collect each instalment without chasing it

The admin cost of a plan comes from the collecting. Three bank transfers mean three dates for the client's accounts team to remember and three payments for you to match. A direct debit mandate signed with the addendum turns that into collections on the dates you agreed, for the amounts you agreed, with the client told before each one.

In Adfin, you can turn an invoice into an instalment plan, set a larger first payment as the deposit and pick monthly, weekly or custom dates. The client is sent the schedule, each instalment can be collected by direct debit, and each payment is reconciled to the invoice automatically. Clients who won't sign a mandate can pay each instalment through a payment link instead, and Adfin's collection agents follow up any instalment that's late, within rules you approve.

If a direct debit fails, it's retried free, and you can choose to try a saved card or send the client a payment link. A cancelled mandate is different: it usually means the plan has stopped, and that's a call to make yourself.

Related guides

• What can I do when a client won't pay a placement fee?
• What payment terms should a recruitment agency use?
• Can recruitment agencies take direct debit from clients?
• Instalment plans for invoices: how they work and who uses them
• Credit control: a complete guide

Common questions

Should I agree to a client paying a placement fee in instalments? It can make sense for a large fee, several hires at once or a client with a tight budget, as long as the plan is short, starts with a deposit and is agreed in writing before the candidate starts.

How many instalments should a placement fee be split into? Many agencies keep it to a deposit and two or three monthly payments, so the fee is paid before the rebate period ends.

What happens to the rebate if the client is paying in instalments? Whatever your terms say. A common approach is to make the rebate depend on every instalment due so far being paid, then take any rebate off the instalments not yet collected.

Can I collect placement fee instalments by direct debit? Yes. A business client can sign a mandate, and each instalment is then collected on its date after the client has been told the amount and date in advance.

What if the client misses an instalment? Follow the terms you agreed, such as the whole balance becoming due. A failed direct debit can be retried, and if the client cancels the mandate you'll need to agree another way to pay.

Can I charge interest on a placement fee paid in instalments? You can agree a charge for the extra time with a business client at the start. If an agreed instalment is paid late, statutory late payment interest may also apply to business invoices.

Sources

• GOV.UK - Late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery
• Bacs - Direct Debit (accurate as of November 2026) https://www.bacs.co.uk/bacs-schemes/direct-debit/
• Adfin Help Centre - Create and manage instalment plans (accurate as of November 2026) https://support.adfin.com/en/articles/15379042-create-and-manage-instalment-plans
• Adfin Help Centre - Every way to raise a payment in Adfin (accurate as of November 2026) https://support.adfin.com/en/articles/15307763-every-way-to-raise-a-payment-in-adfin