payment terms

Discounts and allowances are reductions to a basic price of goods or services. They can occur anywhere in the distribution channel, modifying either the manufacturer's list price (determined by the manufacturer and often printed on the package), the retail price (set by the retailer and often attached to the product with a sticker), or the list price (which is quoted to a potential buyer, usually in written form). The market price (also called effective price) is the amount actually paid. The purpose of discounts is to increase short-term sales, move out-of-date stock, reward valuable customers, encourage distribution channel members to perform a function, or otherwise reward behaviors that benefit the discount issuer.[1] Some discounts and allowances are forms of sales promotion.
The most common types of discounts and allowances are:
Cash discounts for prompt payment - These are intended to speed payment and thereby provide liquidity to the firm. They are sometimes used as a promotional device. Examples are: 2/10 net 30 - this means the buyer must pay within 30 days of the invoice date, but will receive a 2% discount if they pay within 10 days of the invoice date. 3/7 EOM - this means the buyer will receive a cash discount of 3% if the bill is paid within 7 days after the end of the month indicated on the invoice date. It should be noted that if an invoice is received on or before the 25th day of the month, payment is due on the 7th day of the next calendar month. If a proper invoice is received after the 25th day of the month, payment is due on the 7th day of the second calendar month. 3/7 EOM net 30 - this means the buyer must pay within 30 days of the invoice date, but will receive a 3% discount if they pay within 7 days after the end of the month indicated on the invoice date.[2] It should be noted that if an invoice is received on or before the 25th day of the month, payment is due on the 7th day of the next calendar month. If a proper invoice is received after the 25th day of the month, payment is due on the 7th day of the second calendar month. 2/15 net 40 ROG - this means the buyer must pay within 40 days of receipt of goods, but will receive a 2% discount if paid in 15 days of the receipt of goods by the purchaser. (ROG is short for "Receipt of goods.")[3] Cash discounts for preferred payment method - Some retailers (particularly small retailers with low margins) offer discounts to customers paying with cash, to avoid paying fees on credit card transactions. Quantity discounts - These are price reductions given for large purchases. The rationale behind them is to obtain economies of scale and pass some (or all) of these savings on to the customer. In some industries, buyer groups and co-ops have formed to take advantage of these discounts. Generally there are two types: Cumulative quantity discounts (also called accumulation discounts). These are price reductions based on the quantity purchased over a set period of time. The expectation is that they will impose an implied switching cost and thereby bond the purchaser to the seller. Non-cumulative quantity discounts. These are price reductions based on the quantity of a single order. The expectation is that they will encourage larger orders, thus reducing billing, order filling, shipping, and sales personal expenses. Trade discounts (also called functional discounts) - These are payments to distribution channel members for performing some function. Examples of these functions are warehousing and shelf stocking. Trade discounts are often combined to include a series of functions, for example 20/12/5 could indicate a 20% discount for warehousing the product, an additional 12% discount for shipping the product, and an additional 5% discount for keeping the shelves stocked. Trade discounts are most frequent in industries where retailers hold the majority of the power in the distribution channel (referred to as channel captains). Partial payment discounts - Similar to the Trade discount, this is used when the seller wishes to improve cash flow or liquidity, but finds that the buyer typically is unable to meet the desired discount deadline. A partial discount for whatever payment the buyer makes helps the seller's cash flow partially.[4] Seasonal discounts - These are price reductions given when an order is placed in a slack period (example: purchasing skis in April in the northern hemisphere, or in September in the southern hemisphere). On a shorter time scale, a happy hour may fall in this category. Generally, this discount is referred to as "X-Dating" or "Ex-Dating". An example of X-Dating would be: 3/7 net 30 extra 10 - this means the buyer must pay within 30 days of the invoice date, but will receive a 3% discount if they pay within 7 days after the end of the month indicated on the invoice date plus an extra 10 days.[5] Forward dating - This is where the purchaser doesn’t pay for the goods until well after they arrive. The date on the invoice is moved forward - example: purchase goods in November for sale during the December holiday season, but the payment date on the invoice is January 7th. Promotional allowances - These are price reductions given to the buyer for performing some promotional activity. These include an allowance for creating and maintaining an in-store display or a co-op advertising allowance. Brokerage allowance - From the point of view of the manufacturer, any brokerage fee paid is similar to a promotional allowance. It is usually based on a percentage of the sales generated by the broker. Trade-ins - This can be a way of reducing the price. By offering more for a trade-in than it is actually worth, the net effect is to reduce the effective price earned by the seller. The advantage of this is it encourages replacement sales without altering the list price or the perceived value. An extreme form of quantity discount is when, within a quantity range, the price does not depend on quantity:
if one wants less than the minimum amount one has to be pay for the minimum amount anyway if one wants an amount between two of the fixed amounts on offer, one has to pay for the higher amount These also apply in the case of a service with "quantity" referring to time. For example, an entrance ticket for a zoo is usually for a day; if one stays shorter, the price is the same. It is a kind of pass for unlimited use of a service during a day, where one can distinguish whether or not, when leaving and returning, one has to pay again. Similarly a pass can be for another period. In the case of long periods, it is obvious that one can leave and return without paying again.
If one has to buy more than one wants, we can distinguish between the surplus just not being used, or the surplus being a nuisance, e.g. because of having to carry a large containerA payment is the transfer of wealth from one party (such as a person or company) to another. A payment is usually made in exchange for the provision of goods, services, or both, or to fulfill a legal obligation.
The simplest and oldest form of payment is barter, the exchange of one good or service for another. In the modern world, common means of payment by an individual include money, check, debit, credit, or bank transfer, and in trade such payments are frequently preceded by an invoice or result in a receipt. However, there are no arbitrary limits on the form a payment can take and thus in complex transactions between businesses, payments may take the form of stock or other more complicated arrangements.
In law, the payer is the party making a payment while the payee is the party receiving the paymentThere are two types of payment methods; exchanging and provisioning. Exchanging is to change coin, money and banknote in terms of the price. Provisioning is to transfer money from one account to another. In this method a third party must be involved. Credit card, debit card, money transfers, and recurring cash or ACH disbursements are all electronic payments methods. Electronic payments technologies are magnetic stripe card, smartcard, contactless card and mobile handset. Mobile handset based payments are called mobile paymentsPayments may be classified by the number of parties involved to consummate a transaction. For example, a credit card transaction in the United States requires a minimum of four parties (the purchaser, the seller, the issuing bank, and the acquiring bank). A cash payment requires a minimum of three parties (the seller, the purchaser, and the issuer of the currency). A barter payment requires a minimum of two parties (the purchaser and the seller).
In 2005, an estimated $40 trillion globally passed through some type of payment system. Roughly $12 trillion of that was transacted through various credit cards, mostly the 21,000 member banks of VISA and MasterCard. Processing payments, including the extending of credit, produced close to $500 billion in revenueIn the U.S., debit cards are the fastest growing payment technology. In 2001, debit cards accounted for 9 percent of all purchase transactions, and this is expected to double to 18.82 percent in 2011For tax purposes, it is important to determine the timing of actual payment and whether it qualifies as a deduction in a taxpayer's calculation of taxable income.
Cash payments occur at the time of payment. This is the easy case, but payments in other forms can be trickier. Payment also occurs when the taxpayer transfers property or performs services in lieu of making a cash payment.[4] Payment by check is deemed to occur when the check is delivered, as long as the check is honored on presentation by the payee.[4] Postdated checks, however, are not considered payment when delivered.[5] Generally, payment by credit card occurs at the point of the sale and not when the taxpayer is billed by the credit card company or when the taxpayer pays the bill