Payment terms say how long a partner has to pay an invoice, and what comes off if they pay early. Your organization keeps one list of terms, and clients and suppliers share it. So you write each term once, and you give it to as many partners as you need.
What Payment Terms Define
| Field | Definition |
|---|---|
| Name | What people call the term, such as “Net 30”, “2/10 Net 30” or “Due on Receipt”. A picker shows it beside the code. |
| Code | A short code. The form opens on the next one, such as TRM-000004 after TRM-000003. Keep it, or type your own, such as NET30. If you clear it, Beelocity gives the next one when you save. |
| Days | How many days after the invoice date the payment is due. Zero means that it is due on the invoice date. |
| Discount percent | What comes off for paying early, as a percentage (optional). |
| Discount days | How many days after the invoice date the discount still holds. The form asks for it only when you enter a discount percent. It cannot be more than Days. |
| Details | A note in plain words about the term (optional). It helps a colleague who does not know the term’s name. |
If you fill in both Discount percent and Discount days, the term offers an early payment discount. The partner can pay within so many days and take so much off, or pay the full amount by the due date. If you leave either one empty, the term gives no discount. When neither is set, the term only counts the days to the due date.
Treasury checks the early window on a client’s invoice only. It refuses the discount on a payment made after the window. On a supplier’s bill, Treasury records the discount that you take, and it does not check the window.
Common Payment Terms
Here are typical terms that you might write for your organization. The codes below are codes that a business typed itself. If you keep the codes that the form offers, they read TRM-000001 onwards.
| Term | Code | Days | Discount | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net 30 | NET30 |
30 | — | The full amount is due 30 days after the invoice date. This is the most common term. |
| Net 60 | NET60 |
60 | — | The full amount is due 60 days after the invoice date. It is common for large orders or long-standing partners. |
| 2/10 Net 30 | 2-10-30 |
30 | 2% within 10 days | Pay within 10 days and take 2% off. Otherwise, the full amount is due after 30 days. |
| Due on Receipt | DOR |
0 | — | The payment is due on the invoice date. It is common for small or one-off sales. |
| Prepaid | PREPAID |
0 | — | The client pays before you ship. Beelocity only sets the due date to the invoice date, and it does not hold the goods back. |
| Net 90 | NET90 |
90 | — | The full amount is due 90 days after the invoice date. It is sometimes used for public contracts or seasonal trade. |
Using Payment Terms with Partners
Each partner can have separate payment terms for its supplier role and its client role. You pick them when you edit the partner, in its Supplier details and Client details sections:
- Supplier payment terms say when you pay the supplier for what you buy. For example, your metal supplier might give you Net 60.
- Client payment terms say when the client pays you for what you sell. For example, a shop might pay on receipt, and a large firm on Net 30.
A partner that is both a supplier and a client can have different terms on each side. This is common, because the terms that you get as a buyer often differ from the terms that you give as a seller. The Procurement manager, the Sales manager and the owner of your organization can edit a partner and pick its terms.
What the partner’s terms fill in. A new quotation, sales order or sales invoice opens on the client’s terms. A new purchase order opens on the supplier’s terms. You can change the terms on any one document. An invoice that you make from a sales order takes the order’s terms.
How Beelocity counts the due date. A sales invoice takes the Days of its own terms. If it has none, or if they are not active, it takes the client’s terms. If neither is active, the invoice is due 30 days after its date. A supplier’s bill has no terms of its own. It takes the days of its purchase order’s terms, then the supplier’s terms, then 30 days. You can type another due date on a document, and Beelocity keeps it.
On the Payment Terms list, the filter button narrows the terms by Active, or by a range of Days, Discount percent or Discount days. For example, you can list the terms over 60 days when you review your credit policy (Working with lists).
Setting Up Payment Terms
Only the owner of your organization can add, change or delete a payment term. No other built-in role can, so anyone else needs a role that the owner gives them (Roles and Permissions).
- Go to Business Partners > Setup, open the Payment Terms tab and click New.
- Fill in Name and Days. For an early payment discount, also fill in Discount percent and Discount days.
- Keep the code that the form offers, or type your own.
- Fill in Details if the term might be unclear to your colleagues.
- Click Save.
Best Practices for Setup
- Write your usual terms before you add partners. Then each term is ready to pick when you create a partner.
- Keep the list short. Most organizations use 4 to 8 terms. Too many terms confuse your team and make your rules harder to follow.
- Use the names that everyone knows. “Net 30” and “2/10 Net 30” are understood in business everywhere. Do not invent names that your team would have to learn.
- Deactivate rather than delete. Beelocity refuses to delete a term that a partner, a purchase order, a sales order or a sales invoice uses. A quotation that uses it loses it. To retire a term, open it and choose Deactivate under More actions (the three dots).
- Give a deactivated term’s partners a new term. An inactive term stays on its partners and documents, and the pickers still offer it. But Beelocity skips it when it counts a due date. So a partner left on it gets invoices and bills that fall due after 30 days. To find these partners, filter the Partners list on Supplier payment terms or Client payment terms.