Getting paid

Payment terms on an invoice: Net 30, due on receipt and the rest

What Net 7, Net 30 and due on receipt mean, why a clear due date beats terms alone, and how to choose terms, deposits and late fees.

2 Oct 2026 · 7 min read

Pick the terms and the due date follows from the invoice date. The date is what your customer reads, so it is never in doubt.

Payment terms are the line on an invoice that says when you expect to be paid. They look like a small detail, but they decide how long your money sits with someone else. A designer in Berlin on 60-day terms and a plumber in Sydney paid on the spot can do the same amount of work and have very different months. Here is what the common terms mean, and how to pick yours.

The common terms, in plain words

Due on receipt: pay as soon as you get the invoice. In practice, customers read it as “within a few days”.
Net 7, Net 15, Net 30, Net 60: pay the full amount within that many days of the invoice date. “Net” just means the full, final amount.
End of month (EOM): pay by the end of the month the invoice is dated in. “Net 30 EOM” means 30 days after the end of that month, which can be close to 60 days.
2/10 Net 30: take 2% off if you pay within 10 days, otherwise pay the full amount within 30. More on discounts below.
Payment in advance: pay before the work starts or the goods ship. Common for retainers and first orders.

Write the date, not only the terms

“Net 30” makes your customer do the sums, and people count from different days: the invoice date, the day they opened it, the day their accounts team logged it. A due date leaves no room for that. Put both on the invoice: “Due 1 November 2026 (30 days)”. If a reminder is ever needed, you can point to a date both of you can see.

Same terms, clearer invoice: the date is something the customer can put in their diary.

Which terms to pick

Shorter terms get you paid sooner, but only if the customer agrees to them. Agree the terms before you start the work, in your quote or your contract, and then repeat them on the invoice. Terms that first appear on the invoice are easy to ignore. As a starting point:

Type of work	Terms	Why
Shop sales, repairs, one-off jobs for people	On receipt	The customer is there, the work is done, and there is no accounts team to wait for.
Freelance and agency work for small clients	7 or 15 days	Short enough that it stays on their mind, long enough to be fair.
Work for larger companies	30 days	It matches how most accounts teams pay. Ask for their payment run dates.
Big projects over several weeks	A deposit, then stages	You are never owed months of work at once.
Monthly retainers and subscriptions	In advance, on the 1st	You bill for the month ahead, not the month gone.

Large companies often have fixed terms of their own and pay on set days of the month. Ask early which days those are. Sending the invoice a few days before their payment run can save you a whole month.

Deposits and stage payments for big jobs

For anything that takes weeks, ask for part of the price up front. A deposit of 30 to 50% is common for projects, events and custom orders. It covers your costs, and it shows the customer is serious. Then bill in stages tied to clear milestones: “40% to start, 30% on first draft, 30% on handover”. Each stage is its own invoice with its own due date, so nothing builds up. If you want the customer to agree the whole plan first, send a quotation or proforma invoice before the first bill.

Early-payment discounts

A small discount for paying early, like 2% within 10 days, works best with businesses that have cash to spare and pay attention to cost. It is not free: 2% for being paid 20 days sooner is an expensive way to borrow. Use it when cash matters more to you than margin, and say clearly that the discount ends on a set date. If a customer takes the discount after that date, the rest is still owed.

Late fees and interest

You can usually add a late fee or interest only if the customer agreed to it, so put it in your quote or contract, not only on the invoice. Many countries also give businesses a right to interest on late payments from other businesses, whether or not it was agreed. A few examples, in short:

United Kingdom: the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act lets a business claim interest of 8% above the Bank of England base rate on late business-to-business invoices, plus a fixed sum per invoice.
European Union: under the Late Payment Directive, business-to-business terms are normally capped at 60 days unless agreed otherwise and fair, and late payers owe interest plus at least €40 in costs.
India: under the MSMED Act, a buyer must pay a registered micro or small enterprise within the agreed time, and never more than 45 days after accepting the goods or service. After that, interest at three times the bank rate applies.

The details, rates and who qualifies differ by country and change over time, and the rules for selling to consumers are stricter. Check with your accountant or a lawyer before you charge a fee. In practice, a clear due date and a polite, timely reminder recover more money than a late fee does. Our payment reminder messages are ready to copy.

The due date drives everything after it: the invoice is Due until that day, Overdue after it, and Part paid or Paid as money comes in.

In Openn InvoiceSet your usual payment terms once, in days, in Settings. Each new invoice uses them, and you can change the due date on any invoice with one tap: On receipt, 7, 15, 30 or 45 days, or any date you pick. The due date is printed on the invoice. The status follows it, from Due to Overdue, and your reminder days count from it. Part payments are recorded as they come in, and the invoice shows Part paid with the amount still due.

The short version

“Net 30” means the full amount within 30 days of the invoice date. “Due on receipt” means now.
Always print the due date, not only the terms.
Agree terms before the work starts, then repeat them on the invoice.
Use short terms for people and small clients, 30 days for larger companies, deposits and stages for big jobs.
Early-payment discounts cost more than they look. Use them on purpose.
Late fees need to be agreed, or allowed by law where you are. Check the rules for your country.