A client asking to pay you only once their own customer pays them is asking you to accept their customer's payment risk, on a timeline you have zero visibility into and no ability to influence. Their collection problem, if their customer pays late or disputes the invoice, quietly becomes your cash-flow problem too.
The right response isn't a blanket refusal. It's recognizing that this request transfers real risk, and deciding deliberately whether that risk is one worth taking.
Their collection risk becomes your risk, with none of your control
A payment contingent on someone else's payment means your own cash flow now depends on a relationship and a collections process you have no visibility into or influence over. Recognize this as a real transfer of risk, not a minor scheduling accommodation.
Understand why they're actually asking before responding
The request might reflect a genuine, standard practice in their industry, or it might reflect real cash-flow strain on their own end. Understanding which one you're dealing with shapes how much risk you're actually being asked to absorb.
In Stelaah, a client's payment terms and history stay on the record, so a request like this can be evaluated against their actual track record rather than a one-off ask taken at face value. See how invoices works.
Separate the two relationships explicitly, yours with them, theirs with their customer
Your engagement is with the client, not with their customer, and the two relationships should stay separate, your payment terms shouldn't be contractually tied to a relationship you're not actually party to. State this distinction plainly.
Offer aligned timing instead of a genuinely contingent payment
A middle ground exists, extended but fixed terms timed roughly to when their own collection typically happens, without making your payment literally contingent on an event outside your control. Offer this as a real alternative.
Know when it's simply not acceptable to agree to at all
For a newer relationship or a smaller engagement, a genuinely contingent payment arrangement may simply not be worth the risk, regardless of how the request is framed. Know your own threshold and be willing to decline.
A simple checklist
If you do nothing else, do these five things:
- Recognize the real risk transfer before agreeing to anything.
- Understand whether the request reflects standard practice or real strain.
- Keep your payment terms separate from their customer relationship.
- Offer aligned but fixed terms instead of genuinely contingent payment.
- Know your threshold for when this simply isn't worth agreeing to.
Do that, and payment terms stay something you control, not a risk quietly outsourced to someone else's collections process.
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