Terms and Conditions are normally recognised as the small writing you will quite often see on the back of your suppliers’ invoices. They are simply the set of rules by which a business will extend credit to their clients?

In establishing a set of rules by which you extend credit to your clients, you can inbuild consequences should your clients fail to meet their financial obligations such as marking their credit file.   

Terms and Conditions should first be up to date with the appropriate legislation including Privacy. There is also the opportunity to include additional legislation which further protects a business including the ability to become a secured creditor.

In most cases your terms and conditions just need to be divulged to your clients prior to conducting business, which is the reason most businesses include their Terms and Conditions on the back of their Invoices or Statements. However, in the specific case of registering a PPSR and becoming a secured creditor, Terms and Conditions need to be signed by the client.

Terms and Conditions usually accompany a business’s credit application where appropriate, but are also used in some industries with Quotation, Work Approval, Client Information and Variation Forms.

Given all businesses have different areas of risk (i.e., an accountant and a custom fabricator have different legal requirements) no two sets of Terms and Conditions can be the same. Even within the same industry, each business operates differently with different areas of risk.

Yes. A business just needs to make sure its Terms and Conditions are appropriate to its business requirements.

Businesses with the appropriate legislation included in their Terms and Conditions can become secured creditors with the same protection as the banks. Terms and Conditions can be used by a business to encourage their clients to pay them on time improving their cash flow.

Yes, it is common for a review clause to be included in a business’s Terms and Conditions allowing changes in a business Terms and Conditions to be enforced after the appropriate notification period.

As mentioned above, having a business’s Terms and Conditions displayed on the back of its invoices or statements as a constant reminder is a good idea. However, it is only required when onboarding a new client or conducting new business in the case where a client is offered an ongoing account. Businesses in the construction industry will normally have their Terms and Conditions included in their client documentation, especially when dealing with a new client.