What Is Net 30? Payment Terms Explained

Net 30 means the full invoice amount is due within 30 days. Thirty is also the number several laws fall back on when a contract sets no payment date at all: the EU's late-payment directive, the UK's Late Payment Act, Germany's Civil Code, Spain's late-payment law and the US federal prompt-payment rules all use a 30-day period. They do not all count it from the same day, and none of them counts it from the invoice date, which is where most disputes about Net 30 start.

This guide covers what Net 30 means, how to date it, how it compares with those statutory 30 days, what happens when day 30 is a weekend or holiday, and the 2/10 Net 30 discount that is written alongside it.

What Net 30 means

"Net" is the net amount due: the invoice total with nothing deducted. "30" is the number of days the buyer has to pay it. An invoice dated Wednesday, April 1, 2026 on Net 30 terms reaches day 30 on Friday, May 1, 2026.

That example is a business day in the US and the UK, and a public holiday in Germany (Tag der Arbeit) and Spain (Día del Trabajo). The same invoice, on the same term, can fall due on a working day in one country and a closed day in the next, which is why the term alone does not settle when payment is due.

Calendar days or business days

The laws quoted in this guide count calendar days. Directive 2011/7/EU sets its fallback at "30 calendar days" after the invoice is received, the UK Act uses a "30-day period", and the US Federal Acquisition Regulation counts to "the 30th day". This site's calculators read a bare "Net 30" the same way, as 30 calendar days.

A contract that means business days has to say so. 30 business days are six weeks of five working days: 42 calendar days, counted from a working day, when no public holiday falls in the window. Each public holiday on a working day pushes the end to the next business day, at least one calendar day later and three or more when a weekend lies in between. Counted from April 1, 2026, the 30th business day is May 13 in the US calendar (42 calendar days, no federal holiday in between), May 15 in Spain's national calendar (44), May 18 in the England and Wales calendar (47) and May 19 in Germany's nationwide calendar (48). The Net 30 calculator counts either way: calendar days by default, business days with the toggle.

Net 30 against the statutory 30 days

When a contract fixes no payment date, the fallback periods start from receipt, not from the date printed on the invoice:

• EU: Directive 2011/7/EU, Article 3(3)(b): interest for late payment 30 calendar days after the buyer receives the invoice, or after receipt of the goods or services where those arrive later or the invoice's date of receipt is uncertain.
• UK: Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, section 4(2A)(b) and (2H): with no agreed payment day, the relevant day is the last day of a period of 30 days beginning with the later of the day the supplier performs and the day the purchaser has notice of the amount.
• US federal contracts: FAR 32.904(b): the later of the 30th day after the designated billing office receives a proper invoice and the 30th day after Government acceptance.

Net 30 written on an invoice sets an agreed date instead, counted from wherever the contract says. If it counts from the invoice date and the invoice takes four days to arrive, the agreed due date comes four days before the statutory one would have.

When day 30 is a weekend or holiday

Net 30 does not move its own due date. Two examples from 2026:

• An invoice dated Friday, May 15, 2026 reaches day 30 on Sunday, June 14. The next business day in the US, UK, German and Spanish calendars is Monday, June 15.
• An invoice dated Wednesday, June 3, 2026 reaches day 30 on Friday, July 3. July 4, 2026 is a Saturday, so for most federal employees the preceding Friday is treated as the holiday, as the Office of Personnel Management explains under 5 U.S.C. 6103(b). The Federal Reserve Banks stay open that day: their holiday schedule states that for holidays falling on Saturday they "will be open the preceding Friday". The next business day in the site's US calendar, which follows OPM, is Monday, July 6. In the UK, Germany and Spain, July 3 is an ordinary working day.

Whether a payment made on the next business day is on time depends on the contract and the law that governs it. For US federal contracts, FAR 52.232-25 provides that when the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the designated payment office may make payment on the following working day without incurring a late payment interest penalty. A private contract carries only the rule it states. The Net 30 calculator in calendar mode shows day 30 as it falls; the invoice due date calculator marks a weekend or holiday due date and names the next business day.

2/10 Net 30 and 1/10 Net 30

An early-payment discount is written in front of the term: "2/10 Net 30" offers 2 percent off for payment within 10 days, with the full amount due in 30; "1/10 Net 30" offers 1 percent on the same schedule. In US federal contracts, FAR 52.232-8 computes the discount period from the date of the invoice and lets payment be made on the following business day when the discount date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday when Federal Government offices are closed.

The discount can be converted to an annual rate. Paying on day 30 instead of day 10 keeps 98 percent of the invoice for 20 more days at a cost of 2 percent, so the implied rate is (2 / 98) x (365 / 20), about 37.2 percent a year. For 1/10 Net 30 it is (1 / 99) x (365 / 20), about 18.4 percent. A buyer whose own cost of funds is below that rate pays less overall by taking the discount. The early payment discount calculator runs the numbers for any terms, and the 2/10 Net 30 guide walks through the arithmetic.

Net 30 EOM

"Net 30 EOM" (end of month) starts the 30 days at the end of the invoice month. An invoice dated April 10, 2026 with Net 30 EOM is due May 30, thirty days after April 30, where plain Net 30 would give May 10. Every invoice dated in April therefore falls due on the same day, and an invoice dated early in the month gets a longer effective term than one dated late. The invoice due date calculator has Net 30 EOM as a separate term, and the EOM guide covers the month-end variants.

What Net 30 costs the seller

For the seller, Net 30 means financing each invoice for a month after the work is done. At an assumed 10 percent annual cost of capital, carrying a 10,000 invoice for 30 days costs 10,000 x 0.10 x 30 / 365, about 82. If every invoice is paid on its due date and sales are steady, about 30 days of sales are outstanding at any time. Your own rate decides what that costs you. The days sales outstanding guide shows how to measure the days customers actually take, and the guides on Net 15, Net 45, Net 60 and Net 90 cover the terms on either side.

When a Net 30 invoice is paid late

The statutes above also say when interest starts. Article 3(3)(a) of the Directive gives the creditor interest for late payment from the day following the date or the end of the period for payment fixed in the contract. Under section 4(2) of the UK Act, statutory interest starts to run on the day after the relevant day, which is the agreed payment day where there is one, subject to the public-authority and 60-day rules in section 4(2D) and (2E). A late-payment clause in the contract states the rate and removes the guesswork, and the late payment interest calculator computes the interest over the days an invoice is overdue, at the statutory rate where the selected jurisdiction sets one and at your contract rate otherwise.

FAQ

Does Net 30 mean 30 business days or 30 calendar days?

The term itself does not say, so the contract decides. The laws quoted in this guide count calendar days: Directive 2011/7/EU writes "30 calendar days", and FAR 32.904 counts to "the 30th day". On a Monday-to-Friday week, 30 business days counted from a working day are 42 calendar days when no holiday falls in the window, and more when one does, so a contract that means business days should say so.

When does the 30-day period start?

Wherever the contract says: the invoice date, delivery, or completion of the service. When a contract fixes no date, the statutes count from receipt: the EU Directive 30 calendar days from receipt of the invoice (or of the goods or services), the UK Late Payment Act from the later of performance and notice of the amount, and FAR 32.904 from the later of receipt of a proper invoice and Government acceptance.

What happens if a Net 30 due date falls on a weekend or holiday?

Only the contract or the governing law can move it. For US federal contracts, FAR 52.232-25 lets the payment office pay on the following working day without a late payment interest penalty. A private contract carries only the rule it states, so write one in. The invoice due date calculator marks such a date and names the next business day.

What does 1/10 or 2/10 Net 30 mean?

It is an early-payment discount. "2/10 Net 30" lets the buyer deduct 2 percent for paying within 10 days, with the full amount otherwise due in 30; "1/10 Net 30" is the same with 1 percent. As an annual rate, skipping the discount costs about 37.2 percent for 2/10 Net 30 and about 18.4 percent for 1/10 Net 30, so taking it pays whenever the buyer's own cost of funds is lower.

What if a Net 30 invoice is paid late?

The contract's late-payment clause applies first. Without one, statutory interest may apply: under Directive 2011/7/EU the creditor is entitled to interest for late payment from the day after the agreed date, and under the UK Late Payment Act statutory interest starts the day after the relevant day. The late payment interest calculator computes the amount for the days overdue.