Our biggest client didn't cancel, but they didn't renew either. We're stuck in billing limbo.

We have a client that accounts for 20% of our total MRR. They pay us $1,500/month on an annual contract, and their renewal date was 45 days ago.

Because we have a "manual renewal" process for enterprise clients (where we send a new invoice instead of auto-charging), I reached out two weeks before the deadline. No response. I followed up a week later. Still nothing.

It's now been 45 days. They are still using the product every day. Their team is logging in, generating reports, and running their workflow. But they haven't signed the new contract, and they haven't paid the invoice.

I finally got ahold of our main contact there, and he gave me the classic corporate runaround: "Oh man, I'm so sorry. Legal has the contract, but our VP of Finance is traveling. As soon as he's back, we'll get the PO approved and push it through."

So now we're in billing limbo. We don't want to shut off their access and risk angering them (and losing the $18k/year), but we also can't afford to let them use our platform for free indefinitely. We are essentially providing a free enterprise plan while our cash flow takes the hit.

I realized our contract lacked a "suspension of service" clause for late renewals. We were so eager to close the deal last year that we didn't negotiate the terms of what happens if they just... don't pay on time.

For founders who sell annual contracts: How do you handle the "Ghost Renewal" without destroying the relationship?

Do you automatically suspend access on day 31? Do you keep providing service and just hound them every week? How do you enforce deadlines with enterprise clients who know they hold all the leverage?