Late Fee on a $2,000 Invoice, 30 Days Overdue
Interest at 1.5% a month
$30.00
1.5% a month, simple interest charged pro rata by day, with no flat fee added.
How that number is worked out
These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.
- Unpaid invoice amount2000 $
- Late fee rate you wrote in the contract1.5 % per month
- Days past due30
- Flat fee, if your contract has one0 $
Now owed$2,030.00
| Original invoice | $2,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Days late | 30 (1 months) |
| Interest at 1.5% a month | $30.00 |
| Flat fee | $0.00 |
| Total now due | $2,030.00 |
| Annual rate this equals | 18% |
| Per day from here | $1.00 |
Days past due compared
Interest is simple and pro rata by day, so it climbs in a straight line rather than accelerating.
| Days past due | Now owed | Total now due |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days | $2,030.00 | $2,030.00 |
| 60 days | $2,060.00 | $2,060.00 |
| 90 days | $2,090.00 | $2,090.00 |
| 120 days | $2,120.00 | $2,120.00 |
What else matters here
Two thousand dollars 30 days late is $30 of interest, $2,030 due, and a dollar a day from here. Ninety days out it is $90.
A large share of invoices that go unpaid were never payable in the first place, because something the customer's system needs was missing. A purchase order number where the customer uses purchase orders. The job address and the unit number. The dates the work was done. Enough itemization that somebody who was not there can match it to what was authorized. Signed change orders attached rather than mentioned.
None of that is about trust, it is about the invoice surviving a desk it has never met. An invoice that gets kicked back on day twenty five and resubmitted on day thirty is not 30 days late, it is starting again from zero, and the customer will say so with a straight face.
What this calculator assumes
- A late fee is only collectable if it was in the contract or on the invoice before the invoice went late. A fee that first appears in a reminder email is not enforceable anywhere.
- 1.5 percent a month is 18 percent a year and is the common trade figure, but states cap this. Several cap it below 18 for consumer work, and a rate over the cap can void the whole fee clause, not just the excess.
- Interest here is simple, charged pro rata by day. Compounding monthly is legal in some states and not others, so the simple figure is the safe one to put on paper.
Questions people ask
What is the late fee on a $2,000 invoice at 30 days?
$30 at 1.5 percent a month, for a total of $2,030 and a dollar a day after that.
What should a contractor invoice include?
A purchase order number where one is used, the job address, the dates worked, itemized work a stranger can match to what was authorized, and signed change orders attached rather than referenced.
Does a rejected invoice restart the clock?
In practice, usually yes. A customer who kicks it back on a technicality will count the terms from the corrected version, which is why the first submission needs to be complete.
The late fee calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.