The rule: write terms a homeowner understands
Most payment-term advice is written for B2B invoices between accounting departments. Your customer is a homeowner reading a text message. Skip the jargon and answer their three actual questions: how much, by when, and how do I pay? Every example below does exactly that.
Due date — say a date, not a code
- Instead of "Net 15" → write "Payment due by August 1, 2026."
- For due-on-completion work → "Balance of $462.40 due on completion of work."
- For same-day service calls → "Due on receipt — pay from the link below."
Residential plumbing invoices should almost always be due on receipt or due on completion. Net 30 exists for businesses with payment runs; giving a homeowner 30 days just means they forget.
Deposit and balance — restate what was agreed
If the quote had a deposit, the invoice should show it was received and what's left:
Deposit received July 10: $150.00. Remaining balance due on completion: $462.40.
This one line prevents the most common invoice dispute — "I already paid you something, didn't I?" If you're still deciding what deposit to ask for, see how much deposit should a plumber charge?
Late fees — keep them simple and legal
A late fee's job is to make "pay now" feel easier than "pay later", not to generate revenue. A common pattern:
Invoices unpaid after 14 days incur a late fee of 1.5% per month on the outstanding balance.
Two cautions: many states cap interest you can charge consumers (usury limits), and a late fee you never actually apply trains customers to ignore it. Pick a modest number you'll enforce, and check your state's cap before printing it on invoices.
Payment methods — list them, link them
- Weak: "We accept multiple payment methods."
- Strong: "Pay by card from the link in this text, or by check payable to Reyes Plumbing."
The fastest-paid invoices have exactly one obvious action: a link the customer can tap on the phone they're already holding. Every extra step — finding the checkbook, asking for your Zelle — is a day of delay.
Copy-paste terms blocks
Standard job (deposit collected up front)
Deposit received: $150.00. Balance of $462.40 due on completion.
Pay by card from your invoice link, or by check payable to [Business Name].
Questions about this invoice? Call or text [phone].
Same-day service call
Total due on receipt: $285.00. Pay by card from your invoice link.
Late payments: 1.5%/month after 14 days.
Larger job with progress payments
Payment schedule: $600 deposit (received) · $1,200 on rough-in complete · balance on final inspection.
Each payment is due within 3 days of the milestone. Work pauses if a milestone payment is more than 7 days late.
Set your terms once, reuse them on every invoice
QuoteHawk saves your payment terms, deposit rules and accepted methods in your business profile — every quote and invoice goes out with them already on it, plus a pay-now link.
Where the terms go
On the invoice itself, below the total — not buried in an attachment. If you send invoices by text (you should — texts get read in minutes, email in days), the message body can be one line: "Invoice for the water heater job — $462.40 due on completion. View and pay here: [link]".
Building quotes by hand today? The free plumbing quote template has a terms section ready to fill in, and the free quote generator lets you type terms once and download the finished PDF.