NET30 vs. NET60 in VFX Contracts: What's Actually Normal

You wrap a job on the 1st, submit your invoice the same day, and start planning around a payment date. Get the term wrong and that plan is off by a month before you've even started.

NET30 is the standard payment term you'll see in most animation and VFX contracts. It means payment is due 30 days from the date you submit your invoice — not 30 days from when you finish the work, and not 30 days from when the studio gets around to processing it. Submit late, and your 30 days starts late too.

Counting the 30 days

The 30-day count runs from your invoice date. In practice, freelancers generally don't count weekends toward the deadline the same way a straight calendar count would — worth confirming the exact rounding convention with each client, since it can shift your actual expected payment date by a few days either way. If your invoice date and your expected payment date don't line up with what a studio actually pays, that's the first thing worth double-checking before assuming something's gone wrong.

What about NET60?

NET60 shows up less often, but when it does, it follows the same basic structure — 60 days from invoice date rather than 30. If a contract specifies NET60, budget for a payment cycle twice as long as NET30, and factor that into how far in advance you need cash flow for upcoming expenses. A NET60 client and a NET30 client invoiced the same week won't pay out anywhere near the same time, which matters if you're relying on both to cover the same month's expenses.

Why the exact term matters more than it seems

The gap between NET30 and NET60 isn't just a technicality — it's the difference between one month and two months of cash flow you need to plan around. Always confirm the actual term in writing before you start a job, not after you've already submitted the invoice. If your booking contract doesn't specify payment terms explicitly, ask — don't assume NET30 just because it's the most common default.

Once you know your terms, Firsthold's Pay Date Estimator turns your submission date and NET terms into an exact expected payment date automatically — and once an invoice is logged, you can mark it paid the moment it actually lands, so you always know what's still outstanding at a glance instead of scrolling back through old emails. And if a payment date comes and goes with nothing showing up, here's the actual escalation path to work through before you assume the worst.