By Robert Ball, Director of Draycir

For many years I have been involved in helping companies to get paid on time. My experience has told me that it usually comes down to keeping things simple, straight forward and above all, removing all the reasons and obstacles for non-payment from as far up in the supply chain as possible.

Recently, I attended a conference which gave me even more insight into the murky world of terms and conditions.  I was introduced to the phrase “the battle of the forms”, which is basically lawyer terminology for debating whose terms and conditions will win – yours or your customer’s.

You may be one of the many people who assume that if you issue a quotation to an existing or potential customer and attach a set of terms and conditions, then that’s that. When the customer decides to purchase from you it will be under your terms and conditions that the goods will be supplied.

But wait, your customer may send you a Purchase Order containing their own set of terms and conditions or reference where they can be found , such as on their website. If this is the case, it will be under your customer’s terms and conditions that the goods will be supplied.

That’s not a problem you may say, because your company will send an Order Acknowledgment and therefore your terms will be the ones actually used. But that’s where you would be wrong. Unless your customer has to sign or provide proof of acceptance of your Order Acknowledgment a court would most likely come down on the side of your customer.

Getting paid on time is never an easy thing to achieve but it’s made even more difficult when no one can be entirely sure whose terms and conditions, payment schedules and so many other factors are in legal force.