Shipping adn billing

Shipping and building

When you ask to buy something, you order it, or place an order for it. When the goods are ready, they are dispatched or shiped to you.

An invoice is a document asking for payment and showing the amount to pay. The activity of producing and sending invoices is invoicing or billing.

Words

place an order for someting

order something

I want to give clothes to my parents, so I place an order for them on Amazon.com.

dispatch /dɪˈspætʃ/ ★☆☆ vt.

to send someone or something shomewhere for a particular purpose.

A repoter was dispatched to Naples to cover the riot.

ship /ʃɪp/ ★☆☆

vt. to send goods somewhere by ship.

A new engine was shipped over from the US.

vi, vt. to make a piece of computer equipment or software available for people to buy.

They’re now shipping their long-awaited new anti-virus software.

invoice /ˈɪnvɔɪs/ ★☆☆ n.

[countable] a list of goods that have been supplied or work that has been done, showing how much you owe form them

They sent him an invoice at the end of the month.

invoice vt.

to prepare an invoice and send it to a customer

invoicing n. SYN billing

We handle the whole process, from the receipt of the customer’s order to invoicing.

Trade credit

Vaclav is talking about his furniture business:

‘Of course, we don’t expect our business customers to pay immediately. They are given trade credit, a period of time before they have to pay, usually 30 or 60 days. If a customer orders a large quantity or pays within a particular time, we give them a discount, a reduction in teh amount they have to pay.

But with some customers, especially ones we haven’t dealt with before, wef ask them to pay upfront, before they receive the goods.

Like all businesses, we have a credit policy, with payment terms: rules on when and how customers should pay. This is part of controlling cash flow, the timing of payments coming into and going out of a business.’

Words

trade credit n.

[uncountable] when a supplier allows a business customer to pay for goods or services after they are delivered, usually 30, 60 or 90 days later

Half of those giving trade credit said that payment was not received on time.

reduction /rɪˈdʌkʃən/ ★★★ S3 W2 n.

[countable, uncountable] a decrease in the size, price, or amount of something OPP increase

The company promised they would make no staff reductions for at least two years.

upfront /ˌʌpˈfrʌnt◂/ adj.

paid before any work has been done or before goods are supplied OPP instalment

an upfront fee of $500

[not before noun] behaving or talking in an honest way so that people know what you really think

Mo’s very upfront with him about their relationship.

instalment /ɪnˈstɔːlmənt $ ɪnˈstɒːl-/ n. AmE installment

one of a series of regular payments that you make untill you have paid all the money you owe

They’re letting me pay for the washing machine by monthly instalments.

credit policy n.

[countable, uncountable] a company’s policy on when its customers should pay for goods or services they have ordered

Reinforce your creit policy with a reputable debt collector.

payment terms n.

[plural] the conditions of a sales agreement that concern how the customer will pay, and esphecially how much time is allowed for payment

We might consider extending the normal payment terms from 30 days to 40 days or more.

cash flow n.

[singular, uncountable] the movement of money coming into a business as income and going out as wages, materials etc

We expect a rise in both our production and our cash flow.

Accounts

Jennifer and Kathleen are businesswomen. Jennifer has her own company in Britain and Kathleen owns one in the US.

Jenifer BrE	Both	AmE AmE
	The people and organizations we sell to are our coustomers or accounts. The most important ones are key accounts
I’m waiting to be paid by some of my customers. These are my debtors. They owe me money.		The customers that I’m waiting to be paid by are my accounts receivable or receivables
The Suppliers and other organizatoins that I owe money to are my creditors. I must remember to pay tax to the Inland Revenue on time!		The suppliers and other organizations that I owe money to are my accounts payable or payables. I must remember pay tax to Inland Revenue Service on time!
	There are some companies that owe me money, but I get the feeling I’m never going to get paid: they’re bad debts and I’ve written them off.

Words

accounts /əˈkaʊnt/ ★★★ S1 W1 n.

[countable] an arrangement that you have with a shop or company, which allows you to buy goods or use a service now and pay for them later

Can you carge this to my account please?

key accounts

most important accounts

owe /əʊ $ oʊ/ ★★★ S2 W2 vt.

to need to pay someone for something that they have done for you or sold to you, or to need to give someone back money that they have lent you

I owe my brother $50.

I still owe you for the taxi.

the money owed to credit card companies

creditor /ˈkredɪtə $ -ər/ n. AmE accounts payable or payables

[countable] a person, bank, or organization that you owe money to OPP debtor, accounts receivable

Also until such time as a creditor has lodged a proof of debt, he can not vote at meetings of creditors.

debtor /ˈdetə $ -ər/ n. AmE accounts recievable or recievables

[countable] a person, group, or organization that owes money OPP creditor, accounts payable

Debtor countries cannot develop totheir full potential while continuing to pay off shcu massive foreign debts.

bad debt n.

[countable] a debt that is unlikely to be paid

Profits in 1992 were bolstered by a fall in bad debt provisions to £676 million.

write off phvt.

to decide that someone or something is useless, unimportant, or a failure

We’ve written the project off as a non-starter.

the Inland Revenue n. AmE the Inland Revenue Service

the former name of the UK government department which collected national taxes in Britain. In 2005 it joined together with Her Majesty’s customs and Excise to form Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

It is the end of this time : )