Managing agents pay contractors from each building's service charge account, not from their own money, so an invoice often needs the right budget, the right approval and enough money in that block's account before it can go on a payment run. Invoices that arrive without a purchase order, a block name or a named contact tend to wait longest. Agreeing those details before the work, and chasing the accounts team on a steady schedule, usually gets you paid sooner.
In this article
The short version
- Managing agents pay contractors from each building's service charge trust account, not their own money.
- Invoices often need approval from the landlord or management company before a payment run.
- Missing purchase orders, wrong block names and missing certificates are common reasons invoices stall.
- Agree the PO, terms, contracting party and an accounts contact before you start the job.
- Unique bank details per block help payments match the right invoices.
Where the money to pay you comes from
If you service fire alarms, door entry or lifts in residential blocks, the agent who books you is spending the leaseholders' money. Service charges are held on trust for the building in a separate bank account, and the agent can only pay you from that block's account, for costs the service charge covers.
Many residential agents work to the RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code. In practice, agents avoid spending money a block's account doesn't hold. Service charges are often collected in advance, twice a year, so a block can run short towards the end of a period, and an unplanned repair may wait until the next demand is paid in.
Bigger jobs add another step. Larger works, and some longer maintenance contracts, can need leaseholders to be consulted before they go ahead, which adds time before the work starts and before it's paid for.
What holds an invoice up
Delays often come from the approval chain. A property manager who looks after a dozen or more blocks checks the invoice against the job, larger or unplanned costs may need sign-off from the freeholder or the residents' management company, and only then does the accounts team add it to a payment run, which might be weekly or fortnightly.
An invoice can fall out of that chain at any point. The usual reasons are a missing purchase order, the wrong block or client name, a total that doesn't match the quote, or no job sheet or certificate attached. You may not be told it's stuck, so it can sit in a queue until you ask.
How to get paid sooner by managing agents
Before you start a job, it helps to agree everything the agent's accounts team will ask for later.
- Get a purchase order before the work, and for reactive call-outs agree in your framework agreement how an emergency job is authorised and how the order number follows.
- Put your payment terms in the signed agreement. Without agreed terms, a business invoice is late 30 days after the customer receives it.
- Make sure every order says who you're contracting with, usually the landlord or management company, acting through the agent.
- Ask for a named contact in the agent's accounts team, and their payment run days.
- Invoice the day the job's done, with the block name and address, the order number and the job sheet or service certificate attached.
- Check a week before the due date that the invoice is approved, so there's time to fix anything before the payment run.
- Chase on the same schedule every time once it's overdue, starting with the accounts contact before the property manager.
On late business invoices you can also claim statutory interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate, plus fixed compensation. Whether you claim it is a commercial call, and it's worth saying in your terms that you may.
How to make payments easier to match and chase
Agents usually pay from a different bank account for each block, often with a reference that means something to them and nothing to you, so it can take a while to work out which invoices a payment covers. Adfin can give each customer their own bank details in your business's name. If you set each block up as a customer, every payment into those details is matched to that block's invoices, including part payments, and your Xero or QuickBooks updates automatically.
Adfin's AI Customer Agents can chase overdue invoices on the schedule you set, by email, SMS or WhatsApp, with a link to pay attached, and can add statutory interest to overdue business invoices within rules you approve. They won't speed up the agent's approval process, but an overdue invoice doesn't depend on someone remembering to chase it.
Common questions
Why can't a managing agent pay me from their own account? Service charge money is held on trust for the building's costs, in a separate account. Agents pay contractors from that block's funds.
Why does the agent need someone else's approval to pay me? Agents act within the authority the landlord or management company gives them. Larger or unplanned costs often need that client's sign-off first.
Why do bigger jobs take longer to approve? Larger works and some longer contracts can need leaseholders to be consulted first. That can delay when the job starts and when it's paid for.
How long should a managing agent take to pay? As long as your signed agreement says. With no agreed terms, a business invoice is late 30 days after it's received.
Can I charge interest on a late invoice to a managing agent's client? Statutory interest applies to late business-to-business invoices, so check who your contract is with, since that's who owes it. Put the contracting party on every order to avoid doubt.
What should an invoice to a managing agent include? The block name and address, the client name, the purchase order number, a description matching the quote, and the job sheet or certificate.
Sources
- legislation.gov.uk - Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1987/31/section/42
- LEASE - Responding to section 20 consultation (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.lease-advice.org/costs-and-charges/section-20-consultation/responding-to-section-20-consultation/
- RICS - Service Charge Residential Management Code (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.rics.org/uk/upholding-professional-standards/sector-standards/real-estate/service-charge-residential-management-code/
- GOV.UK - Late commercial payments: charging interest on commercial debt (accurate as of October 2026) https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery/charging-interest-commercial-debt
