Why do so many freelancers skip putting payment terms in their contracts?

I had a client last year who paid me 3 months late because I didn't put a clear due date in my contract. Now I see posts on here where people complain about late payments but never mention having terms like net 15 or late fees written down. It feels like a basic thing that too many of us just forget. Has anyone else dealt with this and fixed it with a simple change?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jake1mo ago

Sucks that happened to you. I feel you, it's one of those hard lessons nobody warns you about until you're stuck chasing your own money.

hill.jade1mo ago

Depends on what happened exactly. Sometimes people blow stuff way out of proportion when it's just a normal part of doing whatever you do. Chasing down money is annoying for sure, but calling it a hard lesson nobody warns you about sounds like a bit much. Plenty of people have told me that getting paid can be a pain if you don't set things up right from the start. Maybe that person just had bad luck or didn't ask the right questions before jumping in. I'm not saying it's fun to deal with, but there's a lot worse things out there than waiting for a check to clear.