Net 45 payment terms: meaning, due date

Net 45 at a glance

Type

Net terms

Full amount due

45 days after the invoice date

Also written

N45, n/45

Example dates

Average amount owed to the supplier

Paying on the due date, about 45 days after the invoice date on average.

Setting up Net 45 in your ERP

Business Central

Due Date Calculation 45D

Xero

Bills due 45 day(s) after the invoice date

NetSuite

Term with Days Till Net Due 45

QuickBooks Online and Sage Intacct also store payment terms with a due rule. Whether an early-payment discount is applied to the bill automatically differs by product (Sage Intacct AP terms can carry one; Xero terms set due dates only), so check the bill's due date and amount after setting up a new term.

What it means

Net 45 is a net term: the full invoice amount is due 45 days after the invoice date, with no discount for paying early. Suppliers also write it as N45 and n/45. Because there is no discount percent or discount window, AP should not reduce the invoice amount or post a discount when the invoice is entered.

The 45 days run from the invoice date, not from the date your team receives the invoice, not from a statement date and not from month end. The term does not count from month end, so do not apply a next-month due day. An invoice dated Thursday, Jan 15, 2026 is due Sunday, Mar 1, 2026, 45 calendar days later. If it arrives in AP later, the due date is still Sunday, Mar 1, 2026.

Set the vendor record to Net 45 and make sure the term maps to 45 calendar days from the invoice date. At invoice entry, the clerk should check that the printed invoice date was captured, that the term on the invoice agrees with the vendor record, and that the calculated due date follows the invoice date. A due date that looks like Net 30 or another term is an exception to review before approval.

Working out the due date

The calculation is simple but exact: start on the invoice date and count 45 calendar days. For an invoice dated Thursday, Jan 15, 2026, the full amount is due Sunday, Mar 1, 2026, which is 45 calendar days and falls on a weekend. The calendar due date does not move because the invoice was received later.

For an invoice dated Friday, Feb 27, 2026, the full amount is due Monday, Apr 13, 2026. For an invoice dated Friday, Dec 18, 2026, the full amount is due Monday, Feb 1, 2027. Each dated invoice has to be checked against the invoice date; counting from the received date or from the date the invoice was scanned into the queue can shift the due date and create a false late or false early payment.

When the due date falls on a weekend, as it does for Thursday, Jan 15, 2026, the due date is still Sunday, Mar 1, 2026. Your team should apply its documented payment-run policy and the supplier agreement for scheduling the disbursement. Do not change the invoice date, the term or the due date just to fit a payment run, and do not let a weekend due date become an excuse for counting from the received date instead of the invoice date.

If a supplier statement shows a different due date, compare it with the invoice and the vendor record before changing anything. The risk of paying a statement as well as the invoice is a common source of duplicate payment when statements list invoices that are already scheduled or paid.

Cash-flow effect

Net 45 gives an average of 45 days to pay. With $250,000 a year of spend with one supplier, about $30,822 is owed on average, which is $10,274 more than on Net 30. With $1,000,000 a year of spend with one supplier, about $123,288 is owed on average, $41,096 more than on Net 30.

With $5,000,000 a year of spend with one supplier, about $616,438 is owed on average, $205,479 more than on Net 30. Use these amounts for cash forecasting because they show the balance tied up with a single supplier under Net 45. Compare the value of the payment timing with your own cost of funds rather than treating the term as free money.

Net 45 has no early-payment discount to evaluate. If a supplier offers a separate discount term, compare the discount with your own cost of funds and do not take a discount after the window. Forecast payments from the invoice date and the calculated due date, not from the payment run date, so the cash plan reflects the actual terms.

Where these invoices go wrong

The first failure is keying the wrong term. An invoice that should be Net 45 gets entered as Net 30 or another term, and the due date is wrong before anyone reviews it. Catch this at entry by comparing the invoice term, the vendor record and the calculated due date. A due date that does not line up with 45 calendar days from the invoice date should go to a second reviewer.

Another failure is counting from the received date instead of the invoice date. The invoice may sit in a mailbox or approval queue for a period, and AP then starts the clock late, which pushes the due date beyond the supplier's terms. Use the printed invoice date. For Thursday, Jan 15, 2026, the due date remains Sunday, Mar 1, 2026 even if the invoice was received later.

Taking a discount after the window is a problem on terms that offer a discount; on Net 45 there is no discount percent or discount window, so no discount should be taken at all. The risk of paying a statement as well as the invoice is another duplicate risk: the statement total may include invoices already paid or already scheduled. Reconcile the statement to open invoices before releasing payment.

The risk of paying a re-sent invoice twice happens when a supplier sends the same invoice again with a new email or a new attachment. Match on invoice number, invoice date, amount and supplier, and place a hold when the same invoice appears twice. Make the duplicate check part of invoice entry, not a last-minute step before the payment run.

Questions