They want Net 30. Here’s the wait.

The wait is the product they just named

In 2026 a lot of kickoff threads still arrive with Net 30 already in the template. Nobody priced the wait. They pasted a payment line from last year’s PO. Agreeing to 100% on that line means this week’s hours fund their next month. The invoice can be perfect and your account is still empty until day N.

This card prints two calendars. Cash this week if they pay a deposit now. Cash in N days if they pay 100% on Net N. 30 is the worked example because they said Net 30. Type 15 or 45 or 60. The comparison does not change shape.

The hourly floor you already built on the hub calculator is take-home math — income, billable weeks, a tax buffer you set. This page does not clone that buffer and does not run a 50-state tax engine. Labels here are USD so the arithmetic stays readable. Switch currency on the hub if you invoice in something else.

Two piles of cash, not an APR

Cash this week = invoice × the deposit % you type. Remainder = invoice − that deposit, still sitting until day N. If they pay 100% on Net N, cash this week is $0 and cash in N days is the full invoice.

Blogs will take days until cash × (invoice ÷ 30) and call it an APR. When the wait is 30 days, that product is just the invoice again: 30 × ($3,000 ÷ 30) = $3,000. Stretching an invoice across a 30-day grid is not interest. This card shows that product so you can see the trick, then refuses to annualize it. There is no 2%/month here. There is no statutory late percent. There is no 24% “true cost of Net 30.” The wait is cash this week vs cash later.

Worked example: $3,000, Net 30, 50% now

Preset: $3,000 · Net 30 vs 50% now. Invoice $3,000. Days until cash 30 — the Net 30 example, not a law. Deposit % 50 — a planning example you can change, not a guild rate.

• 100% on Net 30: $0 this week, $3,000 in 30 days.
• 50% now: $1,500 this week, remainder $1,500 still waiting those 30 days.
• Days × (invoice ÷ 30) = 30 × $100 = $3,000. That is the invoice sitting on their calendar, labeled on the card as not an APR.

Second preset: Net 45, 40% this week. Same $3,000. Days 45. Deposit 40% → $1,200 this week, remainder $1,800 in 45 days. 100% on Net 45 is still $0 this week and $3,000 later. You typed 45 and 40. This page did not invent them.

Third preset: name a dollar from hours × floor. 10 hours × $90/hr = $900. That $900 is a deposit you can say out loud because it covers a block of floor, not because a blog said 50%. The percent split is still visible so you can compare $900 vs $1,500. Pick a number. Do not pick a fake industry rule.

This card is not the other money cards

Nothing is overdue. The due date has not even started. A chase email after the date already passed is the late-invoice follow-up. Do not paste a “7 days past due” sentence onto a kickoff that still says Net 30.

This is also not extra on a sitting past-due invoice. Extra = invoice you type × share you type on the late-fee card. Worked there: $5,000 × 0.015 = $75. Still owed = invoice + extra. 0.015 is a typed example, not 1.5% per month, not Prompt Payment Act. Waiting before kickoff stays here. Sitting extra after the bill already sat lives there.

This is also not how to ask for a deposit. Percent, remainder, optional PayPal/Stripe gross-up, and the wording for that first invoice live on the freelance deposit guide. Come here for the wait. Go there for the ask. Then send one note.

They did not ask to send EUR or GBP against a USD quote. Units they send × a USD-per-unit you type is paid in another currency — 5,000 × 1.08 = $5,400 before their processor. That product is not cash this week vs cash in N days. Price the conversion there. Price the wait here. Two numbers if they asked for both.

This is also not three gates on one quote. They still pay you, but they named three release dates as three invoices: each gate = invoice × a share you type, leftover if those shares miss 1, on the milestone gates card. Worked there: $5,000 × 0.30 / 0.40 / 0.30 = $1,500 / $2,000 / $1,500. 0.30 / 0.40 / 0.30 is a typed example on that card, not a standard split. Cash this week vs cash in N days stays here. Three named invoices stay there.

This is also not selling the receivable. The client is net, the bill already exists, and you want cash this week by selling that invoice: keep = invoice you type × (1 − share you type), cost = invoice × share, on the invoice-factor card. Worked there: $5,000 × 0.03 → keep $4,850, cost $150. You type the share — not a typical factor fee, not a loan. Waiting for them to pay you, or asking for a deposit, stays here. Haircutting the face value for a buyer of the invoice lives there.

Nothing cancelled. Hours already worked vs a deposit after they walk is the kill-fee keep / unpaid gap. Nothing paused either — a live job they asked you to freeze, with calendar slots left empty so they can restart, is the pause-hold card (weeks × hours/week × floor × a keep-share you type). Net 30 is cash timing on a number already billed, not empty Tuesdays. A $40 inbound tweak with no live job is the minimum-fee card — max(their offer, N hours × floor). If you do not trust the hourly number yet, set it on how to set a freelance rate — income, billable hours, tax buffer you set — then come back and type hours × floor so the deposit covers a real block of week.

Send the two calendars before you block the week

Name the full invoice. Name the wait. Name cash this week vs cash in N days. If you typed hours × floor, name that dollar. Copy from the card so the numbers match.

• Net 30 vs 50% now. Net 30 on a $3,000.00 invoice is $0.00 this week and $3,000.00 in 30 days. I can start after a $1,500.00 deposit (50% now). The remaining $1,500.00 can wait those 30 days.
• Net 45, 40% this week. Net 45 on a $3,000.00 invoice is $0.00 this week and $3,000.00 in 45 days. I can start after a $1,200.00 deposit (40% now). The remaining $1,800.00 can wait those 45 days.
• Named from hours × floor. Net 30 on a $3,000.00 invoice is $0.00 this week and $3,000.00 in 30 days. I can start after $900.00 (10 hours × $90.00/hr floor). The remaining $2,100.00 can wait those 30 days.

Skip lectures about “serious companies don’t use Net 30,” fake APRs, and 2% per month you just invented. Those lines turn a calendar into a fight. If they will not move cash this week, you can shrink scope, slide the start date, or pass. If the invoice is already late, leave this card and use the follow-up. If you still need the first-invoice wording and a processor gross-up, use the deposit guide.

This is planning math, not a contract

Educational only — not legal, tax, or collections advice. We do not invent a required deposit percent, a statutory Net 30 penalty, a 2%/month late rate, an APR, marketplace payout rules, or a 50-state tax engine. Confirm live terms in whatever agreement you already use. Typing numbers here does not create payment terms and does not make Net 30 into cash this week.

The math is: invoice, days until cash (Net 30 = 30 as a worked example), deposit % you type, cash this week vs cash in N days, remainder still waiting, optional hours × floor as a named deposit dollar, and the days × (invoice ÷ 30) product labeled as not an APR. USD labels on this page; currency and tax buffer live on the hub.

Rate calculator How to ask for the deposit Already past due Sitting extra on a past-due invoice If they cancelled a live job If they paused the job Tiny job, no Net 30 Foreign send against a USD quote Sell the net invoice — keep after a share Three gates on one quote Set the hourly floor

Rebuild the floor on the hub if billable weeks moved. They asked you to wait — print cash this week vs cash in N days here. Wording and processor gross-up for the first invoice live on freelance deposit. A date that already passed is late-invoice follow-up. Extra on a sitting invoice is extra = invoice × share on late-fee. Three named gates on one quote print on milestone payments. The bill exists and you sell it for cash this week on invoice-factor. A cancel keeps hours vs deposit on kill-fee. A live job they asked you to freeze, slots still blocked, is pause-hold. A $40 inbound ping with no wait still wants a minimum-fee max().

FAQ