Net 15 vs Net 30 vs Net 60: Picking the Right Terms
· 5 min read
You finish the work on a Friday, send the invoice, and now you have to pick a number. 15, 30, or 60. That number decides when rent gets covered, whether you can pay a subcontractor next month, and how much chasing you will be doing in week six. It is not a small choice, and the right answer depends on who is paying you.
Here is a fair look at all three terms, what each one actually buys you, and the kind of client each one fits.
What each term really means in practice
Net 15 means the invoice is due 15 days from the issue date. Net 30 and Net 60 work the same way. Simple on paper. In the real world, the term you write determines when the client's accounts payable system schedules the payment run, and AP almost never pays early. If you write Net 30 on an invoice dated the 3rd, expect the bank transfer to leave their account on the 2nd or 3rd of next month, not before. For a slower walk through the mechanics, the Net 30 payment terms explained guide covers issue date, due date, and what actually triggers payment.
One more thing worth saying up front: the term is a ceiling on when they are allowed to pay, not a floor on when they will. A Net 30 invoice that gets paid in 42 days is not unusual. Pick your term with that drift in mind.
Net 15: when speed matters more than scale
Net 15 is the right call when the client is small, the relationship is direct, and the person approving the invoice is the person paying it. Think a solo founder, a small studio owner, a coach paying a contractor out of their operating account. There is no AP queue. They open the invoice, they pay it.
Net 15 also makes sense for first-time clients you have not vetted, for projects under a few thousand dollars, and for retainer work where you want the cash to land before the next month's work begins. Freelancers in particular benefit here, which is why invoicing built for freelancers tends to default to shorter terms.
Where Net 15 breaks down: any client with a real finance function. If the invoice has to go to AP, get matched to a purchase order, and wait for the next payment run, 15 days is not enough time. You will write Net 15 and get paid in 28 days anyway, and now you look like the vendor who does not understand how procurement works.
Net 30: the default for a reason
Net 30 is what most B2B buyers expect, and it is what most accounting systems are configured for. If you do not have a strong reason to pick something else, pick this. It gives the client's AP team one full monthly cycle to process the invoice, and it gives you a defensible follow-up timeline: a reminder at day 25, a firmer note at day 32, escalation at day 45.
It is also the term where Net 30's cash flow consequences are most visible. If you bill on the 28th and they pay on the 30th of the following month, you have effectively floated the client for 32 days of work. Build that into your pricing or your cash buffer.
Agencies, consultants, and developers selling to mid-sized companies will find Net 30 fits almost every engagement. The teams behind invoicing for agencies and invoicing for consultants see this in the data: 30 days is the line of least resistance with corporate buyers.
Net 60: only when you have to
Net 60 is not generous. It is what large enterprises and some retailers require because their procurement policy says so. If you are selling to a Fortune 500 buyer, a hospital system, or a major retailer, Net 60 may be non-negotiable. Pushing back will get you a polite no and a request to accept their standard terms.
The honest tradeoff: you get the logo and a bigger contract, and you finance two months of their working capital. Price for it. A 60-day term on a 90-day project means you may not see the first invoice paid until the project is almost done. If you accept Net 60, get a deposit, invoice in stages, and make sure your view analytics on the invoice tell you the moment AP opens it so you can chase early.
A quick decision table
| Client type | Right term | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Solo founder, small studio, direct payer | Net 15 | No AP queue, fast turnaround |
| Mid-sized company with finance team | Net 30 | Matches their payment cycle |
| Enterprise, retailer, government | Net 60 | Their procurement policy requires it |
| New client, unknown payer | Net 15 with deposit | Limits exposure on first job |
Make the term work harder than the number
The number on the invoice is only part of the story. A Net 30 that AP cannot route because the PO number is missing will pay in 50 days. A Net 60 with a clear AP contact, a valid PO, and the right billing entity may pay closer to 55. The friction inside the invoice matters as much as the term itself, which is why letting the buyer fix their own PO number, billing entity, and AP contact on the invoice without emailing you a revision tends to move the actual payment date forward by a week or more.
If you are not sure what your current clients will actually do with a given term, run a few invoices through the payment time predictor and compare it to your last six months. That tells you more than any benchmark. Then go draft the invoice with the term that fits the client in front of you, not the one you have always used.