Payment terms: choosing the due date on your invoices
Enter what you invoice each month and your terms: see how much cash is waiting and what that wait costs.
Payment terms tell the customer when the invoice must be paid, and they are a credit you give: every day between delivery and payment is money of yours sitting in the customer's account. "Net 30" means the full amount is due 30 days after the invoice date, "EOM" means by the end of the month of the invoice, and "due on receipt" means now. An invoice dated October 15, 2026 on Net 30 is due on November 14, 2026; on 30 days end of month, on November 30, 2026. The law steps in at the edges. In the UK, if no date is agreed, a business payment becomes late 30 days after the customer receives the invoice or the goods or service, whichever is later, and an agreed period between businesses should normally not exceed 60 days, or 30 for public authorities. In Canada, the terms of payment are a required detail of any invoice of $500 or more. The calculator above shows what a longer term costs you in a year.
What longer payment terms cost you
Money waiting to be paid, on average
$11,836
| Yearly cost of that wait | $1,065 |
| Same at Net 30 | $1,065 |
| UK default if nothing agreed | 30 days |
| UK business-to-business ceiling | 60 days, unless fair |
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Methodology
The usual terms and the due dates they give
The table applies each term offered by the generator to the same invoice, dated October 15, 2026. The due date is computed the way the generator computes it, so what you see here is what prints on the invoice.
| Term | Meaning | Due date for an invoice dated October 15, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Due on receipt | Payable when received | October 15, 2026 |
| Net 7 | 7 days after the invoice date | October 22, 2026 |
| Net 14 | 14 days after the invoice date | October 29, 2026 |
| Net 15 | 15 days after the invoice date | October 30, 2026 |
| Net 30 | 30 days after the invoice date | November 14, 2026 |
| Net 45 | 45 days after the invoice date | November 29, 2026 |
| Net 60 | 60 days after the invoice date | December 14, 2026 |
| Net 90 | 90 days after the invoice date | January 13, 2027 |
| End of month (EOM) | Last day of the invoice month | October 31, 2026 |
| 30 days end of month | 30 days after the end of the invoice month | November 30, 2026 |
Two details trip people up. Calendar days count, weekends included, unless your contract says otherwise. And the count starts from the invoice date, so dating an invoice the day you send it, not the day you finished the work two weeks earlier, quietly adds two weeks of credit.
What the law says about the due date
United Kingdom: a default and a ceiling
GOV.UK's guidance on late commercial payments sets the frame for business-to-business invoices. If you agree a payment date, it should usually be within 30 days for public authorities and 60 days between businesses; a longer period is possible between businesses only if it is fair to both. If you agree nothing, the payment is late 30 days after the customer gets the invoice, or after you deliver the goods or service if that is later. From that point you can claim statutory interest and a fixed sum per invoice, covered in the late payment interest guide. These rules come from the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 and do not apply to sales to consumers.
Canada: the terms belong on larger invoices
Canada does not set a default due date in its tax rules, but it does make the terms part of the invoice. Under section 3 of the Input Tax Credit Information Regulations, a supporting document for a supply of $500 or more must show the terms of payment, alongside the buyer's name and a description. Revenu Québec's table for the QST says the same. An invoice without terms at that level leaves your customer short of a detail for its input tax credit.
United States and Australia
Neither the IRS nor the ATO sets invoice payment terms in the sources used on this site. The due date is whatever the contract or the invoice says, which is one more reason to print the date itself rather than only "Net 30".
What a longer term costs you
A business that invoices the same amount every month carries, on average, a month's worth of invoices for every 30 days of credit it gives. The calculator at the top turns that into money: at $12,000 invoiced a month on Net 30, about $11,836 is always waiting to be paid; on Net 60 it doubles. Whether that matters depends on what the cash would otherwise do. If it pays down an overdraft at 9%, each extra 30 days of terms costs roughly $1,065 a year.
Offering an early payment discount is one way to buy the cash back, at a price that is usually higher than it looks: the early payment discount guide works out the yearly rate behind "2/10 net 30". Taking a deposit is another, explained in the deposit invoice guide.
Writing the terms on the invoice
Good terms on an invoice answer three questions: when, how and what happens if not. When: print the due date in full, and the term that produced it. How: the bank details, the reference to quote, and any accepted card or online method. What happens if not: in the UK you may state that statutory interest applies to late payment; elsewhere, a late fee needs to be agreed in your contract or terms of sale before you can charge it. Keep the wording factual. A line such as "Payment due by 14 November 2026 by bank transfer, quoting INV-2026-0042" gets paid faster than a paragraph of conditions.
| Situation | Term that usually fits | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First job for a new client | Due on receipt or Net 7 | Little trust built yet; small exposure |
| Regular monthly client | Net 14 or Net 30 | Predictable, easy for their payment run |
| Large company with a purchase order | Their terms, often 30 days EOM | Set by their procurement; quote the PO number |
| Long project | Deposit, then stage invoices on Net 14 | Limits what is unpaid at any time |
| UK public authority | Within 30 days | The GOV.UK guidance expects it |
Early payment discount: the yearly rate behind it
Equivalent yearly rate
37.2%
| Customer pays early | $4,900.00 |
| Discount you give | $100.00 |
| Days gained | 20 |
Formula: discount ÷ (1 − discount) × 365 ÷ days gained.
When you are ready, set the terms in the invoice generator: the due date follows them automatically, and you can switch to a custom date for an agreed exception.