Step 1 — choose your standard terms

Decide your default payment period — 14, 30 or 60 days — based on your sector norms and, crucially, your own cash needs. Shorter is better for your cash flow, so do not default to 30 days out of habit if 14 would work. Align terms where you can with when you pay your own suppliers, so cash in roughly matches cash out. See supplier payment terms and cash flow.

Step 2 — put them in writing, up front

Agree terms before any work begins and record them — in your quote, contract, or a clear terms-of-business document the customer accepts. Unspoken or after-the-fact terms are unenforceable in practice and easy to dispute. A customer who has explicitly agreed to 30-day terms has far less room to drift to 60.

Step 3 — be specific on the invoice

State an actual due date on every invoice — "due by 31 March" — not just "30 days". A concrete date removes ambiguity and gives you a clean point from which to chase. Include your payment details and methods clearly. Precision here quietly speeds payment, because there is nothing to query or misunderstand.

Step 4 — state your late-payment rights

Include in your terms that you reserve the right to charge statutory interest and compensation on overdue invoices under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts legislation. You need not always apply it, but stating it is a proven deterrent and puts persistent late payers on notice. See late payment and cash flow.

Step 5 — enforce them consistently

Terms only work if you hold customers to them. Chase promptly when they are breached and apply your stated rights to persistent offenders. Where slow payment persists despite good terms, invoice finance can release the cash meanwhile.

Credicorp lends to your company, not to you personally, and takes no personal guarantee. See business loans or apply online.