Calculate an invoice due date, see when the cash actually lands once your client's payment run is taken into account, what 30, 60, or 90 days of delay costs, whether a 2/10 Net 30 discount still beats waiting, and whether factoring still beats waiting after your carrying cost. Before the first invoice, it also prices the billing schedule.
Before you send the first invoice: how should the project be split?
Everything above prices one invoice. This prices the schedule — how much of your
finished work is sitting unpaid on the day you hand it over, and how much of the client's
project you are financing until they pay. It uses the payment terms and carrying-cost rate
you set above.
Schedule
Unpaid at handover
Peak unpaid
Paid in full (day)
Financing cost
“Unpaid at handover” is the finished work still outstanding the day you deliver — what you
lose if the client never pays. Only money that has cleared before that day counts,
so an invoice sent at completion never protects you, however large.
Delivered value is assumed to spread evenly across the project's days; front-loaded work is
exposed more than this shows. These are arithmetic scenarios from the numbers you enter, not
a recommendation to ask for a deposit and not a prediction about any client.
Common questions
When is a Net 30 invoice due?
On the calculator defaults a $1,200 invoice dated today with 30-day terms is due 30 days later. Three similar invoices outstanding are $3,600 of exposure — 36 operating days at a $3,000 monthly burn.
Should I offer 2/10 Net 30?
On a $1,200 invoice, 2% for payment in 10 days leaves $1,168.27 after 24% carrying cost. Waiting 30 days for the full $1,200 leaves $1,176.33 — $8.06 ahead. They match at about 36.1%. This is not a recommendation to offer or withhold the discount.
Should I factor this invoice?
On a $1,200 invoice, a 3% factor fee with a 90% advance leaves $1,161.24 after 24% carrying cost. Waiting 30 days leaves $1,176.33 — $15.09 ahead. They match at a 1.74% fee. This is not a recommendation to factor or to wait.
Should I ask for a deposit?
On a $6,000 project delivered over 30 days with Net 30 paid 12 days late, billing once at the end leaves $6,000 of finished work unpaid on handover day and costs $224.88 to finance at 24%. A 50% deposit that clears in 5 days leaves $3,000 unpaid and costs $99.29. A deposit collected on the same 42-day cycle leaves all $6,000 unpaid — the collection time protects you, not the percentage. This is not a recommendation to ask for a deposit.
Does this make a late fee enforceable?
No. Late-fee rows are arithmetic scenarios from the annual rate and grace period you type. They are not legal advice and do not determine whether a fee is permitted.
Why does my invoice get paid after the due date even when the client is not late?
Most accounts-payable departments pay in runs rather than on the day each invoice falls due — weekdays only, the 1st and 15th, once a month, or one weekday a week. An invoice dated 2026-08-24 on Net 30 is due 2026-09-23, but at a client who pays on the 1st and 15th the cash lands 2026-10-01: eight days of drift the due date never shows, costing about $6.31 on $1,200 at a 24% carrying rate.
Is Net 45 more expensive than Net 30?
Not always. Because payment runs are batched, a longer term often lands on the very same run. At a client paying once a month on the 1st, an invoice dated 2026-08-24 lands 2026-10-01 under both Net 15 and Net 30 — fifteen extra days of terms at no cost in cash timing. The calculator compares Net 7, 15, 30, 45, and 60 side by side so you can see where that happens.
Wondering whether slow payers could leave you short before payday? The cash flow risk forecaster pays each invoice on time, late or never thousands of times and shows the odds your balance drops below your floor.