Payment timing
Mark the deposit, invoice points, payment period and any dispute process. Put supplier deposits, wages, freight and tax dates on the same timeline.
BEFORE YOU SIGN
Will this customer make the whole business
stronger?A large contract can fill the schedule and still leave you carrying the deposit, fixed price risk, late payment and disruption to work already promised. Read the terms beside the business you have now.
This is the practical companion to An extra $200,000 a month in sales sounds like growth. Is it?
Read the commitment from four sides.
The contract value tells you what you may invoice. It does not show when cash arrives, what costs move first or what the customer will ask your team to put aside. Put the proposed work alongside current commitments before you accept it.
Margin after the real delivery cost
Check the fixed price, customer-specific materials, variations, overtime, freight and the cost that moves if inputs rise.
Capacity and existing promises
Name the people, equipment, stock and production time this work requires. Check what current customers would wait longer to receive.
Customer concentration
Calculate the share of sales the customer would represent. Consider the effect of a delayed order, dispute or changed forecast on the rest of the business.
Make the next customer call specific.
You can want the customer and still change the terms. A clear conversation protects the relationship better than accepting a commitment the business cannot deliver well.
Put dates on the cash
Build a simple timeline from the first supplier commitment to the first cleared customer payment.
Set the delivery limit
Identify the volume or start date the team can meet without breaking existing commitments.
Ask for terms that fit
Discuss deposits, progress invoices, price review points, variations and a staged start.
Decide with the whole picture
Accept, renegotiate, stage or decline the work on terms that leave the business able to meet its obligations.
Finance may help with a verified timing gap. It does not repair a fixed price that loses money, a delivery date the team cannot meet or a customer concentration risk you have not chosen to carry.
Keep the opportunity in proportion.
A good contract supports the cash position, protects the margin and lets you keep promises already made. If one term undermines those conditions, ask the customer to change it before your signature makes it your problem.
This resource provides general operating prompts. It does not replace legal, accounting, tax, procurement, credit or specialist contract advice for your circumstances. Have the appropriate qualified professional review terms and obligations that need specialist advice.