Get paid on time as an agency subcontractor

A freelancer asked this on r/freelance after being offered overflow work by an agency that had turned down their full-time application: how should I ask them to pay me? Do I just send my bank details? That is a normal first question, and the answers are mostly practical. This guide collects them. If you are still looking for agencies to approach, start with subcontracting for agencies as a freelance developer and come back here before you say yes.

The problem is usually the due date, not the rate

Late payment from agencies tends to come from one pattern. The agency invoices its client on net 30 or net 60 terms, then pays you only after that money lands. You may not have agreed to that. You may not have been told.

So the first thing to settle is what clock your payment runs on. There are two options.

• Counted from your invoice. You invoice on delivery, payment is due in 15 or 30 days. The agency's cash flow is its own concern.
• Counted from the client paying the agency. Your payment depends on a third party you have never spoken to.

Take the first one if you can. If the agency insists on the second, you are lending them money for the length of their client's payment cycle. Price that in, or limit how much you do before you see cash.

Pay-when-paid and pay-if-paid

Contracts sometimes say the agency pays you "when the client pays us". The wording comes from construction. A 2025 survey by the law firm Kegler Brown describes two forms: pay-when-paid clauses, which set the timing of payment to the subcontractor, and pay-if-paid clauses, which can leave the subcontractor with nothing if the owner never pays the contractor. The survey says most state courts have held that a contractor cannot hold back payment forever under a pay-when-paid clause, and that most states enforce pay-if-paid only when the contract unambiguously says the subcontractor is paid only if the contractor is paid. It covers US states only.

That is construction law, summarized state by state. We did not find a source saying how courts treat the same wording in a freelance software contract, so do not assume the same rules apply to you. What you can do is read the contract and look for any sentence that makes your payment conditional on someone else's. If you find one, ask to delete it, or ask for a fixed date as a backstop: "the later of client payment or 45 days from invoice".

Terms to agree before you start

Short agreement, one page is fine. Put these in:

1. Amount and what it covers. Deliverables, revision rounds, what counts as extra.
2. Invoice trigger. At milestone, at delivery, or monthly for ongoing work.
3. Due date, counted from the invoice. For example 15 days for a first job.
4. Late fee or interest. A small monthly percentage works as a signal even if you never collect it.
5. Deposit. New agency, no history together, a fixed-price build: ask for part upfront. Many freelancers use a share of the total, but the number is your call. There is no rule.
6. Pause right. You may stop work if an invoice is more than a set number of days overdue.
7. Handover. Final code, production access or file transfer happens after payment, or the last invoice is small enough that the risk is acceptable.

If you work in New York State (US), read the state's Freelance Isn't Free Act. The Department of Labor says it added Article 44-A to the General Business Law on August 28, 2024, with contract requirements and a formal enforcement process. Its model contract quotes the definition of a freelance worker: an individual, or a one-person organization, hired as an independent contractor for $800 or more, either alone or added up with all contracts with the same hiring party in the previous 120 days. In the model, payment is due on an agreed date, no later than 30 calendar days after the work is completed, or in installments. This is a summary of the Department's pages, not legal advice, and whether the Act covers you depends on the facts. Other places have their own rules, or none. Check where you and the agency are based.

Milestones keep the exposure small

If you are not sure about the agency, break the job into pieces and invoice each one. A first job split into three milestones means the most you can be owed at any time is one milestone. It also gives you an easy way to learn how they pay. Does the first invoice arrive on time? Do they ask for odd changes to the invoice format? You find out before the big job.

A fair test of a new agency: take a small paid first job. Treat the second as the real one.

Checking the agency a little

You do not need a credit report. A few quiet checks help.

• Ask who else works with them. A freelancer who has worked with the agency can tell you if they pay on time.
• Look at how long they have existed and whether their own site and team page look maintained.
• Ask whether the client knows you are involved, and who decides on changes. Unclear authority means unpaid revision rounds.
• Notice how they talk about money. If they are vague about when they pay, that is an answer.

Invoice like it matters

• Send the invoice the same day you deliver. Waiting a week costs you a week.
• State the due date on the invoice, not only "net 30".
• Use the exact legal name of whoever signed the agreement.
• Keep a short record: what was delivered, when, who approved it.

If an invoice goes late

Go in order, politely at first.

1. Reminder the day after the due date. One line: invoice number, amount, original date.
2. A second note a week later, copying whoever approves payments if you know them.
3. Pause any open work, as your agreement allows.
4. A formal letter stating the amount, the contract, and a final date.
5. Small claims or a collections route, depending on where you are and how large the amount is.

Having the agreement and a record is what makes the later steps possible. It also keeps you calm.

What to avoid

• Starting work on a verbal "we'll sort payment later".
• Agreeing to "the client pays us first" without a backstop date.
• Handing over everything before the last invoice is paid, on a large build.
• Letting one agency become most of your income without a plan for when they slow down.

Where Thomas Partners fits

Thomas Partners finds client work for freelancers and runs the outreach; you keep most of the profit.

Apply to join