Net 30 Is Killing Your Cash Flow: When to Demand a Deposit Instead

## The terms you set are the terms you get treated by Most freelancers don't choose their payment terms. They inherit them. A client says "we pay net 30" and you nod along because pushing back feels risky when you need the work. Then 45 days later you're chasing an invoice, juggling your own rent, and wondering why freelancing feels like running a charity for businesses with healthier bank balances than yours. Payment terms aren't a formality. They're the difference between a business that survives a slow month and one that doesn't. Let's break down the two that matter most — net 30 and upfront deposits — and when each actually serves you. **Takeaway:** Your payment terms are a business decision, not a courtesy you extend to clients. Treat them that way. ## What net 30 actually costs you Net 30 means the client has 30 days from the invoice date to pay. Sounds reasonable. The problem is what "30 days" turns into once a corporate accounts payable department gets involved. Here's a real-world timeline. You finish a £3,000 project on the 1st of the month. You invoice the same day. The client's net 30 clock starts ticking — but their internal process means the invoice doesn't get "approved" until the 10th. Payment runs happen twice a month, on the 15th and the last day. Your approved invoice misses the 15th cutoff, so it lands in the end-of-month run. You're now looking at day 30+ at the earliest, and that assumes nothing gets queried. Now stack three clients doing the same thing. You could deliver £9,000 of work in March and not see a penny of it until late April or May. Meanwhile your software subscriptions, your tax set-aside, and your grocery bill don't run on net 30. They run on net now. Net 30 isn't evil. For an established client with a track record of paying on time, it's perfectly fine and often unavoidable if you want corporate work. But going in with your eyes closed is how you end up funding someone else's payroll for free. **Takeaway:** Calculate your real "days to cash" — invoice date to money landing — not the number on the contract. It's almost always longer than 30. ## Why upfront deposits change the entire dynamic A deposit does two things. It gives you working capital, and it filters out time-wasters before they cost you anything. The second part matters more than people realise. A client who refuses to pay a 30% deposit is telling you something. Either they don't have the budget, they don't trust the process, or they're the type to vanish when the invoice arrives. A deposit request surfaces all of that before you've sunk 40 hours into their project. Here's how the numbers play out. Say you take a £4,000 branding project. You ask for 40% upfront — £1,600 — before any work begins. Now your downside is capped. If the client ghosts after you deliver the first draft, you've still been paid for the work you've done. You're not £4,000 in the hole hoping a small claims letter does the trick. For longer projects, milestone deposits work even better. A £12,000 website build split into three: £4,000 to start, £4,000 at design sign-off, £4,000 on launch. You're never carrying more than a third of the project as risk, and the client only ever pays for momentum they can see. **Takeaway:** A deposit isn't you being difficult. It's you running a business that can absorb a client disappearing without it ending you. ## When to use which (and when to combine them) This isn't either/or. The right structure depends on the client and the job. **Use a deposit + balance on completion when:** - The client is new and unproven - The project is short (under a month) - You're a sole operator who can't afford to carry the risk Example: New client, £2,500 logo project. Take £1,250 upfront, £1,250 on final delivery. Simple, safe. **Use net 30 (or net 14) when:** - The client is an established business with a finance department that simply won't pay individuals upfront - You've worked with them before and they've paid reliably - The contract value is large enough that the relationship is worth the cash flow hit **Combine deposit + net terms when:** - It's a big project with a corporate client - You want protection but they need their process Example: £15,000 retained engagement. £5,000 deposit to start (covers your risk), then monthly invoices on net 30 for the rest. You get the safety net and they get the terms their accounts team expects. Shorter terms are also fair game. Net 30 isn't a law of physics. Net 14 or net 7 are completely legitimate, and for smaller clients there's no reason to default to 30 days just because that's what big companies do. **Takeaway:** Match the structure to the risk. New and small means deposit. Established and large means terms. Big and risky means both. ## How to actually ask without losing the job The fear is that asking for a deposit scares clients off. In practice, professionals expect it. Tradespeople take deposits. Solicitors take retainers. Asking for one signals you run a real business, not a hobby. The key is to never present it as a negotiation. Bake it into your process. "My standard terms are 40% to book the work in, balance on completion" lands completely differently from "would it be okay if I maybe asked for a deposit?" The first is a fact. The second is a question that invites a no. Put it in writing before you start. A short agreement or a clear line on your proposal that states the deposit, the balance, and the due dates. Then make the deposit invoice the trigger — work begins when it's paid, not before. This single rule has saved more freelancers from unpaid work than any contract clause ever written. For the invoice itself, clarity does the heavy lifting. State the terms plainly: amount due, due date as an actual date (not "net 30" — write "due by 15 April"), and how to pay. Tools like GigInvoice let you set deposit invoices and payment terms up front so the due date and amount are spelled out automatically, which removes the awkward back-and-forth and gives the client nothing to misinterpret. **Takeaway:** State your terms as policy, not a request. Confidence is the difference between a deposit and an apology. ## What to do when a net 30 invoice goes past due Even good clients drift. The fix is a system, not a confrontation. Send the invoice the day the work is done — not the end of the month. Every day you delay sending is a day added to your wait. Then build a quiet follow-up rhythm: a friendly reminder on the due date, a firmer one at day 7 overdue, and a direct one at day 14 that references the late fee in your terms. Yes, late fees. Put a clause in stating something like "invoices unpaid after 30 days incur a 5% late charge" or, in the UK, reference your statutory right to claim interest and a fixed recovery fee under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts legislation. You don't have to enforce it every time. But having it written down changes how seriously your invoice gets treated in the pile. Automating reminders takes the emotion out of chasing. When a tool sends the nudge on a schedule, you're not the one who looks petty for following up — the system just does its job. **Takeaway:** Send invoices the moment work is done, and let scheduled reminders do the chasing so you're not stuck being the bad guy. ## The honest verdict There's no universally correct answer here, and anyone telling you to "always take a deposit" or "always offer net 30" is selling certainty that doesn't exist. The right call depends on who you're dealing with and how much you can afford to lose. What is universal: most freelancers under-protect themselves. They accept net 30 by default, never ask for deposits, and absorb cash flow stress that a 20-minute conversation at the start of a project would have prevented. If you take one thing from this, let it be that you're allowed to set terms. The work is real, the risk is real, and structuring payment around both isn't greedy — it's the bare minimum of running a business that lasts. Start with your next proposal. Add a deposit line. Write the due date as an actual date. See what happens. The clients worth keeping won't blink.