When your invoice has to be paid, by law
A freelancer who sends an invoice and waits usually works off whatever the client said on the phone. In practice a law sets the date even when nobody mentioned one: the Payment to Suppliers Law, 5777-2017. It covers payments by the state, by local authorities, by budgeted institutions and by businesses to their suppliers, and it fixes a maximum payment date even when the contract says nothing.
This page covers what that date is in each case, what you are owed once it passes, and what actually works when the money does not arrive. For your own date, use the payment due date calculator.
The deadlines the law sets
The difference between the two counting methods matters more than it sounds. "45 days from submission" runs from the day itself. "EOM+45" runs from the end of the month the invoice was submitted in, so an invoice submitted on 3 March and one submitted on 28 March both land on the same due date: 45 days after 31 March. Submitting early in the month hands the client almost two months of credit without anyone deciding to.
What happens once the date passes
The addition for late payment is not a matter of goodwill and does not have to appear in the contract. The law states that consideration unpaid by the due date is paid with linkage differences and interest added, and 30 days past that date, arrears fees under the Interest and Linkage Adjudication Law are added as well.
Two things follow. First, paying late costs the payer money, even where nobody agreed to that. Second, when you chase a late invoice you are not asking a favor, you are pointing at a debt that is growing.
Who the law does not cover
The law deals with supplier and business-customer relations. It does not cover a private customer who bought a service from you, and it does not cover employer and employee, where entirely separate rules govern when wages are paid.
There is one qualification worth knowing: the obligation starts when the invoice is properly submitted. A client claiming they never received the invoice, or that it went to the wrong address, is trying to move the starting point. Send the invoice to the agreed contact, keep the email or delivery confirmation, and do not rely on handing it over in person.
What the law does not solve
The law sets a date, but it does not collect for you. No enforcement body fines a client for paying late, and enforcing the right runs through a direct demand and then a claim. Which is why the practical answer to a late payment is not a legal one at the first stage.
What does work is a short written demand stating the invoice number, the date it was submitted, the deadline the law sets and the addition accruing on it. The fact that a supplier knows what the law says changes the tone of the conversation with the accounts department.
The order of escalation when payment is late
The first step is a short email reminder a few days after the date, with the invoice attached again. A large share of late payments are an internal glitch on the client's side: the invoice was never approved, it reached someone who went on holiday, or it stalled waiting on a missing detail. A reminder clears those without an awkward call.
If there is no answer, the next step is a more formal written approach stating the invoice number, the submission date, the deadline the law sets, and the fact that linkage differences and interest are accruing. No lawyer is needed at this stage, and most written demands end in payment.
Beyond that there is a claim. For smaller amounts, a small claims filing needs no representation, and the process exists for exactly this kind of case. What decides it is documentation: the invoice, the approved quote or order, proof of delivery, and correspondence where the client never disputed the debt.
Reducing the risk up front
The simplest place to start is the terms. A written agreement on the payment date, even a short email, beats assuming the client pays "at the end of the month". A transaction invoice or a quote stating the payment terms makes the date part of the agreement rather than an argument after the fact.
With new clients or on large projects, an advance changes the picture more than any contract clause. After that, orderly submission: the invoice on the day the work was delivered, to the right contact, with every detail the client needs in order to approve it. An invoice bounced over a missing detail restarts the count in practice, whether or not it does in law.
And if payment is late anyway, a credit note for a bad debt is the tool for recovering VAT you already paid on a sale that was never collected. It does not replace collection, but it stops you paying tax on money you never saw.
Issuing the tax invoice, before or after payment
This is a separate question from the deadline, and it hits cash flow just as hard as the delay itself. A business reporting on an accrual basis issues the tax invoice when the sale happens and pays the VAT in the next periodic report, even if the client pays two months later. A business entitled to report on a cash basis pays the VAT only when the money arrives.
Anyone working with long payment terms on an accrual basis can end up financing their client's VAT. In that case it is worth checking your reporting basis with your accountant, and considering a transaction invoice before payment and a tax invoice receipt when it lands.
How Slate helps
Every issued document stays in the system with its date, so you can see what went out and when, and what is still open per customer. A transaction invoice goes out without charging the business VAT before payment, and the tax invoice is issued when the money arrives. Where a debt will never be collected, the credit note links back to the original document instead of erasing it.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. For a specific situation, talk to a lawyer or an accountant.
Common questions
What does EOM+45 mean?
A payment date counted from the end of the month the invoice was submitted in, not from the submission day. An invoice submitted on 3 March and one submitted on 28 March share the same due date: 45 days after 31 March.
How long does a private business have to pay a supplier?
End of month plus 45 days from the month the invoice was submitted in, unless a different date was agreed in writing, justified by the nature of the engagement and not unreasonably onerous.
How long does a government ministry have to pay?
45 days from submission of the invoice. For construction engineering work it is 85 days. The state cannot contract out of its deadline.
What am I owed if payment was late?
From the due date the debt carries linkage differences and interest, and 30 days later arrears fees are added on top. The addition does not depend on the customer agreeing to it and does not need to be in the contract.
Can a contract set payment at EOM+90?
Not with the state, a local authority or a public body. With a private business or a budgeted institution a different date can be set in writing, but only where the nature of the engagement justifies it and it is not unreasonably onerous.
Does the clock start at delivery or at the invoice?
At submission of the invoice to the right party on the customer's side. That is why the invoice should go out the day the work was delivered rather than at the end of the following month, and why proof of the submission date is worth keeping.