Payment term for translation Thread poster: Thu Nguyen
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Thu Nguyen 
Vietnam
Local time: 02:45
English to Vietnamese
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SITE LOCALIZER
Hi there,
I'm going to sign a Supplier Agreement, of which the payment term is specified "within 60 days from receipt of the invoice...." is that term too long? Should I revise to "within 30 days...or other number? How is your payment be made? Thanks very much!
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| Practices seem to vary according to country | May 2, 2013 |
In my experience, the fastest payers are in the Nordic countries and the slowest are in southern Europe.
I don't know about countries in Asia, but agencies in the EU often flout EU laws on the payment of invoices. I think a month to six weeks is common in the UK. 60 days is too long, but it may be that the relationship will prove lucrative.
I would try for 30 first and see what they say.
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| A translation | May 2, 2013 |
"Within 60 days" will mean that you will probably get your money in no less than 60 days, so if you can agree with the customer to shorten the payment term to 30 days, it would be better for you. 30 days is more than an ample time to arrange payment for any project, in my opinion.
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ATIL KAYHAN
Türkiye
Local time: 22:45
Member (2007)
Turkish to English
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I would go with 30 days, too. I think 60 days is way too long.
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 21:45
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| You're at the mercy of the client's accountant | May 2, 2013 |
Nguyen Thu wrote:
I'm going to sign a Supplier Agreement, of which the payment term is specified "within 60 days from receipt of the invoice...." is that term too long? Should I revise to "within 30 days...or other number?
In terms of the laws of the country that I currently live in, my invoice says "30 days", but I know that the majority of my clients don't pay when my invoice says but when their accountant says.
60 days does seem long, and the sad thing is that it can be interpreted in many ways. It could mean "60 days after the date of the invoice" or it could mean "60 days after the end of the current payment cycle" (and if they have a 30 day payment cycle and your invoice arrives two days after the payment cycle, you'll get your money after [60+(30-2)] days.
If you're quite lucky, the "60 days" mentioned in their contract is simply a way to limit their liability for in case they are unable to pay sooner, even though they usually do. However, my belief is that if an agency's agreement itself says "60 days", then you must know what kind of agency you're dealing with and simply either accept their work or not accept it.
A long payment period doesn't say anything about whether they pay promptly, though. Some 60-dayers and 90-dayers pay very, very promptly... after 60 or 90 days.
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| It's an agreement between two parties | May 2, 2013 |
As with everything when you're a business owner doing business with another business, it's all to do with what you agree with the other business.
There is not an industry standard as such although there are certain rules in Europe that companies have to abide by but often don't. I have clients who pay immediately, at 30 days, at 45 days and at 60 days (and some others who only pay once I've chased them) and I keep a list of the agencies and their payment terms that I can consult quickly.... See more As with everything when you're a business owner doing business with another business, it's all to do with what you agree with the other business.
There is not an industry standard as such although there are certain rules in Europe that companies have to abide by but often don't. I have clients who pay immediately, at 30 days, at 45 days and at 60 days (and some others who only pay once I've chased them) and I keep a list of the agencies and their payment terms that I can consult quickly. I don't mind when they pay (to a degree), as long as they pay when they say they do and don't cause me work chasing them up.
If there are several agencies asking me if I'm available for a task though, and one pays at 30 days, one at 45 and one at 60, I will first respond to the one who pays at 30. ▲ Collapse
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If your client is in EU this website: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/single-market-goods/fighting-late-payments/ could be of interest for you, especially these lines:
"The new Directive 2011/7/EU
The new Directive will have to be transposed into national law by 16 March 2013 at the latest.
The provisions of... See more If your client is in EU this website: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/single-market-goods/fighting-late-payments/ could be of interest for you, especially these lines:
"The new Directive 2011/7/EU
The new Directive will have to be transposed into national law by 16 March 2013 at the latest.
The provisions of the new directive include, among others:
Harmonisation of period for payment by public authorities to businesses: Public authorities will have to pay for the goods and services that they procure within 30 days or, in very exceptional circumstances, within 60 days.
Contractual freedom in businesses commercial transactions: Enterprises will have to pay their invoices within 60 days, unless they expressly agree otherwise and if it is not grossly unfair.
Enterprises will automatically be entitled to claim interest for late payment and will also be able to obtain a minimum fixed amount of €40 as a compensation for recovery costs. They can claim compensation for all remaining reasonable recovery costs.
The statutory Interest rate for late payment will be increased to at least 8 percentage points above the European Central Bank’s reference. Public authorities are not allowed to fix an interest rate for late payment below.
Member States may continue to maintain or to bring into force laws and regulations which are more favourable to the creditor than the provisions of the new Directive."
Though unfortunately this does not mean all clients will act accordingly... ▲ Collapse
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 21:45
Member (2009)
English to German
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| To be agreed on | May 3, 2013 |
Although it seems to be understood that no more than 30 days of date of invoice are the standard payment terms, it is the "norm" in many Asian countries to pay after 60 days, at the earliest. So these payment terms of 1 to 14 days after date of invoice are rare exceptions.
Receiving payment after 60 or even 90 days is perhaps not all such a "nightmare", provided the agency/client pay on time.
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Thu Nguyen
Vietnam
Local time: 02:45
English to Vietnamese
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TOPIC STARTER SITE LOCALIZER
Thank all for valuable and informative comments. Actually, this is my first time agreement so I'm not yet familiar with the client. I think in the future if this becomes a long-lasting and trustworthy relationship for both then the time-shortening agreement will be considered more easily.
Thank very much again for all your sharing.
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