Automatic credit holds at checkout
The fastest way to get an overdue invoice paid is to stop the next order. Terms Due puts late accounts on hold automatically and lifts the hold the moment they pay.
Statement
Harbour and Pine Trading
Net 30
Limit $25,000
Balance owed
$40,120.00
| #1031 | 14 Jul | Paid | $6,200.00 |
| #1038 | 29 Jul | 68 days late | $12,480.00 |
| #1044 | 18 Aug | 34 days late | $9,960.00 |
| #1047 | 12 Sep | 9 days late | $8,420.00 |
| #1052 | 3 Oct | Not yet due | $9,260.00 |
On hold
The gap in Shopify
When a Shopify B2B invoice goes past its due date, nothing happens to the buyer. They can keep ordering on the same terms, and the only way to stop them is to change their company settings by hand and remember to change them back when they pay.
Most merchants never do it. Editing payment terms feels heavy-handed, it is easy to forget, and the person who notices the late invoice is rarely the person with admin access. So the buyer keeps ordering, the balance keeps growing, and the eventual conversation is harder than it needed to be.
Terms Due runs a checkout rule on every order from a B2B company. If the company is on hold, the order stops before it is placed, with a message that tells the buyer exactly what to do next.
Holding by hand, and holding automatically
Manual hold
- Someone has to notice the invoice is late.
- Someone with admin access has to edit the company's payment terms.
- The buyer finds out when checkout behaves differently, with no explanation.
- Someone has to remember to restore the terms after payment, or the buyer stays on cash for weeks.
Terms Due hold
- The rule you set fires on the day the invoice crosses your grace period.
- Checkout is blocked with a plain message, the amount owed and a pay link.
- The reminder that marks the hold point tells the buyer in advance that orders will pause.
- Payment lifts the hold within minutes and the buyer's terms are back as they were.
Hold rules you can set
Overdue past a grace period
Hold when any invoice is more than a set number of days late, for example 7 or 14. Most merchants pick 14.
Over the credit limit
Hold when the open balance plus the new order would go over the company's limit. See credit limits.
Manual hold
Put any company on hold yourself, with a note that only your team can see, for a dispute, a returned payment or a buyer you are winding down.
What a hold looks like from both sides
With a 14-day grace period and the default reminder schedule.
- Day 0
Invoice due
The buyer gets a due-today email and text with a pay link. Nothing changes at checkout yet.
- Day 7
Overdue notice
A firmer reminder goes out. It says new orders will be paused at 14 days if the invoice is not paid.
- Day 14
Hold applied
The company goes on hold. The buyer is told by email and text. The next time they try to check out on terms, the order stops and they see the amount owed and the pay link.
- Day 16
Buyer pays
They pay on the pay-now page, or you mark the order paid after a bank transfer. The balance updates and the hold lifts automatically.
- Day 16
Back to normal
The buyer's payment terms are exactly as they were. They place their order and nobody on your team touched a setting.
What the buyer sees
- A plain message at checkout explaining that the account has an overdue balance or is over its limit.
- The amount they need to pay to clear the hold.
- A link to their pay-now page, where they can settle every open invoice in one payment.
- No change to their prices, catalog or saved addresses. The hold only affects paying on terms.
As soon as the payment is recorded, the hold lifts and they can place the order.
Three ways to hold an account
You choose what a hold does in Settings. Whichever you pick, it applies and lifts automatically.
Remove payment terms
The default on every plan. While on hold the buyer's Net terms are taken off their company location, so they can still order but must pay by card at checkout. The terms go back the moment the balance is cleared.
Send orders for review
The buyer's checkout turns their orders into draft orders for you to approve or decline, so nothing ships on terms without someone looking at it.
Block checkout
Growth and Scale. The terms stay in place and a checkout rule stops the order with a message, the amount owed and a pay link. Growth and Scale can also stop a single order that would take the account over its available credit.
How the checkout block works
Terms Due installs a checkout validation rule in your store, the same mechanism Shopify uses for its own checkout rules. When a B2B buyer tries to complete checkout on payment terms, the rule checks whether their company is on hold or would go over its limit. If it is, checkout shows the message and will not create the order.
Because the check happens inside Shopify's checkout, it works for orders placed on your storefront by any contact at the company, on any device. It does not depend on the buyer reading an email first.
Orders your own team creates in Shopify admin, including draft orders you send for payment, are not blocked. They are flagged in Terms Due instead, so you keep the ability to override a hold on purpose without the app getting in your way.
Worked example
Harbour and Pine, 68 days late
Harbour and Pine Trading has a $25,000 limit and $40,120 outstanding, with invoices 68, 34 and 9 days late. They are over the limit and well past the 14-day grace period, so they are on hold. Their buyer tries to place a $3,800 reorder on Net 30 and checkout stops.
The message tells them the account is on hold with $30,860 overdue and gives the pay link. Their accounts team pays the two oldest invoices, $22,440, that afternoon. The balance drops to $17,680 and nothing is more than 14 days late, so the hold lifts. The reorder goes through an hour later, and the 9-day-late invoice keeps its normal reminder schedule.
| Limit | $25,000 |
|---|---|
| Outstanding before payment | $40,120 |
| Overdue beyond 14 days | $22,440 |
| Paid to clear the hold | $22,440 |
| Outstanding after payment | $17,680 |
Picking a grace period
The right number depends on how often the buyer orders and how much is at stake per order.
| How buyers order | Suggested grace period | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly, small invoices (cafes, salons) | 7 days | A late invoice is quickly followed by three more |
| Monthly, mid-sized invoices | 14 days | Time for a normal payment run to catch up, then a consequence |
| Seasonal, large invoices (fashion, gifts) | 14 to 21 days | Boutiques pay in batches; a slightly longer fuse avoids false alarms |
| Accounts that have been late before | 7 days, hard block | The pattern is known; act early |
Exceptions and overrides
Holds are a rule, and rules need exceptions. From the company page you can release a single order, lift the hold for a set number of days, or turn holds off for a company entirely. Every override is logged on the company timeline with who did it and why, so a decision made in a hurry is still a decision you can see later.
If a buyer has agreed a payment date, pause reminders until then rather than lifting the hold. The hold is what keeps the balance from growing while you wait.
Questions
Can I let one order through for a held account?
Yes. Release a single order or lift the hold for a set number of days from the company page in the app.
Does a hold stop orders my team creates in admin?
Draft orders you create in Shopify admin are flagged in the app rather than blocked, so you stay in control.
Do held buyers get told before checkout?
Yes. The reminder that marks the point of the hold tells them new orders are paused until the balance is paid, and the hold notice itself goes by email and text.
How quickly does a hold lift after payment?
Within minutes of the payment being recorded on the Shopify order, whether the buyer paid on the pay-now page or you marked a bank transfer as paid.
Can a buyer on hold still pay by card at checkout?
Yes. The hold applies to paying on terms. A buyer who pays in full at checkout is not blocked, and that payment does not add to their balance.
What if I disagree with a hold?
Change the rule or lift it for that company. Terms Due applies the settings you give it; it does not make credit decisions for you.
Related
Credit limits
Set a credit limit for each Shopify B2B company. Terms Due checks open balance plus the new order before checkout, so no buyer runs up more than you agreed.
Read moreEmail 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 moreOverdue invoices in Shopify
What Shopify does and does not do when a B2B invoice passes its due date, and how to stop overdue buyers ordering and get paid faster.
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