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International Trade vocabulary · Payment Methods and Letters of Credit

Open account

Meaning in international trade, with examples

nounCommon term

In international trade, open account means: A payment method in which the seller ships the goods and sends the documents directly to the buyer, who pays later on an agreed date.

In Turkish: mal mukabili ödeme, açık hesap

How it is used

The most favourable method for the buyer and the riskiest for the seller, so it is used with trusted customers or together with export credit insurance. Usually written as 'open account, 60 days from invoice date'.

Example sentences

  1. After two years of good business, we moved this customer to open account terms.

  2. Most of our EU sales are on open account, 90 days.

Common collocations

  • open account terms
  • sell on open account
  • open account payment
  • open account 60 days
  • payment termsThe agreed conditions for paying for goods: how much is paid, when, by what method and through which bank or document.
  • advance paymentMoney the buyer pays before the goods are produced or shipped, either the full amount or part of it as a deposit.
  • cash against documentsA payment term in which the buyer pays the bank first and only then receives the original documents needed to collect the goods.
  • telegraphic transferAn electronic transfer of money from one bank to another, usually through the SWIFT network; in trade it is the normal way to send advance or open-account payments.

More terms: Payment Methods and Letters of Credit

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