Contracts and getting paid — Examples

Example 1 — Trigger each payment on a delivery

The four-week project is agreed and the price is fixed. Write the payment schedule so every payment has a trigger both sides can check.

Draft terms  "50% up front, the balance on completion"

Solution

30% on signature        reserves the start date
40% at design sign-off
30% on delivery and acceptance, due 14 days from invoice
Schedule change         the start date moves if the deposit has not arrived

The deposit converts a hypothetical client into a committed one, and the note ties it to the schedule rather than to trust. Each later payment hangs on a deliverable, which does not slip the way a date does, so nobody has to argue about who moved it. The usual mistake is a payment tied to a calendar date: something outside both parties moves the date, and the argument is about blame instead of the work.

Example 2 — Put a clock on acceptance

The contract says the balance is payable on client acceptance. Three weeks after delivery nobody has raised anything and nobody has accepted. Rewrite the clause.

Clause    "the balance is payable on client acceptance of the work"
Status    3 weeks after delivery: no defects listed, no acceptance given

Solution

Acceptance   the client has 10 working days from delivery to list defects
             in writing. After that period the work is accepted and the
             final invoice is due.
Follow-up    a reminder 3 days before the due date, on the day, one week
             later, then a call
Pause        work pauses on any invoice more than 14 days overdue

The clock is what makes the final invoice become due, and the follow-up is a written rhythm rather than something that depends on your mood. The pause clause is uncomfortable to use and it is the one that prevents most disputes. The usual mistake is an acceptance clause with no period, so feedback can arrive indefinitely and the last payment never falls due.