Have you ever looked at the payment terms on your invoices and quotation documents? What does the fine print say? Does it reflect what is in your signed contract with the other party? Do you have provisions for interest, attorneys’ fees, and restocking fees? Let’s look at some of the language to include in an invoice:

Interest: You may think, “I have a contract with them already which states interest will begin to accrue after a specified period of non-payment. Why do I need to take the time and added cost to make sure that the invoices reflect that language in the signed contract?” In the event the original contract cannot be located for any reason, you will still be able to collect the full amount due and owing to you. Each invoice acts as its own contract, so including contractual language on a consistent basis is important. If you do not have a signed agreement with this person, that is fine. If you do have a draft contract that you use on a regular basis in your business with an interest accrual language provision, the invoice should reflect that language.

Attorneys’ fees: This is a critically important provision to have somewhere on your invoices. This may seem tedious, but it is critically important that you have language on your invoice allowing you to recover your attorneys’ fees from the other party in the event you commence a collections action. Plaintiffs are only able to recover attorneys’ fees as stipulated by statute. North Carolina Statutes allow for Plaintiff’s to recover attorneys’ fees from the defendant if attorneys’ fees were contemplated in the contract. For this reason, we do recommend having an attorneys’ fees provision on your invoice and quotation documents.

Restocking and non-refundable language: If you manufacture items, which cannot be reused or repurposed for new projects, your invoice needs to reflect that this type of product is a non-refundable item in the event the purchaser backs out after the product has been made. Additionally, if you will have to send back specially ordered items, then it is critically important to have language somewhere on each and every invoice and quotation document that you send out that reflects the fact that the customer will be charged a restocking fee.

It is always wise to contact an attorney to review your contracts. The attorneys at Vann Attorneys, PLLC would be happy to discuss the contents of your invoices and what language you may want to add to improve the document and further protect your position in the event you initiate a collections matter against a former client or purchaser.