“30 days” doesn’t always mean 30 days.

If you think your cash flow problem is 30-day terms, you're getting paid by the part of the contract that starts the clock, not the part that delays it. Here's what most subcontractors miss. 30 days often doesn't start when you finish the work. It starts when your invoice is allowed to exist. In a lot of contracts, the sequence is you submit a payment application, they review it and approve it, which can take ages, and only then can you issue the invoice. And then your 30-day begins. So when you say we're on 30-day terms, what you really mean is payment application delay, approval delay, plus 30 days. Don't Don't negotiate just the terms, negotiate the whole payment cycle so cash hits your account faster. Because cash flow is the lifeblood, and when it's tight, your stress goes up, your choices go down, and you start taking crap projects just to keep the wheels turning. So stop begging for 30 days and start controlling the process that decides how long you wait before the 30 days even start.