Setting payment terms for invoices

In this article, you'll learn how to set payment terms, which decide when a client's invoices are due. That matters when a property manager or a business customer pays on Net 30 and you don't want their invoices showing as overdue the day after you send them.

There's no account-wide default for this. Payment terms belong to each client. You set them on that client's page, and every invoice you raise for them follows their terms.

Note: The Billing terms block is on the phone app's client screen, and on the web client page when you're on a phone-sized screen. The desktop web client page doesn't show it, so use your phone (the app or the browser) to change terms.

To open a client's billing terms:

  1. In the bottom bar, tap Contacts.
  2. Tap the client.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of their page, past Customer notes, to Billing terms.
Opening a client's billing terms on a phone

Choose the client's payment terms

  1. Under Billing terms, tap the Payment terms drop-down.
  2. Pick one:
  • Due on service date
  • Net 30
  • Net 60
  • Other
  1. If you picked Other, a line appears reading Due [number] days after the service date. Type the number of days, then tap outside the box to save it. The box only accepts 0 to 365.

Picking from the list saves straight away, and Payment terms saved shows under it for a moment. There's no separate Save button.

Tip: If you've never set terms for a client, they're treated as Due on service date, so their invoices are due the day they go out.
Picking payment terms for a client

How the due date is worked out

The custom box says "days after the service date", but the clock doesn't start on the service date. Here's what actually happens:

  • The clock starts the day the invoice is first sent: a text, an email, or Mark sent on the web Invoices page. That day is taken in your business's time zone.
  • The due date is that day plus the client's terms. Net 30 sent on the 1st is due on the 31st.
  • Before an invoice is sent, it carries a provisional due date (the day it was created plus the terms) so the screen and the document have something to show. The first send replaces it.
  • Sending the same invoice again later doesn't move the due date.
  • If you change a client's terms, the new terms apply to invoices that haven't gone out yet, from the day they're first sent. An invoice that was already sent keeps its due date.

You'll see the result as Due on: on the invoice page, on the web and in the app. Once that date passes with a balance still owing, the invoice page shows how many days overdue it is in red, the invoice's status becomes past due, and the overdue reminders count from the due date. There's no field for changing one invoice's due date by hand, so if a date is wrong, fix the client's terms before you send.

Allow marking done before payment

The same block has an Allow marking done before payment switch. It's on for every client unless you turn it off.

  • On: you can mark this client's jobs Done whether or not they've paid.
  • Off: a job for this client with a balance can't be marked Done. You'll see a message saying this customer pays before a job is marked done, with the amount still due. Collect the payment first, then close the job.

Tap the switch to change it. It saves straight away and shows Saved for a moment.

Note: Turn this off for clients who pay up front. For clients on Net 30 or Net 60, leave it on, or you won't be able to close their jobs until they pay.

Related articles