Net 30 and other payment terms on an invoice

What net 30 means, with the dates worked out

Net 30 is a payment term: a short code on the invoice that tells your client how long they have to pay. "Net" means the full amount of the invoice, with nothing deducted, and "30" is the number of calendar days the client has, counted from the invoice date. So an invoice dated Monday 2 November 2026 with net 30 is due on Wednesday 2 December 2026, and the weekends and public holidays in between count like any other day.

Net 30 is not the same as "one month", and that is where most mix-ups start. Because months have between 28 and 31 days, an invoice dated 30 January 2027 is due on 1 March 2027 rather than 28 February, while one dated 15 October 2026 is due on 14 November, because October has 31 days. If you count the days on a calendar instead of adding a month, you and your client will arrive at the same date.

Since the 30 days start on the invoice date, that date decides when you get paid. If you finish a job on 2 November but only date the invoice 9 November, net 30 moves your money to 9 December, which means invoicing as soon as the work is delivered is the cheapest way to be paid sooner. Several of the laws further down also count their default period from the day the client receives the invoice, which is one more reason to write the due date itself on the invoice instead of leaving the client to count.

The other common payment terms

Every payment term answers the same two questions: how many days the client has, and from which day they count. The table works each common term out for the same invoice, dated 2 November 2026, so you can compare them side by side.

Due on receipt sounds strict, but in practice it is often the slowest, because it gives the client no date to aim for and gives you none to point to when you chase the payment. If you want your money quickly, net 7, net 14 or net 15 with the date written out works better. At the other end, net 60 and end-of-month terms are what large clients tend to ask for, and "net 30 EOM" in particular is easy to underestimate: on an invoice dated 2 November it means waiting until 30 December.

2/10 net 30 is an early-payment discount: 2% off if the client pays within 10 days, otherwise the full amount within 30. On a €2,500.00 invoice, the client may pay €2,450.00 by 12 November or €2,500.00 by 2 December. That €50.00 looks small, but it is a 2% return for paying 20 days early, roughly 37% a year, which is why clients with cash to spare take it and why it is an expensive way for you to be paid sooner. If you offer one, put both dates and both amounts on the invoice.

How to choose terms and write them on the invoice

Agree the payment term before the work starts, in your quote or contract, and let the invoice repeat it. If the client's purchase order already sets a term, use that one, so there is never any doubt about which term counts. Without an agreement, pick the shortest term the client will accept without fuss: net 14 or net 30 is usual for business clients, and net 7 suits one-off jobs for private customers. In Europe the law fills the gap when nothing was agreed, as the next section shows, so leaving the term off doesn't let a client take as long as they like.

Invoice payment terms are only unambiguous with a date next to them, so write both in one sentence, such as "Payment terms: net 30. Please pay €2,500.00 by 2 December 2026, quoting invoice number 2026-041." Write the month as a word, because 02/12/2026 is 2 December to a European reader and February 12 to an American one. Asking the client to quote the invoice number also helps you match the payment when it arrives. Before you send, check that the invoice shows these payment details:

• The invoice date, from which your term counts.
• The due date as a calendar date, with the month in words.
• The term itself, and for a discount both deadlines and both amounts.
• How to pay, and the reference the client should use.
• A line on late payment, if you use one; if your business is in France, your invoices to business clients must have one.

That last line is a reminder rather than a threat, so it should only mention what your contract or your country's law actually gives you. Where the law provides statutory interest, a sentence such as "Late payments may incur statutory interest and compensation" reminds the client of it. France is different: if your business is in France, French law requires specific payment and late-payment details on your invoices to business clients, set out in the paragraph on France below, so a general sentence isn't enough there. Everything else an invoice must show is covered in how to make an invoice.

What the law says about terms and late payment

Between businesses, the payment term is mostly whatever you agree, but the law sets rules around that agreement: what applies when nothing was agreed, how long a term may be, and what a late payer owes. The rules below concern business customers, and in the US mainly the federal government, so they don't tell you what to charge a private customer.

In the United Kingdom, the rules cover both the term and the cost of paying late. If you agree no payment date, a business customer's payment is late 30 days after it gets your invoice (or after you deliver, if that is later); agreed terms between businesses should usually be no more than 60 days, and longer only if fair to both. On a late payment you can claim statutory interest of 8% above the Bank of England base rate (unless your contract sets a different rate) plus a fixed £40, £70 or £100 for a debt under £1,000, from £1,000 to under £10,000, or £10,000 or more (Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998). The interest is set from the Bank of England base rate, but the base rate that counts isn't necessarily today's: it depends on when the payment became late, so check which rate applies before you work out a claim.

Ireland's rules follow a similar pattern. Between businesses, if the contract sets no payment date, payment is due 30 days after the customer receives the invoice (or the goods or services, if the invoice came first); a term over 60 days must be expressly agreed and not grossly unfair. A late payer owes interest at the ECB rate plus 8 points (10.4% a year since 1 Jul 2026) unless the contract sets another rate, plus fixed compensation of €40 (debts up to €1,000), €70 (up to €10,000) or €100 (above), without a reminder, and reasonable further recovery costs. The practical difference from the UK is that the interest follows the ECB rate rather than the Bank of England base rate.

The Netherlands adds protection for small suppliers. Between businesses, payment is due 30 days after the customer receives the invoice unless another term was agreed; terms up to 60 days may be agreed (longer only if expressly agreed and not clearly unfair), but large companies must pay SMEs and self-employed suppliers within 30 days. A late business customer owes statutory commercial interest (wettelijke handelsrente, 10.4% a year since 1 Jul 2026) and at least €40 in collection costs, without a reminder. So if you are self-employed and a large company asks you for net 60, the law is on your side, and you don't need to send a reminder before you can claim interest and costs.

Germany starts from a different default. Without an agreed date payment is due at once, and a business customer is in default at the latest 30 days after the due date and receipt of the invoice, sooner after a reminder or a fixed calendar due date (§§ 271, 286 BGB). Between businesses, late payment costs interest of 9 percentage points above the base rate (reset each 1 Jan and 1 Jul) plus a €40 flat fee, and payment terms over 60 days are only valid if expressly agreed and not grossly unfair to the supplier (§§ 247, 271a, 288 BGB). Because a client without an agreed date owes the money at once but is only in default later, it pays to agree a date before you start, repeat it on the invoice and send a reminder promptly once it passes; the page on invoices in Germany covers the rest of what a German invoice needs.

France measures its limit from the invoice date and applies penalties automatically. Unless agreed otherwise, a business customer must pay within 30 days of receiving the goods or service; an agreed term may not exceed 60 days from the invoice date, or 45 days end of month if written in the contract and not abusive (Code de commerce L441-10). Late payment triggers penalties without any reminder (by default the ECB refinancing rate plus 10 points, never less than three times the legal interest rate) plus a €40 recovery indemnity for each invoice paid late. If your business is in France, that rules out long terms such as net 90 with your business clients, and it means you don't have to chase before the penalties apply. French law also requires your invoices to business clients to state the due date, that penalty rate and the fixed recovery indemnity, together with your early-payment discount terms or, if you offer no discount, the words 'Escompte pour paiement anticipé : néant'.

In the United States, federal law mainly sets payment rules for the government as a customer. Federal executive agencies must pay your invoice by the date in the contract or, if none is set, 30 days after receiving a proper invoice; if they pay late they must add interest automatically, at a rate Treasury publishes every six months (Prompt Payment Act). The Act does not set payment terms between private businesses, although on federal construction contracts the prime contractor must, through required contract clauses, pay its subcontractors within 7 days of being paid and owe them interest if late (31 U.S.C. 3905). Some states and cities have their own rules: in New York City, for example, a client must pay a freelancer within 30 days of the work being completed if no date was agreed. If your client is a federal agency, the invoicing route matters too. There is no federal law requiring e-invoices between businesses, so paper and PDF invoices are fine; vendors to federal agencies invoice electronically through the agency's system, often Treasury's free Invoice Processing Platform (IPP). Elsewhere, unless a state or local rule applies, the term is what you and the client agreed, so if you want to charge a private client a late fee, put it in the contract before the work starts as well as on the invoice.

If a client does pay late and you claim interest or compensation, send the claim separately, in a letter or email that names the original invoice number, its due date and the date you were paid, so the client can follow how you got to the amount. Reference rates are reset regularly, so check which rate applied to the period the payment was late before you work out a claim.

Payment terms in the invoice maker

Every invoice in the maker has an invoice date, a due date and a notes and terms field, which is all you need to set out a term clearly. For net 30, it works like this:

1. Fill in the invoice date, the day you issue the invoice, because that is where your term starts counting.
2. Work out the due date and enter it, for example 2 December 2026 for net 30 on an invoice dated 2 November 2026.
3. In notes and terms, write the term in words together with the date and amount, and add a line on late payment if you use one; if your business is in France and the client is a business, add the payment and late-payment details French law requires.
4. Add how the client can pay: your bank details (IBAN and BIC, or routing and account number for a US business), a PayPal link, or for US clients check, Venmo, Zelle or Cash App.
5. Download the PDF, or with a free account send it by email or as a link, and set the status to sent; once the money arrives, change it to paid.

Keeping the status up to date pays off later, because the overview of all your invoices, with its filters, lets you find the ones you haven't marked as paid yet. If you sent an invoice as a link, you can also see whether it has been opened, which is worth knowing before you chase a client who may never have seen it. The maker doesn't take card payments (apart from a PayPal link) and doesn't chase clients on its own, but for any sent invoice that isn't paid you can choose Send payment reminder: it drafts a short note with the invoice number, the amount and the due date for you to edit, which you send by email or as a link with an account, or from your own email app without one. The guide to payment reminders covers the wording. To see how the layout looks before you start, open the free invoice template.

Keep one limit in mind before you send: the PDF the maker creates is not an e-invoice, which is a structured data file in a set format that the client's accounting software reads directly, and the maker can't send invoices through e-invoicing platforms. Some countries now require e-invoices between businesses, France and Germany among them, with dates that depend on the size of the business, so if you invoice business clients there, check whether the rule already applies to you; the page on invoices in Germany, linked above, explains the German dates and exemptions. Where the rule applies you'll need e-invoicing software for those invoices, but the payment term works the same way: write the term and the due date on the e-invoice just as you would on a PDF.