To think this is unprofessional?

I agree with ThankFitsFriday, in as much as it is /was up to the customer to tell op, upfront, that he would not be able to meet terms.
I don’t find short payment terms unusual, but the important part is reaching agreement before work starts/ service is delivered.

I agree that his response is weird.

As a side note, I work in Finance, in a company where cashflow is no issue, but we’d struggle to meet your 5 working days payment terms.

By the time the invoice is received, approved, processed, then the payment run prepared, authorised, uploaded to the bank, released from the bank, 3 working days to clear.. I think 5 days payment terms is very tight and I’ve rejected new suppliers with short payment terms such as this, just because it’s not practical for our processes and we’d always be missing the payment deadline.

What on earth is your field?
I freelanced for years and it was 30 days as standard.

I would wait and see if he pays within your set terms. And perhaps consider moving to 50% or all upfront.

I don’t understand why it isn’t cash on delivery? I mean I see that it isn’t but most sales are at point of purchase. The theater and the grocery store don’t invoice you and wait 28 days.

Personally I wouldn’t say that chasing someone for payment of of three figure invoice after 5 days was a very good impression to give either.

i would never chase anyone until someone was at least a month over normal terms, it gives the same impression that you are saying the client shouldn’t be giving. Lack of cash.

Totally depends on the industry and how mature the company is. You have quite a black and white way of looking at things.

A youngish company in a growth phase will have very finely balanced cash flow but it doesn’t mean they can’t or won’t pay their bills when they fall due or within a reasonable period.

You could equally argue that a successful freelancer would not be desperate for payment within 5 days so be aware that you are sending your customer a message about yourself just as much as he’s sending you one about his business.

That was the worst part of childminder! Even when they got child tax credits which is specifically for the child care!!

I don't understand why you care so much?! Why would he be "mortified"? Times are tough right now, maybe cash flow isn't as smooth as it once was for many, why is that so humiliating to admit?
You are "just" a freelancer, why should he be embarrassed for you to know this? Many of my clients have evolved into friends over the years and I know about their lives, I know when times are tough. Actually it makes me more confident that I will be paid, not less. A non payer would just play dead.

I think you're totally unrealistic. How long have you been self employed? I've been freelance for well over a decade, and 30 days (not even from delivery, but from invoice) is standard in my industry and has been since forever.
I have a really good client who's also a very good friend (and pays excellent rates) and often he will be waiting in a chain for several big payments to come through so he can pay his freelancers for a job, it happens.
Normally I barely notice when someone pays me as my cash flow is steady.
Your client could flip it around and say what kind of successful freelancer has such poor cash flow they're chomping at the bit for a three figure invoice just days after delivering.

Imagine if your client has a dozen or so freelancers on various projects: do you expect them to take an hour out here and there on a mish mash of days to process invoices or make payments? No, of course they're going to wait and deal with them all at the end/beginning of month, it just makes logistical.sense. Even for yourself: better to gather all your invoices at end of month and get in the zone.

Five days is bizarre, we wouldn’t engage with anyone looking for payment that quickly. The admin is a pita.

i would also read the email as meaning it will be paid next time he is doing some financial admin, ie when he has a number of invoices to pay or incoming payments to reconcile.

no half decent sized business is going to deal with a single invoice.

He might be annoyed at the 5 days and it is his way of pointing out that it is rather shorter time than normal. As someone who has to pay a lot of invoices, 5 days is really short and would irritate me.

Interestingly, under the 2017 act, even if reduced terms are agreed, you have no actual recourse to chase the debt or add interest until the 30 days have elapsed - so in reality the customer can take 30 days regardless.

OK, just looked it up, Payment Terms Act 2017, 30 days is the default limit unless parties have agreed different terms.

The emphasis is on agreement, it can't be one way, so you could have on your quotation "payment to be within 5 days of delivery date" and then "acceptance of this quotation means you agree to the terms set forth herein"

Just sticking 5 days, 7 days, 10 days on the invoice means nothing unless you have some sort of agreement from the payee

As far as I'm aware anything under 28 days is unenforcible in law, I supply the NHS, it doesn't matter what you put on the invoice, it gets paid roughly a month later.

As a freelancer, my payment terms are within 28 days. However, companies always have their own - some have payment runs every Friday so mine will be the Friday after the 28 days is up, one is always the last working day of the month so annoyingly can be nearly 4 weeks later sometimes.

not the point, but it was interesting for me to read how it varied company to company!

i agree - I wouldn’t give the impression of cash flow difficulties to a freelancer!

I read it like, he'll wait for more to come in and then pay all invoices together sort of thing. I didn't even know what you meant at first and had to re-read it! It could be meant either way I suppose!

It sounds like his cash flow is unsteady – always a bit of a worry.

As an aside, as someone who regularly works with freelancers, they always have a ‘paid within 5/10/15 days’ stipulation, but our company policy is paid within 28 days. So 🤷‍♀️

Usually freelancers give 28 days and then interest is payable. As employees people are paid a month in arrears, so less than 28 days is a bit odd.

If it makes you feel uneasy and you think it's unprofessional, then don't work for him again. There are a few companies/individuals in my field who pay late or quibble over hours worked or how much extra I did/didn't have to do, I just don't work for them. It's one of the advantages of being freelance, right?

You're not actually asking us whether you think you are being unreasonable, you've already decided you're not, so go with that.

I actually think this is quite normal.
I know in my dads business, he sometimes has to chase people for payments so he can pay the suppliers etc. It's not that the business doesn't have or make money. It's been going well for over 20 years. Just, certain things are budgeted to cover other things.

It might be a red flag but it might be genuine!