Payment terms are the quiet lever behind how fast money actually lands in your account. Set a smart default once, and every new invoice you create inherits it automatically. No fiddling, no “wait, when is this due?” guessing. Here’s how to pick the right default and make it stick.
Set your default in Preferences
Your default payment terms live alongside your other invoicing defaults, so new invoices are born ready.
- Open Settings → Preferences from the left sidebar.
- Go to the payment terms section.
- Choose your default: Due on receipt, Net 7, Net 14, or a longer window if your work calls for it.
- Save. From now on, every new invoice picks up this term automatically, with its due date calculated for you.
You can still override the term on any individual invoice. The default just means you almost never have to.
Which term should you pick?
Shorter terms get you paid sooner. The trick is matching the term to the kind of work and client you have, so the deadline feels fair rather than aggressive.
- Due on receipt — Best for small, fast jobs and new clients you haven’t built a rhythm with yet. The invoice is payable the moment it lands.
- Net 7 — A gentle, professional default for most freelance work. Quick enough to protect your cash flow, generous enough that nobody feels rushed.
- Net 14 — A good fit for larger studios or clients with a finance team and an approval cycle. Still tight enough to keep things moving.
Tip: Pair short terms with a deposit. If you collect a deposit % on the estimate up front, you’ve already got cash in hand before the work starts, which makes a snappy Net 7 on the balance feel completely reasonable. See Collect a deposit on an estimate.
Make the terms do the chasing for you
Clear terms are only half the win. The other half is letting Fee-Lion handle the follow-through so you’re not the one sending awkward “just checking in” emails.
- Every invoice carries a Pay button. Your client pays by card straight from the portal, and the money lands in your own Stripe account. The easier it is to pay, the faster they do.
- For repeat clients, set up a recurring invoice on the same terms so billing runs itself month after month.
- Turn on auto-pay so trusted clients are charged automatically when each invoice is due, no reminder required.
Tip: Watch your habits in the invoice aging report for a month. If most clients pay well before the due date, you can safely tighten your default term. If a few always run late, that’s a signal to switch them to due-on-receipt or require a deposit.
Set it once, and your default payment terms become invisible infrastructure. Every invoice already knows when it’s due, your clients always know what’s expected, and you get to spend your energy on the work instead of the wait.
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