Orders From University Or Large Business?
Business By OneCreativeCookie Updated 12 May 2011 , 5:51pm by OneCreativeCookie
I have a home-based (fully inspected/licensed/insured) cookie business. Recently I had an inquiry for a very large cookie order ($2000+) from a university. Normally, I would require a non-refundable 50% deposit to hold the date (it is a full week's work for me), and payment of the balance 10 days prior to the event. The university required me to do a bunch of paperwork to become a vendor which included agreeing to their NET30 payment terms. Fortunately for a variety of reasons, it turned out that the order was significantly reduced and down to a level that I feel comfortable doing on NET30 terms.
For the future, I'm wondering how to handle orders for large businesses/universities that require net30 payment terms. Do I get a signed contract for the order in lieu of the 50% deposit and 100% prepayment? How has anyone else handled this issue?
Thanks for the hint 
This one was a really hard topic to search for!
FWIW, we used a Purchase Order and I now have a better understanding of the binding nature of a PO. I didn't need the deposit to purchase supplies or get started on the work, I just wanted to be sure they would not walk away from the order once it was placed.
Thanks again!
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