# What does net 30 mean?

URL: https://www.orla.finance/en/glossary/net-30
Markdown twin of that page. Append `.md` to any Orla page URL to get one.

Net 30 is a payment term on an invoice meaning the full amount is due within 30 days of the invoice date, with no discount for paying earlier.

Where the count starts. Unless the invoice says otherwise, day one is the invoice date, not the day the client opened the email. Some contracts count from delivery, or from the end of the month the invoice was issued in ("net 30 EOM"), and the difference is two weeks of cash. Write the term as a date and the argument never happens.

The variants say the same thing with other numbers. Net 15, net 60 and net 90 move the deadline. "Due on receipt" means what it says and is paid when the client gets round to it. "2/10 net 30" offers 2 percent off for payment within 10 days, otherwise the full amount in 30.

What net 30 really is: a 30-day interest-free loan from you to the client. The term is the promise; the fact is DSO, days sales outstanding, the average number of days from issue to payment. If your invoices say 30 and your DSO says 47, the forecast should use 47 and the terms are a wish. On the other side of the ledger the mirror is DPO, days payable outstanding, on your [accounts payable](https://www.orla.finance/en/glossary/accounts-payable), and the gap between the two is how many days of somebody else's money you are short.

How to write it so it gets paid: the due date as a date; bank details as fields in the client's own scheme; the client's PO number if their accounts payable needs one to release payment; a link so the client does not have to type an IBAN; and reminders that start before the due date rather than a month after it.

#### How this shows up in Orla

The due date is the seller's to choose on the invoice. A sent invoice with the client's email reminds them on a fixed schedule, 3 days before the due date, on the day, and 3 and 7 days after, each reminder at most once and with the pay link included. Past the date the invoice shows an overdue badge, and the space is alerted once the day slips.

Who owes you gives one line per client: what they owe, how late the oldest invoice is, how many reminders went out, and one next step in plain words. The business dashboard shows DSO and the cash cycle as DSO minus DPO, and the cash forecast draws two lines: every open invoice on its due date, and every open invoice moved by how late that client has actually paid over the last year. A quote's price stands for 30 days unless you change it.

#### Related terms

- Accounts payable: https://www.orla.finance/en/glossary/accounts-payable
- Month-end close: https://www.orla.finance/en/glossary/month-end-close

#### Read next

- Free invoice generator, with the due date in the right place: https://www.orla.finance/en/free-invoice-generator
- Invoices, reminders and the pay page: https://www.orla.finance/en/product/money
- Invoicing a client in another country: https://www.orla.finance/en/blog/invoicing-a-client-in-another-country