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Payment terms & late payment calculator

The gap between the terms you agree and the day customers actually pay is a loan you are giving them, at your own cost of capital. This puts a euro figure on it, and on every day you could shorten it by.

Revenue per month, netInvoiced revenue, excluding VAT.€Agreed payment termsWhat your invoices say.daysDays customers actually takeAverage days from invoice to money in the account.daysYour cost of capitalOverdraft rate, factoring cost, or what the money would earn elsewhere.%

Cash tied up

€62,418

Sitting in receivables at any moment, at today's payment behaviour.

Tied up at your agreed terms: €22,996
Extra, caused by late payment: €39,422
Annual cost of the delay: €3,548
Each day of terms is worth: €1,643 in cash
Cost of one day, per year: €148

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The number

Every day of payment terms is a day of your money

At €50,000 a month, each day of payment terms holds about €1,640 of your cash. Moving from 38 days to 21 releases roughly €28,000 — a one-off cash injection larger than most small businesses could borrow in the time it takes to ask.

Cash tied up = (monthly revenue ÷ 30.44) × days to pay

Getting it right

Measure the actual days from your own ledger — most businesses guess ten days low.
The gross invoice is what is tied up, but you owe the VAT regardless of whether it has been paid.
Deposits and milestone billing move more cash than chasing ever will.

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Templates that go further

Calculate runway

Three fields is an average. Connect your accounting data and the same number updates itself, on the dates the money actually moves.

13-week cash-flow planThe short-term view: thirteen weeks, week by week, granular enough to catch the week you run short.12-month cash-flow planEvery euro in and out, month by month, with the running balance already wired up.Retainer vs project revenueHow much of your payroll the recurring revenue covers — and how much rides on the next pitch.

Calculate runway All Excel templates

Questions

Payment terms & late payment calculator — What people ask about it

Is an early payment discount worth it?

Compare it to your cost of capital over the days it saves. A 2% discount for paying 20 days early is an annualised cost of about 36% — expensive, unless the cash genuinely prevents an overdraft.

What can I do about customers who always pay late?

Plan for it first: put their real payment behaviour into your cash plan rather than the terms on the invoice. Then change the structure — a deposit, milestone billing or shorter terms move more money than a reminder ever does.

One number is an average. Your cash moves day by day.

Connect your accounting data and Foreqast keeps this calculation live — with every committed cost on the date it actually lands.

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