Payment Terms Explained.

Understanding Payment Terms.

If there is a period of time between when your customers receive your goods or services and when they pay for them, then several things are true:

• The Accounts Receivable on your balance sheet represents how much customers owe you
• You have an invoice process that you follow
• You have granted credit to customers
• You may have some that don't pay as quickly as you'd like them to

Each invoice you send should have payment terms listed.  A payment term is the period of time you expect the invoice to be paid by the customer.  Your payment terms should be set by you, not your customers!  Payment terms are always measured from the invoice date and define when the payment should be received.  Here are some common payment terms in accounting terminology, and then in layman English.

Net 30

Payment is due 30 days from the invoice date.

2/10 Net 30

Payment is due 30 days from the invoice date.  If you pay the invoice in 10 days, you can take a 2% discount off the total amount of the invoice as an early pay discount incentive.

Due Upon Receipt

Payment is due immediately.

If you use Net 30 or Due Upon Receipt, then you may want to change your terms to get paid faster.  When people see Due Upon Receipt, sometimes they translate it into "I can take my time."  A more specific term spelled out such as Net 7 or Net 10 will actually get you your money faster than Due Upon Receipt.

The wording would be something like this:

You will also need to make sure your accounting system can automatically compute these fees. If you have questions about payment terms, your invoicing process, or your accounts receivable, please contact us.  We can help with processes to help improve, transform, and grow your business. We hope you find all of this useful and, as always, please keep your feedback and suggestions coming.