Payment terms are one of the few parts of running a cleaning business you set once and then mostly forget about -- which is exactly why it's worth getting right from the start instead of inheriting whatever term you picked without thinking about it.
Payment terms are simply the window between when an invoice is sent and when payment is due. "Net 7" means payment is due 7 days from the invoice date; "Net 30" means 30 days; "Due on Receipt" means immediately, no grace period. The term you pick isn't just a technicality -- it directly controls your cash flow, since the gap between doing the work and actually being paid for it is real money sitting out there, uncollected, for however long your terms allow.
For a standard residential clean -- especially a one-time job, a new client, or any job where you're physically present at the end of the visit -- Due on Receipt is the most common and usually the correct choice. There's no real reason to extend credit to a homeowner for a job that's already finished and that you were present for; collecting immediately (by card on file, a payment link sent at the door, or cash/check in hand) removes the entire "chasing payment later" problem before it starts.
Some cleaning businesses offer trusted, established recurring clients a short grace window -- Net 7 or Net 14 -- rather than requiring payment the same day. This is less about the client needing the time and more about relationship flexibility: it signals trust, and for a client who's been reliable for months or years, that flexibility rarely costs you anything in practice. It's a weaker fit for a brand-new client with no payment history, where the value of collecting immediately is highest.
Commercial and institutional clients -- property managers, offices, facilities with their own accounts-payable process -- commonly expect Net 30, sometimes Net 45, as standard practice, often with the full month's service itemized on one invoice rather than billed per visit. This isn't really optional in commercial work the way it is residentially: many commercial buyers have a fixed AP cycle and won't (or can't) pay faster regardless of what your invoice says, so Net 30 is frequently just the reality of doing business with them, not a term you're choosing to be generous. Price and cash-flow-plan around that reality rather than fighting it on every invoice.
Whatever term you choose, state it explicitly as part of the actual service agreement the client agrees to before the first job, not something introduced for the first time on an invoice after work is already done. A payment term (and a late-fee policy, if you have one) stated on day one reads as normal business practice; the same term introduced only once a payment is already late reads as punitive and invites pushback, even if the term itself is entirely reasonable.
A stated late fee that's never actually applied teaches clients, over time, that your payment terms are optional. It doesn't need to be aggressive -- a modest flat fee or a small percentage for a payment that's meaningfully overdue is enough -- but it needs to be consistent once it's in writing, or it stops functioning as a real deadline and starts functioning as a suggestion.
The real alternative to carefully choosing between Net 7, Net 14, and Due on Receipt is removing the "term" question for recurring clients entirely: auto-charge their card on the schedule you've already agreed to, and there's no due date to track or enforce, because the charge happens on the day it's supposed to, automatically. Payment terms matter most exactly where autopay doesn't reach -- one-time jobs and commercial accounts still billed the traditional way.
Due on Receipt is the right default for most residential work, especially new clients. Net 7 or 14 is a reasonable relationship perk for established recurring clients. Net 30 is simply the reality of commercial accounts, not a generous term you're extending. Whatever you choose, put it in writing before the first job -- and for recurring clients paying by card, consider skipping the term question altogether with autopay.
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