When you expect to be paid.
THE OPTIONS
Payment on receipt Seven days Fourteen days Thirty days
WHAT TO CHOOSE
The shortest your customers will accept.
Longer terms mean you finance your customers.
FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
Payment on receipt or seven days is reasonable for most work.
Thirty days is a convention from large companies, not a rule.
FOR NEW CUSTOMERS
Consider payment in advance, or a deposit.
A customer unwilling to pay a deposit may be unwilling to pay at all.
FOR LARGER WORK
Staged payments: a deposit, a milestone payment, a final payment.
That limits your exposure.
WHAT TO STATE
The terms, on every invoice and in your agreement beforehand.
Terms first mentioned on the invoice are frequently disputed.
LATE PAYMENT CHARGES
You may state them. Whether you enforce them is a commercial decision.
Having the right and choosing not to use it is a useful position.
WHAT TO AGREE BEFORE STARTING WORK
Price, terms and what happens if payment is late.
