A client recently told me they were owed $47,000 in overdue invoices. When I looked at their QuickBooks settings, I found the problem in 30 seconds: their invoice terms were set to “net 30” when their industry standard was “net 15,” and they had zero automatic reminders turned on.
Customers were paying late because the invoices gave them permission to—and no one was following up.
After 30+ years of bookkeeping, I can tell you that your QuickBooks sales settings aren’t just about customization—they’re about protecting your cash flow and getting paid faster. Get these settings wrong and you’ll watch revenue slip through the cracks.
Let me show you the critical sales settings that determine whether you collect on time or chase payments for months.
Accessing Your Sales Settings
Navigate to the gear icon in the top right, select Account and Settings, then click Sales. This is where you’ll customize everything about how you bill customers and collect payment.
1. Invoice Terms: The Setting That Controls When You Get Paid
Your default invoice terms determine your payment timeline. QuickBooks defaults to “net 30” (payment due in 30 days), but you can customize this completely.
To change invoice terms:
- Click the pencil icon next to “Preferred invoice terms”
- Choose from pre-set options or click “Add new”
- Create custom terms: “12 days,” “Net 15,” or even specific dates
Why this matters: If your industry standard is net 15 but you’re using net 30, you’re giving customers an extra two weeks to sit on your money. Multiply that across 50 invoices and you’re looking at serious cash flow problems.
Action step: Check what payment terms your competitors use. Don’t give customers longer than necessary.
2. Delivery Method: Print or Email?
Set your preferred delivery method for invoices.
Reality check: Email invoices get paid faster. They arrive instantly, customers can click to pay immediately, and there’s no “lost in the mail” excuse.
If you’re still printing and mailing invoices, you’re adding 3-5 days to your payment cycle—and paying for postage.
3. Custom Fields: Information That Speeds Up Payment
Turn on custom fields that make payment easier:
- Service date: Shows when work was completed
- Discount: Clearly displays any discounts applied
- Deposit: Tracks deposits already received
- Custom transaction numbers: Makes invoices easier to reference
Pro tip: The easier you make it for customers to understand what they’re paying for, the faster they pay.
4. Online Payments: Remove Every Payment Barrier
Enable online payments directly in QuickBooks or integrate with third-party processors.
The numbers don’t lie: Invoices with “click to pay” buttons get paid 2x faster on average than invoices requiring manual payment.
Every extra step between invoice and payment is another opportunity for a customer to say “I’ll do this later”—and then forget for 45 days.
5. Products and Services Display Options
Customize how products and services appear on invoices:
- Show/hide product and service columns
- Add SKU numbers for easier reordering
- Enable price rules for volume discounts or wholesale pricing
Why SKUs matter: If you sell products, SKU numbers reduce confusion and reorder errors—which means fewer disputes and faster payment.
6. Price Rules: Automate Discounts Without Manual Entry
Set up tiered pricing automatically:
- Bronze, silver, gold pricing levels
- Volume discounts
- Wholesale vs. retail prices
Time-saver: Stop manually calculating discounts on every invoice. Set the rules once and QuickBooks applies them automatically.
7. Inventory Tracking
Turn on quantity and inventory tracking if you sell physical products.
Critical warning: If you’re selling inventory without tracking it in QuickBooks, you have no idea what your true cost of goods sold is—which means your profit margins are a complete guess.
8. Late Fees: Stop Losing Money on Overdue Accounts
Enable automatic late fees without manual intervention.
Real story: A service-based client was owed $23,000 in invoices over 60 days old. They’d never charged late fees because it felt “uncomfortable.” Once we enabled automatic late fees in their settings, their average payment time dropped from 52 days to 31 days.
Late fees aren’t about punishment—they’re about incentivizing timely payment.
9. Progress Invoicing: Essential for Project-Based Work
Enable progress invoicing to bill against estimates in stages.
How it works: Create one estimate, then invoice:
- A percentage of the total (e.g., 25% deposit, 50% at midpoint, 25% at completion)
- Specific line items as work is completed
Why contractors need this: You can’t wait until a 6-month project finishes to get paid. Progress invoicing protects your cash flow by billing as you complete work.
10. Default Messages: Professionalism Matters
Customize default messages that appear on all sales forms.
Include:
- Payment instructions (where to send payment, accepted methods)
- Your contact information
- A professional thank-you note
Reality: Customers pay faster when invoices look professional and include clear payment instructions. Sloppy invoices suggest your business is disorganized—and customers treat them accordingly.
11. Automatic Reminders: Stop Chasing Payments Manually
This is the setting most businesses ignore—and it costs them thousands.
Enable automatic email reminders at custom intervals:
- 7 days before due date (friendly reminder)
- On due date (payment due today)
- 3 days overdue (first follow-up)
- 7 days overdue (second follow-up)
- 15 days overdue (final notice)
The difference this makes: I’ve seen businesses cut their average collection time from 45 days to 28 days just by enabling automatic reminders.
You shouldn’t have to remember to chase every overdue invoice. QuickBooks can do it automatically while you focus on running your business.
12. Online Delivery
Enable online delivery so customers receive invoices via email with “view and pay” buttons.
Time to payment:
- Mailed invoice: 5-7 days to receive + payment processing time
- Emailed invoice with online payment: Instant delivery + 1-click payment
The faster invoices reach customers, the faster you get paid.
13. Statement Settings
Turn on the aging table at the bottom of statements.
Why this works: When customers see exactly how long they’ve owed you money—broken down by aging period—they’re more likely to prioritize payment. The visual aging table creates subtle pressure.
The Bottom Line: Every Setting Affects Your Cash Flow
These settings might seem like minor customization options, but they directly determine:
- How fast you get paid
- How much time you waste chasing payments
- How professional your business appears
- Whether customers take your invoices seriously
Take 20 minutes right now to:
- Review your invoice terms (are they competitive?)
- Enable automatic late fees
- Turn on automatic payment reminders
- Enable online payments if you haven’t already
The businesses that get paid fastest aren’t chasing invoices manually—they’ve set up their systems to collect automatically.
Your sales settings either work for you or against you. Make sure they’re working for you.