A/P Can I take discounts?

[bgentry]

I am an Accounts Payable clerk for a company I work for. This is how I determine if I can take a discount. Tell me if I am doing this right.

I stamp the mail on the day I receive it. If the terms are 2%10;Net30 then I have 10 days from the day I receive the invoice to the day it is post marked to take the 2% discount, regardless of the invoice date or the day they receive it. I sometimes get invoices dated the 1st, which is the day the service was performed, but don't receive the invoice until the 9th. Do I have until the 18th to mail the check? As long as the envelope is postmarked by the US Post Office on the 18th. What about invoices that are faxed to me because I never received them. Say for instance, I receive a faxed invoice on August 1 that is dated June 1. Do I still have until August 9th to take discounts?

Thanks for your advice.

 

[bgentry]

I am basing this on contract law. Does it fall into this category? Am I posting on the right forum?

 

[Programmer]

AFAIK, due dates are based on the Invoice Date, not the date received. There's absolutely no way for the vendor to know when you receive the invoice.

I work as a programmer for a large business software company. Our A/P and A/R systems are both written to assign a due date of xx days from Invoice Date. With Invoice Date of 7/1/00 and a payment term of 2%/10 Net 30, the discount due date would be 7/11/00 (Invoice Date + 10 days) and the net due date would be 7/31/00 (Invoice Date + 30 days).