# Net payment terms

Net-day payment periods, invoice and acceptance clocks, and the difference between a due date, payment and a discount deadline.

Reviewed: 2026-10-30

Tags: commercial, payment, invoicing

## Meaning and scope

Net 30 gives the length of the payment period. The agreement determines the
trigger, counting calendar and payment event. NASSCO uses the latest of
three events. [NASSCO, clause 28](https://nassco.com/suppliers/doing-business-with-us/terms-conditions/mro-purchase-order-terms-and-conditions/)

[Early-payment discounts](early-payment-discounts.md) have a separate deadline.

## Calendar days, business days and the last day

### Hypothetical date arithmetic

In this invented example, the 30-day clock yields **1 July**, **3 July** or **8 July 2026**, depending on the trigger. The invoice is issued 1 June, received 3 June and the goods accepted 8 June. Count calendar days after the trigger, with day 30 due and no last-day adjustment.

| Assumed trigger | Day 1 | Day 30: hypothetical due date |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Invoice issue | 2 June | 1 July 2026 |
| Invoice receipt | 4 June | 3 July 2026 |
| Acceptance | 9 June | 8 July 2026 |

These are arithmetic alternatives, not interpretations of the published contracts. A separate invented rule counting five business days after Monday 1 June, excluding that date and counting only Monday–Friday with no holidays, ends Monday 8 June; five calendar days ends Saturday 6 June. If that invented calendar-day agreement instead moves a weekend last day to the following Monday, its adjusted date is 8 June. A holiday on that Monday would require a holiday rule; none is assumed here.

Calendar-day counting includes intervening weekends; business-day counting requires a defined business calendar. A last-day adjustment is separate. FAR uses calendar days unless specified otherwise; payment on the next working day after a Saturday, Sunday or legal-holiday due date can avoid late interest. This is a clause-specific exception. [FAR 52.232-25, opening text and (a)(4)](https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.232-25)

## The event that starts the period

| Published example | Trigger and qualification |
| --- | --- |
| Graco, General Terms of Sale, 7 January 2026, section 1, GB English page | Accounts are payable on demand; absent a demand, the stated period is 30 days from invoice date. The section also makes payment terms subject to seller approval and includes advance-payment and delayed-delivery provisions. This is not an unconditional promise of 30 days' credit. |
| General Dynamics NASSCO, MRO terms, Rev. L, 16 December 2022, clause 28.1 | Unless the purchase-order face provides otherwise, net 30 runs from the latest of receipt of a proper invoice, scheduled delivery and actual delivery. |
| U.S. FAR 52.232-25, January 2017 clause, paragraph (a)(1)(i) | Subject to the clause's exceptions, payment is due on the later of the 30th day after the designated billing office receives a proper invoice and the 30th day after Government acceptance. |

Sources for the respective rows: [Graco section 1](https://www.graco.com/gb/en/general-terms-of-sale.html), [NASSCO clause 28](https://nassco.com/suppliers/doing-business-with-us/terms-conditions/mro-purchase-order-terms-and-conditions/), [FAR 52.232-25](https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.232-25).

Invoice issue, receipt, delivery and acceptance are distinct dates here. FAR's conditional invoice-date fallback, special-product and interim-payment exceptions qualify its general rule. Constructive acceptance concerns interest computation, not compelled acceptance. These federal provisions establish no private-sale default. [FAR 52.232-25, (a)(1)(ii), (a)(2), (a)(5)(i), Alternate I (e)](https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.232-25)

## Due, paid and discounted are different concepts

A due date describes when payment is required under the applicable terms. A payment event describes what has happened. NASSCO deems payment made on mailing or electronic funds transfer and separately says payment does not constitute acceptance. Thus a contractual payment date need not identify bank clearance or prove acceptance of the work. [NASSCO clauses 28.1 and 28.3](https://nassco.com/suppliers/doing-business-with-us/terms-conditions/mro-purchase-order-terms-and-conditions/)

An early-payment discount has its own eligibility period. Under FAR 52.232-8, that period runs from invoice date, with a conditional receipt-date fallback for an undated invoice. The clause defines the payment event for earning the discount and a qualified following-business-day exception. Discount eligibility is distinct from the ordinary payment deadline. [FAR 52.232-8, February 2002, (a)–(b)](https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.232-8)

For a purely hypothetical offer explicitly defining a 2% discount on a USD 1,000 eligible balance through day 10 and full payment by day 30, the discounted amount is USD 980. Missing day 10 removes that assumed discount; it does not by itself mean day 30 has passed. The example assumes the same defined trigger and day-count convention for both periods and no tax, freight, credits or partial payments.

Late interest is a separate provision, not a rate encoded by “net 30.” Graco's section 1 contains multiple charge provisions; this reference does not resolve their interaction or extract a generally applicable rate. [Graco section 1](https://www.graco.com/gb/en/general-terms-of-sale.html)

## Evidence limits

The linked public HTML was reviewed on 30 October 2026 PDT. Acquisition.gov displayed FAC 2026-01, effective 13 March 2026; clause dates are identified above. The manufacturer examples cover only the identified Graco regional page and NASSCO MRO revision, whose governing-law provision names California. They are not evidence of universal manufacturing practice, a particular customer's accepted terms or current law in every jurisdiction. No private agreement, bank settlement evidence or charge calculation was examined. [Graco](https://www.graco.com/gb/en/general-terms-of-sale.html), [NASSCO clause 2.5](https://nassco.com/suppliers/doing-business-with-us/terms-conditions/mro-purchase-order-terms-and-conditions/), [Acquisition.gov](https://www.acquisition.gov/far/52.232-25)

Related reference: [Commercial terms](index.md).