My client invoice template was 6 years old and I never noticed until a vendor pointed it out

Ngl, I used the same invoice format since 2018. Not because it was good, just because it was there. Last month a vendor called me asking for a PO number because my invoice had some old tax ID on it from when I was a sole prop. I checked the file date and it was literally from my first year freelancing. 6 years of sending that thing out. What tipped me off was that single phone call from a guy at a print shop in Austin who said, "hey, your paperwork looks like it belongs in an archive." That stung, but he was right. I redid the whole thing in 2 hours and now I get paid faster because the payment terms are actually visible. Has anyone else run a business on a file you made before you knew what you were doing?

1 comments

1 Comment

ellis.jennifer16d ago

My buddy ran a landscaping business for years with a logo he drew in MS Paint on his laptop in 2009. The file name was literally "logo final FINAL v3." He only found out it looked bad when a customer asked if his company was called "Green Thumbz" because the z was cut off on his truck wrap. He re-did it with a proper designer and said his quote acceptance rate went up almost overnight. Sometimes you just get used to your own mess, you know?