Due on Receipt
Due on receipt means payment is expected when the client gets the invoice. It sounds firm, but it gives the client no date to meet. A real date usually gets you paid faster.
What it means
“Due on receipt” reads as urgent, but it is vaguer than Net 7 or Net 14. It does not say when the clock started. A client who pays two weeks later has broken no stated deadline, because no deadline was written down.
It works fine for small cash-and-carry jobs, where someone hands you payment on the spot anyway. For anything you invoice and send, use a specific date, even a short one like Net 3. It gives you something concrete to point to in a reminder. It also gives the client something concrete to plan around.
A one-hour callout marked “due on receipt” gets paid on the spot by card before you leave. That is the case it suits. The same wording on an emailed invoice for a bigger job leaves both sides guessing what “immediately” means.
Using “due on receipt” on every invoice by habit. A follow-up email a week later then looks premature, because no stated date made the invoice overdue.
See also
Where this shows up
Want this in one place?
BizBinder keeps quotes, jobs, invoices, and follow-ups in one binder.
You are on the list.
A person reads every request. You will hear from us within one business day.
- 01 A person reads your note — not a queue.
- 02 You get an invite as spots open.
- 03 Your admin starts filing itself.
The free library is open while you wait. Nothing in it needs an account.
- guide How to get paid faster, without the awkward follow-up The reminder cadence here stops most late invoices from becoming a collections problem.
- tool Late payment fee & interest calculator Enter an overdue balance, a rate, and the days late. You get the interest, the total now due, and a reminder line to copy and paste.
- tool Payment method check Enter your invoice amount, your card fee, your hourly rate, and how long a transfer takes. The tool compares card, bank transfer, and cash for this invoice. It shows the fee, your time, and when the money lands.