+ CLOSING A PROJECT 281 Managing Invoices and Project Payments The purpose of doing a project for other businesses and cus- tomers is to earn a profit. Hopefully, all of your clients are won- derful; they can't wait to shove checks for your completed project into your hands and then schedule you for more lucrative proj- ects. Hopefully, your clients follow the rules of the contract; pay on time; and never have a problem getting checks cut, signed, and in the mail. For many businesses, however, getting paid for a com- pleted project can turn into a project. Sometimes it seems that the hardest part of managing projects in a small business is get- ting paid. It shouldn't be that way; you should do the project work and deliver as promised, and then the customer should