Creating Payment Terms

When you send an invoice to a customer, it is common practice to indicate when you expect to receive payment. You might want to be paid the full amount in 30 days (net 30) or in 15 days (net 15). You might offer a small discount for early payment (2% 10 net 30 = 2% discount if the balance is paid in 10 days, but the full balance is due in any case in 30 days), or you might expect to be paid immediately (due on receipt). All these options are called terms, and QuickBooks starts you out with a sample list of frequently used payment terms. You can add your own favorite terms to this list.

Select Customer & Vendor Profile List from the Lists menu; then select Terms List from the side menu that appears.

Click the Terms button and select New from the drop-down menu to create a new term.

TIMESAVER

You can also press Ctrl+N to open the New Terms window.

Enter a name for this term.

Select Standard to base the term on the date an invoice is issued. Alternatively, selecting Date Driven bases the term on a particular day of the month.

Enter the number of days until the full amount of the invoice is due.

Enter the discount percentage, if any, for early payment.

Enter the number of days during which the customer is eligible to claim the discount.

Click OK.

Did You Know?

Using payment terms results in better record keeping. When you enter payment terms, QuickBooks uses this information to determine due dates of bills and invoices and posts related notices in the Reminders window.