Glossary
Net 30
Net 30 means the client has 30 days from the invoice date to pay.
Last updated 26 October 2026
Net 30 is a payment term. The number is the days the client has to pay, counted from the date on the invoice. Net 14, Net 45 and Net 60 work the same way, with a shorter or longer clock. It is one of the most common due-date lines on freelance and agency invoices, which is why it is worth writing down rather than assuming “a month is fine”.
The contract should say when the clock starts: the invoice date, the date the invoice arrives, or the date the work is accepted. Those three dates can be weeks apart, so the starting point matters as much as the number. A designer who invoices on 1 March, under “Net 30 from acceptance”, can wait until the client’s legal team “accepts” in April before the 30 days even begin.
Freelancers often prefer a shorter net period, or a deposit plus a short balance. A longer net period is commonly paired with a larger deposit so less of the job sits unpaid. Agencies that invoice the same client every month usually keep one net period in the master agreement and repeat it on each statement of work, so finance is not guessing from the last email.
Net 30 is not a favour and it is not a late fee. It is the ordinary deadline. Interest, a pause on the work, or a right to terminate for non-payment are separate sentences. If those are missing, a client who pays on day 45 is late, but the paper may give you nothing to do about it except send another reminder.
Write the due date in the same place as the fee and the invoice trigger. “I invoice on each milestone; each invoice is due 30 days from its date” is a complete thought. “Payment: Net 30” at the bottom of a proposal is not, because nobody has said when the invoice goes out or what happens if it is ignored.
A worked example
A designer invoices £2,400 on 1 March under Net 30, counted from the invoice date. The client’s payment is due on 31 March. The contract also says work may pause if an undisputed invoice is more than 7 days overdue. On 8 April the invoice is still unpaid, so the designer pauses the next round and does not start new pages until the money lands.
How it shows up in a contract
Sample wording · our own drafting
The Supplier will invoice the Client on completion of each Milestone. The Client will pay each undisputed invoice within 30 days of the invoice date. The Supplier may suspend the Services while any undisputed invoice is more than [7] days overdue.
In Plain English
The supplier sends an invoice each time a stage is finished. The client has 30 days from the invoice date to pay, unless they have a real dispute. If an invoice is more than 7 days late, the supplier can stop work until it is paid.
Common mistakes
- Writing “Net 30” without saying whether the 30 days run from the invoice date, receipt, or acceptance.
- Agreeing Net 30 in an email and leaving the signed contract silent, so finance follows a different clock.
- Treating Net 30 as a grace period after a “due on receipt” invoice, then arguing about the real deadline.
- Accepting Net 30 with no deposit and no pause right on a job that takes two months to deliver.
Related
The legal wording governsLast reviewed 26 October 2026Pending lawyer review