Miami · South Florida · all 50 states Business process automation & AI consulting in Miami.

Florida, between the job and the cash

The Florida rules and dates that run while an invoice waits.

Some of the dates between finished work and collected cash in Florida are set by statute or by the state, not by the customer. They are quoted here, with the source, as of October 18, 2026; they are not interpreted, and none of this is legal or tax advice. What we do with each one is operational: give the date an owner and a reminder before it passes.

1. 01

   Notice to Owner: 45 days from the start

   A lienor not in privity with the owner (a subcontractor or supplier, for example) must serve the Notice to Owner before starting, or no later than 45 days after starting, to furnish labor, services or materials, and in any event before the owner’s final payment after the contractor’s final affidavit. Failing to serve it, or to serve it on time, is a complete defense to enforcing the lien. (Fla. Stat. § 713.06(2)(a))

   What we do with it: The 45-day date is computed from the job’s start date in the job record, with a named person and a reminder, instead of living in somebody’s head.

2. 02

   Claim of lien: 90 days from final furnishing

   A claim of lien may be recorded no later than 90 days after the final furnishing of labor, services or materials. It must be served on the owner; a claim not served before recording or within 15 days after is voidable to the extent the delay prejudiced someone entitled to rely on it. (Fla. Stat. § 713.08(4)(c) and (5))

   What we do with it: The clock starts when the work ends, not when the invoice goes out. An invoice that waits on paperwork spends the window before the customer has been asked to pay.

   HVAC install closeout before the invoice →

3. 03

   A recorded lien lasts one year, or 60 days after a contest

   A lien does not continue for longer than one year after the claim is recorded unless an action to enforce it is started within that time. An owner can shorten that to 60 days by recording a Notice of Contest of Lien. (Fla. Stat. § 713.22(1) and (2))

   What we do with it: Each recorded lien gets its own end date and an owner, so a decision is made before the date passes rather than after.

4. 04

   Private construction: interest after 14 days

   Florida’s Construction Contract Prompt Payment Law covers written contracts to improve real property for which a lien is authorized under Part I of Chapter 713. A payment due under it bears interest at the s. 55.03 rate plus 12 percent a year, starting on the 14th day after it is due. A party who receives an incomplete or wrong request for payment has 14 days to return it with the reasons in writing. (Fla. Stat. § 715.12)

   What we do with it: A pay request that goes out complete the first time, with the affidavits and waivers attached, so the clock is never restarted by a missing page.

5. 05

   Payment received passes down in 30 days

   A person paid for improving real property must pay the undisputed amounts for labor, services or materials under the contract terms. Failing to pay within 30 days after payment came due or was received, whichever is later, opens a court procedure and remedies for the unpaid party. (Fla. Stat. § 713.346)

   What we do with it: A weekly list of pay apps submitted, approved and paid, so the 30 days are counted from a recorded date.

   A missed pay-app cutoff and what it costs →

6. 06

   Local government work: 20 or 25 business days

   A local government entity must pay for construction services 20 business days after the invoice is stamped received, or 25 business days when an agent must approve it first, and must reject a deficient invoice in writing within 20 business days. A contractor paid by the entity must pay its subcontractors and suppliers within 10 days; a subcontractor, its own within 7 days. (Fla. Stat. § 218.735, Local Government Prompt Payment Act)

   What we do with it: The stamped-received date captured for every public invoice, because every one of these clocks starts there.

7. 07

   Billing a homeowner: not between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m.

   In collecting a consumer debt (money owed for personal, family or household purposes), a person may not communicate with the debtor between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. in the debtor’s time zone without the debtor’s prior consent. The rule does not apply to an e-mail sent to an e-mail address that otherwise complies with the section. (Fla. Stat. §§ 559.55 and 559.72(17))

   What we do with it: Automated payment reminders by text or call are scheduled inside that window, by the customer’s time zone, not the server’s.

8. 08

   Automated texts are sales calls too

   Florida’s telephone solicitation law counts a text message and a voicemail as a telephonic sales call. An unsolicited sales call made with an automated dialing system or a recorded message needs the called party’s prior express written consent. A call made in response to the person’s express request is not unsolicited. (Fla. Stat. § 501.059(1) and (8)(a))

   What we do with it: An automatic text back to someone who just called or wrote in is answering a request. A sequence sent to a purchased list is a different decision, and it is not one an automation makes on its own.

9. 09

   Sales tax on some services

   Florida charges its 6 percent sales tax on nonresidential cleaning (excluding the interiors of transportation equipment), nonresidential building pest control, and detective, burglar protection and other protection services, plus any county discretionary surtax. (Fla. Stat. § 212.05(1)(i))

   What we do with it: The tax set up correctly on the invoice template by type of customer, so a commercial cleaning contract is not billed like a home.

10. 10

    The tax on commercial rent ended October 1, 2025

    No state sales tax or surtax applies to rent for commercial space, warehouses or self-storage for rental periods beginning on or after October 1, 2025. The Department of Revenue’s own example includes a salon renting floor space to independent stylists. Rent for periods through September 2025 stays taxable even when it is paid later. (Florida Department of Revenue, TIP No. 25A01-04)

    What we do with it: For a salon or spa renting chairs or suites, the rent invoices checked against the change, old periods kept apart from new ones.

11. 11

    Hurricane season: June 1 to November 30

    The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. Its climatological peak is September 10, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October. (NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Climatology)

    What we do with it: A storm week stops crews and offices; it does not stop the dates above. A one-page list made before the season (open invoices, notices due in the next 30 days, jobs to reschedule, and who calls whom) keeps the week after from becoming a month of catching up.

Statutes change. Every line above links to its source at the foot of this page; read the current text, and ask a Florida attorney or CPA about a specific job.

What we do

Operations first. Automation second. AI where it fits.

1. 01 The operations audit

   two weeks, read-only access to your own records. We map how work moves from first inquiry to collected cash, price where it leaks, and hand over a ranked plan. Nine documents, yours whatever you decide next.

   The Revenue Review, $4,500 fixed →

2. 02 Business process automation

   Map, fix, automate, measure. Confirmations, reminders, follow-up on open quotes and invoices, details typed once instead of three times — built inside the tools you already use wherever possible.

   How we decide what to automate →

3. 03 AI implementation

   Drafting, triage, after-hours answering and booking, document intake and summaries, for a process that already works. A named person reviews what it produces; it never decides prices, refunds or promises.

   AI, process first →