Set clear credit rules for your wholesale customers

This usually becomes important when you are supplying goods before full payment, offering 7, 14 or 30 day accounts, or dealing with repeat trade customers who order regularly. In that setting, invoices alone often do not deal properly with overdue payments, suspension of supply, recovery costs, security interests or what happens if a customer disputes part of an order. A dedicated credit terms document gives you a clearer contractual framework to rely on across ongoing supply, rather than trying to piece the relationship together from emails, order forms and invoice wording.

Credit terms for wholesale supply commonly deal with account approval, payment due dates, interest or charges on overdue amounts, when you can suspend further supply, ownership and risk issues, and whether security interest wording should be included. They may also cover order disputes, returns, customer warranties, default events and recovery costs. Drafting decisions should be based on the arrangement itself, including the documents, responsibilities and factual context, especially if your sales process involves account managers, online ordering, signed credit applications or mixed trading terms across different customer groups.

Useful details include how customers apply for credit, your usual payment periods, whether orders are placed by email, portal or purchase order, and whether you want personal promise or security support from customers. It also helps to know how you handle part-payments, disputed invoices, returns, shortages and stop-supply decisions. The practical working model can be just as important as the contract wording, so we look at what happens in practice, not just the wording you want on paper. That helps us draft terms that fit your actual account process.

A template may be a starting point, but it often misses the pressure points in a real wholesale account relationship. For example, it may not line up with your ordering process, your credit approval steps, your security position or the way you deal with overdue accounts across repeat orders. If the document does not match the way you trade, enforcement can become harder and customers may argue that different terms applied. Tailored drafting is especially useful where you have larger order values, distributor relationships, or a mix of standard supply and customer-specific arrangements.

Timing depends on how quickly you can provide your trading details and whether your supply model is straightforward or more layered. After we receive your instructions, we draft the credit terms and send them through for your review, then make the included amendment round needed to settle the final wording. Once finalised, the next step is usually rolling the terms into your account application, onboarding or ordering process. If you want help with related documents, such as a credit application form, that can be discussed separately.

Submit an enquiry on this page or click 'Get started'. One of our legal consultants will review it within 1 business day and get in touch to understand what you need.

Your consultant will then email you a fixed-fee quote setting out the cost, scope and timing. If you're happy with it, you can accept the quote and sign our engagement letter online.

Once you've accepted, one of our Australian-qualified lawyers will work with you to complete your project. They'll contact you by email or phone if they need anything.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Credit Terms For Wholesale Customers service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We work online, so we can help wherever you are in New Zealand. Our team works remotely, mainly from Australia.

Your work is done by our Australian-qualified lawyers, who hold Australian practising certificates and specialise in business law. None of them are New Zealand lawyers or hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

Sprintlaw NZ Limited is a legal consultancy, not a law firm, and is not regulated by the New Zealand Law Society. We don't act in court or tribunal matters, conveyancing (including leases and business sales) or other reserved areas of work. Communications with Sprintlaw are unlikely to be protected by legal professional privilege. We still keep everything confidential under our engagement letter.