Net 15 vs Net 30: Payment Terms for Freelancers

Net 15 or net 30? Here's how to choose payment terms as a freelancer. You'll see what each one means, how to set it on an invoice, and how to add a late fee that applies itself. Stay to the end for the one thing to do before you charge a late fee. Payment terms are how long a client has to pay after you send an invoice.

Net 30 means the full amount is due thirty days after the invoice date. Net 15 means fifteen days. Due on receipt means due the day you send it. Net 7 gives a week. The days count from the issue date, not from the day the client opens the invoice.

So which one? Short terms get you paid sooner. Long terms mean you wait for your cash. For small projects and new clients, due on receipt, net 7 or net 15 is common. Larger companies often ask for net 30, or longer.

That's a negotiation, not a rule. If a client wants net 60, ask for a deposit up front, so the wait is shorter. Whatever you choose, write it in your proposal and contract, so nobody is surprised. Say you send a six thousand four hundred dollar invoice on October fourteenth. On net thirty, it's due November thirteenth.

On net fifteen, it's due October twenty-ninth. In Workspace369, open an invoice and look at the Due row. Click it, and pick due on receipt, net 7, net 15, net 30 or net 60. Each option shows the date it gives. Or pick any date on the calendar.

The days count from the issue date, so change the issue date, and the due date moves with it. Use the same terms most of the time? Set a default. In Settings, open Invoices, then Defaults. Choose how long clients have to pay, and the label that shows on the invoice, like net 30.

It applies to every new invoice. Invoices you've already made don't change. Here's what your client sees: the issue date, the due date and the payment terms, in one row. The same terms print on the PDF, so they're clear wherever your client reads it. And it carries your brand: your logo, your color, your layout.

Once the due date passes, the invoice shows Overdue, with the number of days late. In your own list, it shows Past due, so you can see who to chase. Now late fees. A late fee is an extra charge when an invoice is paid after the due date. Two rules first.

Put it in your contract before you send the invoice, and check what's allowed where you work. This is general information, not legal advice. In Settings, Invoices, Late fees, switch on Enable late fees. Choose a percentage of the invoice or a fixed amount, and a grace period, like seven days. Pick simple, which charges once, or compound, which repeats the same fee every day, week or month.

Add a cap, so the fees never pile up past a limit you're comfortable with. Switch on Apply automatically. Workspace369 checks every day, and once an invoice is past the grace period, the fee is added. The fee shows on the invoice as its own line, and the amount due goes up. A grace period matters.

With seven days, the first fee lands on day eight, not day one. And if you want to let a client off, you can waive the fee. Fees are a last resort. Reminders come first. In Workflows, use the template Escalating unpaid invoice reminders.

It sends a gentle email after one day, a firmer one after seven, and a final notice at thirty. It stops as soon as the invoice is paid. You build it once. After that, every overdue invoice gets the same polite sequence, with no awkward messages from you. Three mistakes to avoid.

One, terms that aren't written down. Say them in the proposal, the contract and the invoice. Two, a late fee the client never saw. Put it in the contract first. Three, chasing by hand.

Let a reminder do the awkward part, so the relationship stays friendly. So: pick your terms, write them down, set a default, and let the reminders do the chasing. Net 15, net 30, whichever you choose, say it once, in writing. Set it up in Workspace369. There's a fourteen-day free trial, and the link is in the description.

Next up, how to set up a retainer for a monthly client. It's on screen now.