"Terms of trade" are the terms of the contract between a seller of goods or services and the buyer. The terms can usually fit on one A4 page, and therefore they may be placed on the reverse side of an order form or of an application for credit. Because these terms are the terms of the parties' contractual obligations to each other, you cannot vary the terms without the other party's agreement.

Why have terms of trade?

Many businesses supply goods and services on the basis of informal arrangements, and often disputes arise that could have been avoided if there had been clear, written terms of trade from the start.In particular, having clear terms of trade is an excellent way of minimising and preventing bad debt.

These New Zealand terms of trade documents spell out for a business providing goods or services their clear terms.