Collect on the due date, automatically
Your buyers already save a card in Shopify B2B checkout. Terms Due charges it for the invoice amount on the due date, so payment arrives on day 30 instead of day 50.
Why collect rather than remind
A reminder asks the buyer to do something. Collection does it for them. For buyers who are happy to pay on time and simply forget, that is the difference between money on the due date and money three weeks later after two emails and a phone call.
Shopify B2B already lets you require a saved card at checkout when a buyer orders on terms. The card sits in Shopify's vault. Terms Due uses it for exactly one thing: the invoice the buyer agreed to pay, on the date they agreed to pay it, with warning beforehand.
How collection works
The buyer saves a card
At checkout on terms, the buyer's card is vaulted by Shopify. Terms Due never sees or stores the card number.
Advance notice
A few days before the due date the buyer gets an email saying how much will be charged and when, with a link to pay another way if they prefer.
Charge on the due date
Terms Due asks Shopify to charge the saved card for the outstanding amount and records the payment against the order.
Retry or remind
If the charge fails, the buyer is asked to update their card or pay on the pay-now page, and your normal reminder schedule takes over.
A collected invoice, day by day
- Day -3
Notice
Email: we will charge the card ending 4242 for $8,420.00 on 12 September. Pay another way here if you prefer.
- Day 0
Charge
The saved card is charged for the outstanding amount. The Shopify order is marked paid and a receipt goes to the buyer.
- Day 0
If it fails
The buyer gets an email and text asking them to update the card or pay on the pay-now page. The invoice stays open.
- Day 3
Retry
One automatic retry. If it succeeds the invoice closes; if not, the overdue reminder schedule continues as normal.
- Day 14
Hold
If still unpaid, the company goes on hold like any other overdue account.
Reminding only, and collecting
Reminders alone
- The buyer has to open the email, click the link and type a card number.
- Accounts teams batch payments, so day 30 becomes day 45.
- Every invoice is a small task for someone on your side to watch.
- Cash arrives when the buyer gets round to it.
With due-date collection
- Nothing for the buyer to do if they are happy to pay on the due date.
- Payment lands on the agreed day, every time the card is good.
- Failures surface at once, with the buyer already told what to do.
- Reminders and holds are the safety net, not the main process.
Your controls
- Turn collection on for all companies, or only for the ones you choose.
- Choose how many days' notice buyers get before a charge.
- Skip collection for a single invoice, for example when a buyer has disputed it or agreed to pay by transfer.
- See every charge, failure and retry on the invoice timeline.
- Switch a company back to reminders only at any time.
Wording for your trade terms
Buyers should never be surprised by a charge. Something like this in your trade terms and welcome email is enough: Where a payment card is saved at checkout for an order placed on payment terms, you authorise us to charge that card for the invoice amount on the due date. We will email you at least three days beforehand, and you may pay by another method before then.
Worked example
What day 30 is worth
Lune Street Salons orders about $2,200 a month on Net 30 and has always paid, eventually. Before collection their average payment arrived 19 days after the due date. With collection on, it arrives on the due date.
On $26,400 of annual orders, that is roughly $1,400 that is now in your account rather than theirs on any given day, no reminders sent and no calls made. Across forty similar accounts the figure is $55,000 of working capital.
| Monthly orders | $2,200 |
|---|---|
| Average days late before | 19 |
| Average days late with collection | 0 |
| Cash brought forward, one account | about $1,400 |
| Across 40 accounts | about $55,000 |
Things to know
Collection uses the card the buyer saved in Shopify, so it only applies to orders where a card was vaulted. Cards and processing fees are handled by your Shopify payments setup, the same as any other card payment in your store.
Charging saved cards requires Shopify to grant Terms Due access to payment mandates, which Shopify approves app by app. Collection is switched on in your store as soon as that access is live; until then every reminder carries a pay link and buyers pay with a tap. Nothing else about your setup changes when collection arrives.
Tell your buyers in your trade terms that cards saved at checkout will be charged on the due date. Terms Due includes suggested wording you can copy.
Questions
Does Terms Due store card details?
No. Cards are vaulted by Shopify. Terms Due asks Shopify to charge them and only sees whether the charge succeeded.
What if the buyer wants to pay by bank transfer?
They can. If the order is marked paid in Shopify before the due date, no charge is made. The advance notice email tells them this.
Which plan includes collection?
Growth and Scale. See pricing.
Can I collect part of an invoice?
Collection charges the outstanding amount on the invoice. If part has already been paid, only the remainder is charged.
What happens if the card has expired?
The charge fails, the buyer is asked to save a new card or pay on the pay-now page, and the invoice follows your normal reminder schedule until it is paid.
Is it the same as Shopify charging a vaulted card itself?
Shopify can charge a vaulted card when you do it by hand from the order. Terms Due does it on the due date without anyone remembering to, with notice to the buyer and a retry if it fails.
Related
Email and text reminders
Send automatic email and text reminders for Shopify B2B invoices before and after the due date, with a one-tap pay link and firmer wording as invoices age.
Read moreOffering Net 30 on Shopify
A step-by-step guide to offering Net 30 payment terms to wholesale buyers on Shopify, from company setup and trade terms to reminders and collection.
Read morePricing
Terms Due pricing: free for up to three trade accounts, then Starter $49, Growth $99 and Scale $199 a month with a 14-day trial, billed through Shopify.
Read moreStop chasing wholesale invoices by hand
Install Terms Due, set a credit limit for each buyer and let the app hold, remind and collect.
Install on Shopify