Net 30 vs Net 60: What Payment Terms Are Normal for Freelancers?

"Net 30" is not jargon designed to confuse you, even if it feels that way. It just means payment is due 30 days after you send the invoice. Net 60 means 60 days. Net 90 means you wait three months to be paid for work you already finished.

So when a client's contract says Net 60, the fair question is simple: is that normal, or are they quietly using your invoice as a free loan?

What the terms actually mean

The "Net" number is just the count of days you wait after invoicing before payment is due. Net 15 is fast and freelancer-friendly. Net 30 is the standard most of the industry runs on. Anything longer starts to work against you.

The thing to notice is who the delay benefits. A longer term does nothing for you. It only helps the client hold onto their cash while you wait on yours.

The benchmark

Why Net 60 lands on you

When you agree to Net 60, you are not just waiting longer. You are covering your own costs, your software, your time, sometimes subcontractors, for two months before a penny arrives. That is working capital, and a longer term means you are lending it to the client for free.

Big companies use long terms because they can, and because every extra day the money sits in their account is a day it works for them instead of you. It is rarely personal. It is just a default you are allowed to negotiate.

In the US, some places have written the pushback into law. New York City's Freelance Isn't Free Act treats payment as due within the term set by the contract, and within 30 days of completion when the contract does not specify one. That is a useful anchor: 30 days is the number the law reaches for when no one agreed otherwise.

How to push a long term back

You have two clean moves. The first is to counter Net 60 with Net 30 and treat it as a normal edit, because it is. The second is to accept the longer wait but charge for it: a higher deposit so more of the fee is already in hand, or a slightly higher rate to reflect the loan you are effectively giving.

Either way, a long payment term should never come with the same price and the same deposit as a short one. If a client wants Net 60, that is a trade, not a freebie.

The clause worth changing

The trap: "Payment terms: Net 60 from receipt of invoice."

The fair version: "Payment terms: Net 30, with a 1.5% monthly fee on overdue balances."

That second version does two jobs at once: it shortens the wait and it gives the deadline teeth. For more on that late fee and why it matters, see what late fee can a freelancer charge. And for the full set of terms worth checking before you sign, start with the freelancer's contract benchmark.

None of this is legal advice, and norms differ across the US, UK, and EU. But Net 30 is the anchor, and asking for it is completely ordinary.