Contractors Who Don't Know / Want To Create Proper Invoices

[Samantha Hopkins]

Hi Everyone,

Many of my contractors and subs seem inconvenienced when I request an an invoice  from them before I can remit their payment . 

I am wondering if I can create an invoice where all they would have to do is sign ? 

1) Is that a good practice ? 

2) Is there a better way to deal with contractors that lack proper invoicing skills ? 

3) How do you handle these situations ?

Thank you so much !

[J Scott]

As Aaron said above, this is a lot to expect from many contractors...unfortunately...

But, having a detailed scope of work (SOW) and payment schedule in the original contract is more important than having detailed invoices along the way.  If you agree to pay when X/Y/Z is completed, you're not going to write a check until X/Y/Z is completed -- having an invoice indicating that X/Y/Z has been completed isn't necessary (other than perhaps for your own record keeping, which you can do without contractor invoices).