Payment terms aren't just billing details. They're the entire frame of how clients treat you. Net 30 says "I'll pay when I get to it." Net 15 says "I take this seriously." Here's what each term actually means and which to use.
The most common payment terms (and what they actually mean)
Net 15
Payment due 15 days after the invoice date. Net 15 is becoming the new freelance standard, especially for solo work, design work, and anything where the client is the decision-maker (not a procurement department). It signals that you treat invoicing seriously, which in turn signals that you treat the rest of your business seriously. Clients pay faster on Net 15 than on Net 30 by a noticeable margin, partly because the deadline lands inside the same mental "billing window" the invoice arrived in.
If you're working with individual business owners, small agencies, or any client whose AP process is "the founder logs into the bank," default to Net 15. There's no good reason to wait longer.
Net 30
Payment due 30 days after the invoice date. This is the default in most B2B contexts, primarily because corporate accounts payable cycles are built around 30-day batches. It's also the default in most accountant-mediated relationships, where the client doesn't pay you directly but routes invoices through a bookkeeper.
Net 30 is acceptable, but you'll wait. If your client uses Bill.com, QuickBooks, or any AP automation tool, the system is configured to pay invoices on the day they're due. Not before, not the week before. The day. Plan your cash flow accordingly.
Net 45 / Net 60
Used by enterprise clients (and most agencies billing enterprise clients). Often non-negotiable. If you're working with a Fortune 500, expect Net 60. If you're subcontracting through an agency that bills a Fortune 500, you might even see Net 90 because the agency is matching your terms to their client's terms.
Build it into your cash flow. The math: a $10,000 invoice on Net 60 is essentially a $10,000 interest-free loan you're giving the client for two months. If you can't afford that, raise your prices or require a deposit.
Due on receipt
Payment due immediately. Best for: small invoices, repeat clients you trust, retainer setups, and anywhere you have leverage. Worst for: new clients you've never billed before, large invoices, and slow-moving organizations where the invoice has to bounce through three approvals before it's paid.
I use due-on-receipt for retainers and for any invoice under $500. Above that, the friction of "wait, why is this due today" usually isn't worth the speed bump.
2/10 Net 30
Old-school but it works. Payment in full is due in 30 days, but the client gets a 2% discount if they pay within 10 days. It motivates fast payment without making you look pushy, because the client feels like they're getting a deal. Worth offering on invoices over $10,000, where the 2% is meaningful enough to actually move behavior.
I've seen freelancers double their on-time payment rate just by adding this line. The discount costs you something, but late invoices cost more.
EOM (End of Month)
Payment due at the end of the month following the invoice. So an invoice dated May 7 would be due June 30. Common in some construction and trade industries. Confusing for everyone else. Avoid unless your client uses it natively.
MFI (Month Following Invoice)
Same as EOM, different name. Same advice: avoid unless required.
Deposits
A deposit is the single biggest lever you have over how a project goes. The standard is 50% upfront for new project work, 25% for repeat clients you've worked with before, and 100% for anything under $500 where the deposit is essentially the whole invoice anyway.
Why deposits matter beyond the money: they filter serious clients from tire-kickers. People who push back hardest on deposits are almost always the people who pay slowest. The correlation is so consistent that I now treat deposit pushback as a red flag worth raising my rates over (or walking away entirely).
How to ask for one without it being weird: "I require a 50% deposit to schedule the project. Final 50% is due on completion." That's the whole script. State it like a fact, not a request. If the client is going to balk, they'll balk regardless of how you phrase it. Don't apologize for protecting yourself.
For range quotes (sliding scale pricing where you quote $1,000 to $1,500 instead of a fixed amount), the deposit should be calculated from the minimum, not the maximum. So a 50% deposit on a $1,000 to $1,500 range quote is $500. This keeps the deposit fair if the final number lands at the low end of the range.
Don't waive deposits to win projects. I cannot stress this enough. The clients who push hardest on this are the ones who pay slowest, scope-creep the most, and ghost on the final invoice. Every freelancer learns this the hard way exactly once. PaymentPing's quote acceptance pages collect deposits in the same flow as approval, which removes the awkward "now please send the deposit" follow-up email entirely.
Kill fees
A kill fee is a clause in your contract that says: if the project is canceled mid-stream, you get paid for work completed plus a cancellation fee on the unfinished portion. It exists because cancellation is rarely the freelancer's fault and almost always disrupts your other work.
The standard is 25 to 50 percent of the remaining contract value, depending on how far along the project is. Early-stage cancellations (before significant work) tend to land around 25%. Late-stage cancellations (after most of the work is done but before delivery) land at 50% or higher.
Kill fees protect you when scope evaporates, the client changes direction, or the company gets acquired and your project gets shelved. None of these are your fault, but all of them leave you holding a calendar block you can't easily refill. The fee covers the opportunity cost.
Sample clause you can adapt:
If the project is canceled by the client after work has commenced,
the client will be invoiced for: (a) all work completed at the
agreed rate, and (b) a cancellation fee of 30% of the remaining
contract value.
Most clients accept kill fees without pushback because they know why the clause exists. The ones who fight it are usually planning to cancel.
Late fees
Late fees are different from payment terms. Terms define when payment is due. Late fees define what happens when terms are breached. Common amounts are $25 to $50 flat or 1.5% per month after day 30. The critical thing: they must be disclosed in your contract before the invoice is overdue. Retroactive late fees are usually unenforceable and almost always make you look unprofessional.
Full guide to late payment fees →
The hierarchy of payment terms (best to worst for a freelancer)
- Due on receipt + 100% deposit (rarely possible, but ideal)
- Due on receipt
- Net 7
- Net 15
- Net 30
- Net 45 (if you have to)
- Net 60 (only enterprise contracts)
- "Whenever you get around to it" (you have a problem)
If you're sitting at the bottom of this list with most of your clients, the issue isn't the clients. It's that you haven't asked for better.
How to negotiate payment terms
- Lead with Net 15. Most clients will accept it without comment.
- If they push back to Net 30, agree, but ask for a 50% deposit in exchange.
- Don't accept Net 60 or worse without a deposit. Ever.
- Always get terms in writing before starting work. A handshake on payment terms is the same as no terms.
- Re-negotiate every 12 months. What you accepted as a new freelancer isn't what you should accept three years in. Your time is worth more now. Price (and term) accordingly.
- The right time to bring up timing is also a real lever. The day of the week you send your invoice changes how fast it gets paid.
Common payment terms mistakes
- Not stating terms on every invoice. The contract clause isn't enough. The invoice is the legal demand for payment, and it needs to state the terms on its face.
- Accepting "we'll figure it out later." You'll figure it out at 90 days overdue, in your favor or theirs. Guess which.
- Using "Net" without a number. "Net" alone means nothing. It's an abbreviation waiting for a deadline.
- Mixing terms across invoices to the same client. Pick one and stick with it. Mixing creates confusion and weakens your position when you need to collect.
- Putting terms only in the footer in 8pt gray text. Make them visible. Top of the invoice, near the total, in the same font as everything else.
How PaymentPing handles payment terms
PaymentPing supports Net 0, 7, 15, 30, and 60 plus custom dates per invoice. Each invoice can have its own term, which is useful when you've negotiated different terms with different clients (for example: a longstanding agency client on Net 30, a new direct client on Net 15). Reminders fire automatically based on whatever term you set.
If you want reminders that respect your terms without you having to track them manually, PaymentPing handles that for you.
Closing
Payment terms are one of the few things that's entirely in your control as a freelancer. Pick terms that respect your time, communicate them clearly, enforce them consistently. Most clients respect freelancers who treat their own business seriously. The ones who don't are the ones you don't want anyway.