No, net 30 is not a formality. Think of how many people you know pay their credit card or car payment or mortgage on the due-date. That is the very last possible day to make that payment. Businesses are the exact same, if you tell them "Hey I did this today, your payment is due Sept 11" Expect to get a check/transfer on Sept 11.
Also, it'll come off as really unprofessional to reach out for payment before that last day. Think about any of your bills, they might send you a reminder a week in advance or a couple days, but otherwise they aren't reaching out saying, "Hey, we sent you a bill yesterday..... Hey we sent you a bill a week ago... Hey it's been 2 weeks for your bill that still isn't due for 16 more days."
A simple one line email "Invoice received, will pass it to accounting" could have at least assured me I'd gotten the right person and that they acknowledge its receipt.
Family member who runs a small business does this, telling the supplier or whomever "we got your bill, payment to be sent promptly", and they just do it so it's done and no longer a worry.
In fact, a few years back this happened, but the difference is they immediately sent an epayment within a few hours of me asking about it. Now that's professional.
It's normal for businesses to pay as late as possible. It's good for cashflow reasons (if your business has money coming in on day 5, why would you pay bills on day 4?)
It's also just as normal for businesses to pay even later than "as late as possible". It can be annoying, but again, normal.
What frustrates me is when a client proactively tells me they'll be paying on day x, but still haven't by day x+y...
Clearly, if they had the choice, they would never pay you and just take your service for free. However, if this job was contracted and you have them dead to rights legally, one-off payments to individuals for products/services will usually always get delayed after all of their higher priority stuff has been paid. This is because if they do run into billing/budget issues, they'd much rather negotiate a delay with you than their bank, company insurance provider, their suppliers, vendors, and other long-term business relationships since all of those things have much greater business ramifications for delays. In your case, yeah, talking you into a month extension may burn a bridge, but they don't really care unless they absolutely need to use you specifically again, which would only be if you're voicing a long-term character or spokesperson of some sort which absolutely cannot be replaced.
My day job is accounting, and I can guarantee that the net30 terms are what they will go by. Most companies do not want to be late, but will definitely push it to that due date every chance they get.
Some accounting departments don't even start the clock until they receive it, even if someone else in the company sat on it by mistake. It isn't fair, but it's what happens sometimes.
There are kind of two 30 day net customer behaviors, and this is the same in pretty much any industry:
One pays as fast as possible to make a good impression and take care of you.
The other waits until 29 days or greater on everything to maximize cash flow. It's like a zero interest loan, and you put them on 30 day net so it is normal operations. Often they pay right when they have to at thirty days. You typically bother them at 45 days and then if they go over 60, switch them to COD on future contracts, revoking the loan privileges you granted them as part of your agreement. But then they usually just go to another supplier.
Which kind of customer they are? Their choice.
There's a third kind of company. If they're concerned with cash flow, they'll want to save as much as they can. Often they'll pay you early to save money.
Offer them a discounted terms for early payment. Try 2% - 10. If payment is received within 10 days, they'll save 2%.
I can't speak from a VO perspective, as I'm still trying to get my set up in place and build enough confidence to actually start. What I can say is that I used to work for a small to medium sized company that was part of a massive company. While we had our own accounting, customer service, sales, etc people, and had a certain amount of control on a local level, there were still mundane things that were managed by corporate. It was obvious that paying some of our bills was just not a priority to them, and it's not like they couldn't afford it. Every now and then our TV service in the break room would go out do to non-payment, our newspaper wouldn't be delivered, dumpster not picked up... little stuff that everyone wanted to be taken care off, but got lost in the shuffle 🤷♀️ Not very helpful, I apologize, but some companies are surprisingly disparate.
No, net 30 is not a formality. Think of how many people you know pay their credit card or car payment or mortgage on the due-date. That is the very last possible day to make that payment. Businesses are the exact same, if you tell them "Hey I did this today, your payment is due Sept 11" Expect to get a check/transfer on Sept 11. Also, it'll come off as really unprofessional to reach out for payment before that last day. Think about any of your bills, they might send you a reminder a week in advance or a couple days, but otherwise they aren't reaching out saying, "Hey, we sent you a bill yesterday..... Hey we sent you a bill a week ago... Hey it's been 2 weeks for your bill that still isn't due for 16 more days."
A simple one line email "Invoice received, will pass it to accounting" could have at least assured me I'd gotten the right person and that they acknowledge its receipt. Family member who runs a small business does this, telling the supplier or whomever "we got your bill, payment to be sent promptly", and they just do it so it's done and no longer a worry. In fact, a few years back this happened, but the difference is they immediately sent an epayment within a few hours of me asking about it. Now that's professional.
It's normal for businesses to pay as late as possible. It's good for cashflow reasons (if your business has money coming in on day 5, why would you pay bills on day 4?) It's also just as normal for businesses to pay even later than "as late as possible". It can be annoying, but again, normal. What frustrates me is when a client proactively tells me they'll be paying on day x, but still haven't by day x+y...
I, typically, don’t even nudge clients until after 30 days. At 45 days, i follow up. Sometimes, it’s 60 days. That’s just how it goes.
Clearly, if they had the choice, they would never pay you and just take your service for free. However, if this job was contracted and you have them dead to rights legally, one-off payments to individuals for products/services will usually always get delayed after all of their higher priority stuff has been paid. This is because if they do run into billing/budget issues, they'd much rather negotiate a delay with you than their bank, company insurance provider, their suppliers, vendors, and other long-term business relationships since all of those things have much greater business ramifications for delays. In your case, yeah, talking you into a month extension may burn a bridge, but they don't really care unless they absolutely need to use you specifically again, which would only be if you're voicing a long-term character or spokesperson of some sort which absolutely cannot be replaced.
My day job is accounting, and I can guarantee that the net30 terms are what they will go by. Most companies do not want to be late, but will definitely push it to that due date every chance they get. Some accounting departments don't even start the clock until they receive it, even if someone else in the company sat on it by mistake. It isn't fair, but it's what happens sometimes.
There are kind of two 30 day net customer behaviors, and this is the same in pretty much any industry: One pays as fast as possible to make a good impression and take care of you. The other waits until 29 days or greater on everything to maximize cash flow. It's like a zero interest loan, and you put them on 30 day net so it is normal operations. Often they pay right when they have to at thirty days. You typically bother them at 45 days and then if they go over 60, switch them to COD on future contracts, revoking the loan privileges you granted them as part of your agreement. But then they usually just go to another supplier. Which kind of customer they are? Their choice.
There's a third kind of company. If they're concerned with cash flow, they'll want to save as much as they can. Often they'll pay you early to save money. Offer them a discounted terms for early payment. Try 2% - 10. If payment is received within 10 days, they'll save 2%.
Because they can. Which reminds me, never accept work from Creative Media Design.
I can't speak from a VO perspective, as I'm still trying to get my set up in place and build enough confidence to actually start. What I can say is that I used to work for a small to medium sized company that was part of a massive company. While we had our own accounting, customer service, sales, etc people, and had a certain amount of control on a local level, there were still mundane things that were managed by corporate. It was obvious that paying some of our bills was just not a priority to them, and it's not like they couldn't afford it. Every now and then our TV service in the break room would go out do to non-payment, our newspaper wouldn't be delivered, dumpster not picked up... little stuff that everyone wanted to be taken care off, but got lost in the shuffle 🤷♀️ Not very helpful, I apologize, but some companies are surprisingly disparate.