Payment terms define when and how a client pays you: net 30 means the full amount within 30 days of the invoice, 50/50 means half before work starts and half on delivery, and milestone or installment schedules split payment across the project. The terms you choose decide who carries the risk — so choose deliberately, not by default.

Net terms: net 30, net 15, net 7

"Net 30" means the invoice is due within 30 days of its date. It exists because corporate accounts-payable departments batch their payments — it was never designed with freelancers in mind. What it means for you: you finish the work, then finance a month of the client's cash flow interest-free, and in practice net 30 often stretches to 40 or 45.

  • Use it when: a large client's procurement genuinely requires it and the contract is worth the wait.
  • Avoid it when: the client is a small business that could simply pay now. Most can.
  • Better default: net 7 or "due on receipt." Clients mostly pay on whatever terms you state.

Due on receipt

Payment is expected as soon as the invoice arrives. Combined with a card payment link, this is the fastest post-delivery term available. Its weakness: it still happens after the work, so it protects your speed but not your risk. Pair it with an up-front deposit.

50/50: the classic split

Half before work starts, half on delivery. This is the workhorse term for small and mid-size projects, and for good reason: the deposit commits the client and funds your work, while the balance gives them leverage for delivery. Its limit is project length — on a three-month project, 50/50 leaves you unpaid for long stretches and makes the final invoice uncomfortably large. Variants like 40/30/30 fix that by adding a midpoint payment.

Milestone payments

Payment attached to completed stages: deposit on approval, a payment when design is signed off, another at development complete, the balance at launch. Milestones keep money and delivered work roughly level throughout, which is the fairest risk split available for projects over a month long. The discipline they require: each milestone needs a binary, verifiable deliverable, agreed in the proposal.

Installment plans

Payment split across calendar dates rather than project stages — three to five scheduled payments, first one before work starts. Installments answer the client's cash-flow problem ("we have budget, just not all this quarter") and can win you projects a lump sum would lose. The rules that keep them safe: keep plans short, stay ahead of the value delivered, and hold final assets until the final payment.

Retainers

The client pays a fixed amount up front each month for ongoing access or a block of hours. Best terms in the business — recurring, predictable, paid in advance — but only fit ongoing relationships, not one-off projects.

How to actually choose

  • Small project, new client: 50/50, balance due on receipt.
  • Anything over a month or a few thousand dollars: milestones, 3–4 of them, front-loaded slightly.
  • Client with budget-timing constraints: installment plan, first payment at approval.
  • Ongoing work: monthly retainer, paid in advance.
  • Every case: some payment before work starts, terms stated in the proposal, and a payment method that takes one click.

That last line is where terms meet reality: terms only protect you if they are agreed before work begins and easy to comply with. Tendrly is built on that idea — the proposal states your terms and carries a one-click Stripe payment link, so the deposit is collected at approval, and payment plans of up to 5 installments run on scheduled email reminders instead of your memory.

FAQ

What does net 30 EOM mean?

Payment is due 30 days after the end of the month the invoice was issued in — so an invoice dated March 3rd is due April 30th. It quietly adds up to a month versus plain net 30. Read term variants carefully before agreeing.

Can I refuse a client's net 60 or net 90 terms?

Yes — terms are negotiable, not imposed. Counter with net 30 plus an up-front payment, or price the waiting into the project. Long net terms are the client borrowing from you; it is fair for that loan to cost something.

Which terms are best for a first-time client?

50/50 for short projects, milestones for longer ones — in both cases with the first payment due at approval, before any work. A first project is exactly when you have no payment history to rely on, so structure carries the trust.