By QuoteIron TeamUpdated 6 min read
Key takeaways
- Payment terms are the date the money is owed. Without one on the invoice, the customer sets their own.
- Due on receipt is the norm for a homeowner service call. Net 30 means 30 calendar days from the invoice date unless you spell out otherwise.
- Expect Net 30 from general contractors and property managers (some run Net 45 or Net 60); price the wait into the job. For a new commercial customer, a deposit plus Net 15 is a fair opening.
- Print two lines every time: the term and a calendar date, for example “Terms: Net 30 · Due: October 11, 2026.”
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What "payment terms" actually are
Payment terms are one thing: the date the money is owed. The terms line describes the deadline. If your invoice doesn't carry one, you haven't set a deadline, and the customer will set their own.
The terms line also sets the clock for everything after: when a follow-up stops being polite, when a late fee applies if your contract has one, and which month the job lands in on your own books.
Due on receipt: the default for service work
Due on receipt means the invoice is payable the moment the customer gets it. You fixed the disposal, you're standing in their kitchen, and both sides expect payment before you drive away.
Use due on receipt when the customer is a homeowner, the job is one visit, and the amount is something a person can put on a card. Most plumbing, appliance-repair and handyman work lives here. The practical version: hand over the invoice with a way to pay attached to it — a payment link, a QR code, your Zelle or Venmo handle — so "pay now" doesn't mean "go find a chequebook."
Net 30, Net 15, Net 7: what the number counts
Net 30 means the full balance is due 30 days from the invoice date, with no discount for paying early. Net 15 and Net 7 are the same idea on a shorter fuse. The number counts calendar days, not business days, unless you spell out otherwise.
One thing worth nailing down in writing: 30 days from what. Most contractors count from the invoice date. Some commercial customers count from the date they receive it, or from the end of the month the invoice lands in — that last one can stretch a Net 30 to nearly 60 days without anyone breaking a rule. If you're invoicing a general contractor, a property manager or a builder, ask which clock they run and put the answer on the invoice.
You'll also see 2/10 Net 30 in commercial work: 2% off if paid within 10 days, otherwise the full amount at 30. It buys faster cash for 2%.
Which one fits your work
- Homeowner, one visit, small ticket — due on receipt, collected before you leave.
- Homeowner, bigger job — a deposit up front, progress payments at agreed points, balance due on completion.
- General contractor or property manager — expect Net 30. Many won't accept anything shorter, and some run Net 45 or Net 60 as standard. Price that wait into the job.
- New commercial customer you don't know yet — a deposit plus Net 15 is a fair opening position.
- Anyone who's already paid you late once — shorten the terms, or ask for more up front. That's not rude, it's arithmetic.
What to actually print on the invoice
Two lines, every time. A terms line that names the term ("Net 30"), and a due date line with an actual calendar date on it. Never make the customer do the arithmetic — "Net 30" on its own is an invitation to count wrong in their favour. Print both: Terms: Net 30 · Due: October 11, 2026.
Deposits, progress payments and the running balance
On anything longer than a day, the question isn't just "when is it due" — it's "how many payments is this." A deposit covers your materials so you're not financing the customer's job. Progress payments keep you whole partway through. The final invoice should show what's already been paid and what's left.
QuoteIron records each payment against the job, prints paid to date and balance due, and lets you send a receipt for each one — see receipt vs invoice for what belongs on which document. If the scope grows partway through, that's a change order, not a surprise on the final bill.
Late fees, and the part we won't advise you on
A late fee is only enforceable if the customer agreed to it before the work started, which means it belongs in the estimate or contract they signed, not invented on the invoice afterwards. How much you can charge, how it has to be disclosed, and what happens if it's disputed are governed by state law and vary a lot. Check your state, and talk to someone licensed before you rely on any of it.
When Net 30 quietly becomes Net 60
It rarely announces itself. Day 31 arrives, nobody calls, and the invoice sits. The fix is a schedule you run: a short, friendly nudge a few days before the due date, another the day after, and a real phone call at day 45. Most late payments in the trades aren't refusals — they're an invoice that got buried in somebody's inbox.
QuoteIron puts every invoice that's past its due date on an OVERDUE list with a one-tap SEND REMINDER — it opens the message and you hit send — and backs it up with its own automatic email reminder, free on every plan, with Pro repeating it weekly and adding text nudges, so the follow-up doesn't depend on you remembering at 9pm. More in the FAQ; for tools compared on what's included, see the QuoteIron vs Joist and Jobber alternative pages.
Terms are a business decision, not a technical one. Software's only job is making sure the date you chose is the date printed on the paper the customer holds — and that you hear about it the moment it passes.
