You finish the shoot. The invoice goes in. The terms say Net 90. Ninety days of float on money you've already earned, against rentals, travel, and the rest of your life that doesn't run on payment-cycle time.

Most of the time, you accept the terms because you want the callback. Production crew gets hired again because they solve problems and cause little waves. That posture is the right one most of the time. But there are situations where the math is broken enough that the conversation has to happen. There's more legal backing for that conversation than crew often realizes.

This article walks through what Net 90 actually means, why some companies use it, what NYC and NY State law say about it, what your real options are when terms aren't workable, and where to ask versus where to walk away.

Net 90 isn't really standard. It's a corner case.

Net 30 is the legal default for freelance work in NYC. The Freelance Isn't Free Act (FIFA) requires payment within 30 days of completion if no other date is specified. Most production work runs on something close to that.

Net 60 to Net 90 shows up in specific corners: very large corporate clients with rigid procurement systems, certain agency relationships, and some long-form post-production deals. It's not a production-wide norm despite how often it gets framed that way.

A few clarifications worth flagging:

  • "Net 90" usually means 90 days from invoice date. But contracts can run from receipt, approval, or end-of-month. Net 90 from approval is materially worse than Net 90 from invoice date. The approval date is at the buyer's discretion.
  • "Paid-when-paid" is a separate problem. Contracts can say "we pay you when the agency or brand pays us." That makes you a creditor of someone you have no contractual relationship with. Read for it.
  • Long terms tend to cluster in working-capital-optimized buyers: large corporates, agencies, financial-services brands. They push extended terms to suppliers as a cash management strategy. BCG and McKinsey have both written about this as a deliberate corporate lever, not an accident of the AP department.

What it actually costs you

A 90-day delay on a $5,000 invoice at a 10% cost of capital is roughly $123 in pure interest cost. That assumes you have the cash to absorb the wait. If you don't, the cost climbs. Credit card APR averages above 20%. Personal lines of credit usually run 8 to 12%. Crew who run gear, travel, and accommodation through a credit card and wait months for reimbursement are paying real money for the privilege.

The cost isn't only interest. There's opportunity cost from gigs declined because cash is short. There's carrying cost on equipment rentals and travel deposits funded out of pocket on day one. And there's stacking risk: one Net 90 is manageable, three at once is a cash crisis.

The DCWP has recovered significant amounts from creative companies that systematically pay late. Splashlight settled for more than $500,000 covering hundreds of freelancers. BuzzFeed settled separately. The risk is real, especially in creative-adjacent corporate work.

Who's covered, and who isn't

The freelance worker laws below apply to independent contractors, not employees. Four buckets to know:

  • Independent contractor (1099 vendor). Covered by FIFA in NYC and Article 44-A in NY State if the contract value qualifies. Has the most legal recourse for nonpayment.
  • Payroll employee (W-2 staffed through Wrapbook, EP, etc.). Covered by wage-payment laws, not freelance laws. Different framework, different timeline (typically weekly through the payroll service).
  • Union member working under a CBA. NYC's FIFA generally does not apply where the worker is an employee under a collective bargaining agreement. Recourse runs through the local, not DCWP.
  • One-person LLC or loan-out. Often still covered under both NYC and NY State freelance laws. Both statutes explicitly cover "an organization composed of no more than one natural person, whether or not incorporated." A one-person LLC is not automatically excluded.

If you're not sure which bucket you're in on a given job, ask the production manager before the shoot. The answer changes what protections apply.

NYC FIFA and NY State Article 44-A: separate laws, separate enforcement

These two laws are commonly conflated. They aren't the same.

NYC Freelance Isn't Free Act (FIFA) has been in effect since May 2017. It applies to contracts of $800 or more (single deal or aggregated across 120 days). Requirements: a written contract, payment by the contract date or within 30 days of completion if no date is stated, and anti-retaliation protection. Enforcement runs through the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), which handles complaint intake. Individual claims are adjudicated in state court. Prevailing claimants on a payment claim can recover the unpaid amount, double damages, and attorneys' fees.

NY State Freelance Worker Protection Act (Article 44-A of General Business Law) took effect August 28, 2024. It mirrors many of FIFA's terms but enforces differently. It covers natural persons or organizations of no more than one natural person, whether or not incorporated. It excludes sales representatives, attorneys, licensed medical professionals, and construction contractors. Requirements: written contracts, six-year record retention, timely payment, and anti-retaliation. Enforcement runs through the NY Attorney General's office and through civil action. Not through DCWP. Don't file a state claim with the city.

A prevailing claimant under either law can recover unpaid compensation plus double damages and attorneys' fees. Pattern-and-practice violations can also draw civil penalties.

Outside New York, similar laws exist. California SB 988 took effect January 2025 with a $250 threshold and a $1,000 penalty for refusing to provide a written contract on request. Illinois FWPA took effect July 2024 with a $500 threshold or any work over 120 days. State-by-state details vary.

When the negotiation happens (and what it sounds like)

Most payment-term conversations happen before the job starts. The terms are usually in the hiring email or the deal memo. The decision point is whether to take the job, not how to fight the terms after the shoot wraps. If terms only surface after the work is done, that's a sneaky move on the buyer's part. Worth flagging upfront in your reply.

If terms aren't workable upfront, three approaches work in different contexts.

For most jobs: read, accept, or pass

You're not in a hard-leverage position on most bookings. The producer has alternatives. The goal is the callback. Asking once, politely, is reasonable. If it doesn't go anywhere, the choice is take the gig or pass.

"Hi [Name], thanks for the offer. Quick question on the payment terms, they're listed as Net 90. Any chance of moving that to Net 30, or building in a deposit to cover production costs upfront?"

For repeat clients: lean on the relationship

If you've worked together before, the ask gets easier.

"Hi [Name], looking forward to the next one. Wanted to flag, would it be possible to set Net 30 as my standing term going forward? Easier on my end and one less thing to flag each time."

For high-leverage situations: give them a choice

If you have alternative work and the math doesn't work, name the trade.

"Hi [Name], thanks. Net 90 doesn't quite work given current cash flow. I can shift to Net 30, or adjust the rate to reflect the cost of carrying the float. Either is fine. Let me know which works on your side."

The last script is the one most freelancers can't deploy. It requires real alternatives. If you don't have them, the first script is the right one.

What separates an ask that lands from one that doesn't:

  • Address the person who hired you, not the generic AP inbox.
  • Be brief. Frame it as a question, not an objection.
  • Don't anchor to a specific outcome. Sometimes terms can change. Sometimes the answer is an invoice expedite, a one-off exception, or a deposit. Take whatever path opens.

Better structure than asking: deposits, milestones, kill fees

The cleanest defense against long terms isn't argument. It's structure. Three contract levers do more than negotiation in most cases.

Deposits. A 50% deposit on signature converts half the project from receivable to received. Position the deposit as covering operational costs (rentals, travel, prep), not as a special favor. Large companies often accept this even when their standing terms can't change.

Milestone billing. Tie payment to objective events: signed booking, principal photography complete, first cut, final delivery. Each milestone shrinks the float window. CFO advisors specifically recommend milestone billing as the response to extended-terms pressure.

Kill fees. If a booked shoot cancels or reschedules, a graduated cancellation fee in the contract protects you. Standard structure: 25% if canceled more than 7 days out, 50% within 7 days, 100% within 24 hours. This is widely supported in production deal-memo guidance. It's also one of the most under-used contract levers in freelance crew work.

A short, plain-English clause for the contract that handles 80% of real-world expense pain:

Pre-approved travel, rental, and third-party expenses shall be reimbursed within 10 days of receipt submission, separate from the project payment terms.

That single clause spares you from carrying credit-card debt on rentals while waiting 90 days for the project payment.

What to do if they pay late anyway

A client agreeing to terms and then paying late is a different problem from the original Net 90.

File a claim. NYC FIFA claims go through DCWP intake. NY State claims go through the Attorney General or civil action. Either path can recover double damages plus the original amount and attorneys' fees. The DCWP enforcement record shows that creative-adjacent companies do get held to account when the paperwork is clean.

Late fees in contract. A late fee can be enforceable, but it's not as simple as "set it under the usury cap." NY usury rules govern loans and forbearance, not invoice late fees specifically. Late fees are typically analyzed under liquidated-damages doctrine. The fee has to be a reasonable estimate of administrative and financing harm, not a punitive charge. Get the fee in writing in the contract. Keep it commercially reasonable (1.0% to 1.5% per month is widely defensible). Avoid the word "penalty" in the clause. When in doubt, get counsel on local law.

Withholding rights or final files. This depends entirely on contract structure. The NY State model freelance contract conditions copyright transfer on final payment by default, which is a real lever. But work-for-hire contracts and contracts with pre-vesting assignment language give the client ownership immediately. Withholding files in those cases can be a contract breach. Distinguish between physical file delivery and IP/usage rights. They're different things and the contract decides which is which.

Last resort: factoring. Factoring companies will buy the invoice for 80 to 95% of face value. The math is brutal: a 5% factoring discount on $5,000 is $250 in fees. Most articles ranking for "Net 90" online are written by factoring companies that profit when freelancers can't wait. Use factoring only when no other option exists.

A practitioner note: what this looks like in practice

In April 2025, I asked a production manager at a major studio to flip Net 90 to Net 30 on a corporate shoot:

"I noticed the terms were net 90 and I'm wondering if that can be changed to net 30?"

The PM's response:

"We can't change net terms on your account, but I did request to expedite still waiting on approval was going to follow up with you once I got an answer."

The expedite was approved within 48 hours. Net 90 became roughly 10 days. The lesson: asking didn't change the contract. It surfaced an alternative path the PM had authority to grant. Don't anchor to the specific outcome. Ask, and let the recipient surface what's actually possible.

This is the realistic ceiling on what an upfront ask achieves with a large corporate buyer. Account-level term changes are rare. Individual exceptions are not.

Want production support that handles this before it becomes a problem?

Top Stick Films staffs gaffers, key grips, DPs, and full lighting and electric departments in NYC for corporate, branded, and commercial production. We've been navigating large-corporate AP processes long enough that most of these conversations happen quietly before the shoot, not after.

If you're a producer in NYC, request a quote for crew or full production services.

If you're crew, bookmark this. Send it to anyone you've worked with who's still eating Net 90 quietly.