Net 30 means your client has 30 calendar days from the invoice date to pay. It is the most widely used payment term in the United States for B2B services. Learn when to use it, when to use shorter terms, and what happens when clients miss the deadline.
Net 30 is a payment term that gives your client 30 calendar days from the invoice issue date to submit payment. It is the standard US business payment term and appears on millions of invoices every day — from freelancers billing small clients to large companies invoicing each other for enterprise contracts. Net 30 does not mean 30 business days. It means 30 calendar days. If your invoice is dated May 1, payment is due May 31 regardless of weekends or holidays. When you see Net 30 EOM it means 30 days after the end of the month in which the invoice was issued. So an invoice dated May 15 with Net 30 EOM terms would be due June 30.
If Net 30 feels too long for your cash flow, Net 15 is entirely reasonable for independent contractors and freelancers. Due on Receipt is appropriate when you hand over a final deliverable and expect payment immediately. Never agree to Net 60 or Net 90 as a solo freelancer — those are enterprise payment cycles and will create serious cash flow problems.
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