LIVE · UK B2B · BUILT IN LONDON · MAY 2026—
Cervid™
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Volume 01— Contract-first invoicing
Issue №CVD/2026/001

Get paid
before you
lift a finger.

Cervid is a contract‑first invoicing platform for UK SMEs. The agreement is signed, the date is set, and the funds clear — before a debtor has the chance to disappear.

Replaces chasing. Replaces invoices‑then‑hope. Replaces forwarding files to a debt collector at month three.

Create your first contract →See the flow
Service contract · cvd-2026-0418 · eIDAS AdES
Brand identity & website refresh for Hattersley & Co.
Supplier
Foxglove Studio Ltd · 13 244 902
Client
Hattersley & Co Ltd · 09 188 731
Amount
£14,400.00 incl. VAT
Payment date
Friday, 12 June 2026 — 23:59 BST
Supplier signature
Iris Foxglove
Signed · 14 May 2026 · 81.139.6.4
Client signature
M. Hattersley
Signed · 14 May 2026 · 90.214.18.220
Time to payment—
§00 · A note from us

Late payment isn’t a workflow problem. It’s a contract problem. Cervid is built on a single, blunt idea: force the contract to exist before the work starts.Everything else — the reminders, the AI agent, the solicitor handoff — only matters because the paperwork already does.

§01 · How it works

One signed contract.
Seven moves to settlement.

01

SME drafts a job.

Day 0 · Studio side · 90 seconds

Counterparty, scope, fee, payment date. Stripe Connect onboarding is one tap — KYC and AML stay with Stripe, not with you, not with us.

02

Debtor receives a magic link.

Email + SMS · Companies House verified

The client lands on a Cervid contract page, identity‑matched against Companies House. No app to install. No login to invent.

03

They e‑sign under eIDAS AdES.

Advanced Electronic Signature · audit trail

Cryptographically bound to the signatory, tamper‑evident, IP & OTP logged. Section 7 Electronic Communications Act 2000, Article 26 eIDAS.

04

The countdown begins.

T‑7 email · T‑3 SMS · T‑1 email · Day 0 “PAY NOW”

Now you start the work. The platform takes care of the cadence so you don’t have to soften an awkward Tuesday email.

05

Debtor pays on the date.

Stripe rails · settle to SME · platform fee retained

Funds clear through Stripe Connect direct to your account. Cervid retains its 25% platform fee on the same transaction. No tickets, no portal.

06

If they don’t — the agent picks up.

Day +1 email · +3 SMS · +5 voice · +30 hand-off

A polite, persistent escalator: Resend email, Twilio SMS, ElevenLabs voice. Statutory interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act 1998 accrues automatically.

07

Solicitor handoff — done.

Day +30 · Evidence packet · Panel firm

A single signed PDF, audit trail, comms log, Companies House identity and interest schedule lands with a panel solicitor. Cervid steps out. You step on.

§02 · The pivot

Stop chasing.
Start signing.

Before · Reactive

Chase the invoice after the wound.

  • The work is done. The invoice is sent. The silence begins.
  • Letters of Authority, AML packs, FCA‑shaped paperwork.
  • Compliance‑heavy. Adversarial. Charged before recovery.
  • The contract, if it exists, is a Google Doc no court will love.
Now · Preventative

Force the contract to exist first.

  • One platform for the agreement, the cadence, and the cash.
  • Lighter compliance load— Stripe is merchant‑of‑record.
  • Cooperative— the debtor signs before the work starts.
  • Charged only on collection. No payment, no fee.
§03 · In the field

Where everyone else stops short.

The toolWhat it actually doesWhere it leaves you
Xero · QuickBooksIssues the invoice. Files the VAT. Tracks the ledger.Enforcement is your problem.
Debt collection agenciesPursue the debt after it’s already gone bad.Reactive. Fees against money you may never see.
Escrow.com · TrustapHold marketplace funds against a transactional event.Not built for ongoing B2B services.
DocuSign · Adobe SignCapture an e‑signature on whatever you upload.Then politely walk away.
CervidContract, signature, cadence, payment, hand‑off — one rail.Charged only when you actually get paid.
§04 · Trust & law

Built on rails
a solicitor already trusts.

Signature

eIDAS Advanced Electronic Signature

Article 26: uniquely linked, identity‑bound, sole‑control, tamper‑evident. Admissible under s.7 Electronic Communications Act 2000.

Article 26 · eIDAS
Payment rails

Stripe Connect Express

FCA‑authorised PI (FRN 920776) is the merchant of record. Funds never sit in a Cervid‑controlled balance. PSR 2017 by the book.

FRN 920776 · PSR 2017
Statutory interest

Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act 1998

Interest at base + 8% accrues from Day +1 automatically. A £40–£100 fixed sum is recorded against every overdue invoice on the file.

§ 1998 c.20
Hand-off

Panel solicitor evidence packet

Signed PDF, certificate, audit trail, comms log, Companies House identity, interest schedule. Delivered Day +30. Cervid’s role ends.

Limitation Act 1980 · 6yr
§05 · Pricing

One number.
Charged on collection.

Platform fee · per settled invoice
0%
Of the invoice value, retained by Cervid as a Stripe application_fee_amount. The remaining 75% lands with you. If the debtor never pays, neither do you.
SubscriptionNone
Onboarding feeNone
Per‑contract draft feeNone
Failure‑to‑collect fee£0
Statutory interest recovered→ Yours, in full
Solicitor referralIndependent · 3rd party
Volume tier (£250k+/yr)20% · on application
§06 · Questions

Reasonable
questions, plainly answered.

Is this actually escrow? +
No — and we don’t call it that. Under English law, escrow has a precise meaning that depends on a release condition independent of the parties. Cervid is contract‑backed payment: the debtor pays on the agreed date straight through Stripe Connect to your account, and we retain a platform fee. A future tier on Modulr will offer true safeguarded segregated accounts.
What happens on day 30 if they still haven’t paid? +
Cervid compiles an evidence packet — the signed contract PDF and AdES certificate, the full audit trail, every email and SMS sent, the Companies House identity match, and a statutory interest schedule — and forwards it to a panel solicitor under a written referral agreement. From there the matter belongs to you and them. Cervid steps out.
Why 25%? Isn’t that high? +
Because Cervid is charged onlyon money that actually arrives, and we carry the cost of the AI agent loop, voice, SMS, and solicitor referral on every job. Versus a 30–50% debt‑collector cut on a recovered debt, plus the months you wait, it lands in your favour. Volume tiers drop to 20%.
Do you hold my client’s money? +
No. Under our v1 architecture, Stripe Payments UK Ltd is the merchant‑of‑record and the regulated party. Funds settle directly to your Stripe Connect account on the payment date. Cervid never sits on client money — that is by design, and it’s how we avoid needing our own FCA payment‑institution authorisation in v1.
What kind of business is this built for? +
UK SMEs selling B2B services on fixed scopes: studios, consultancies, tradespeople, freelancers operating through a Ltd, agencies. If a job has a counterparty Ltd, a price, and a date, Cervid fits.
Can a debtor still refuse to sign? +
Yes, and that’s the point. A debtor who won’t sign a one‑page eIDAS contract on the price and date they’ve already verbally agreed is a debtor you do not want. The lockout is commercial, not technical: no signature, no work, no Cervid backing if it goes sideways.

Signed.
Sealed.
Paid.

A single contract, the rails to enforce it, and an automated cadence that does the awkward bit for you. Open early access — UK Ltd only.

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