Net 30 is a free loan to your client
"Net 30" means the invoice is due 30 days after it is issued. On a 3,000-dollar project finished at the end of the month, you wait up to two months from starting work to getting paid, and late payers stretch it further. Large companies ask for net 30 or net 60 because their payment runs are batched, not because it is fair.
The options, from safest to riskiest
- Deposit + balance on delivery: 30-50% up front, the rest before final files are released.
- Milestone payments: payment tied to each phase (see milestone payments).
- Due on receipt / net 7: fine for small jobs and repeat clients.
- Net 30: acceptable for established companies, ideally with a deposit and a late fee.
If a big client insists on net 30
Accept it, but price it in (a few percent higher), keep the deposit, and add a late payment clause. Check in with their accounts payable contact on day one so the invoice doesn't sit in the wrong inbox.
Make upfront the easy path
The easier it is to pay at signing, the less anyone asks for net 30. Draft it now with Clinch: describe the job in a sentence, get a clean draft, send one link. Your client signs from their phone without an account, and the deposit is paid in the same step.