Partial payment

With partial payment, the contract amount is split into parts. The buyer pays not all at once but as the contract is performed. This way the parties share the risk: the supplier does not ship without money, and the buyer does not hand over the full amount before receiving the goods.

Common arrangements

• Advance and balance. Part before shipment, the rest after delivery or acceptance.
• Tranches on a schedule. Payments on dates written into the contract.
• Payment by stages. A payment after an event: shipment of a batch, an inspection, signing of an acceptance certificate.
• Combinations of these arrangements.

Compared with full prepayment, partial payment means less risk for the buyer. Compared with deferred payment, part of the money leaves before delivery.

What to write into the contract

The amount or percentage of each payment. The event or date after which it falls due. The currency and the bank details. Separately: how the advance is returned if there is no delivery, and the consequences of a short delivery. Good practice: a separate invoice for each payment.

Currency control

Each payment goes through currency control and must refer to the contract and the invoice. If the contract is registered with the bank, the bank checks the payments against the contract amount and the delivery documents. For an advance that has been paid, the law requires the resident to do one of two things: import the goods within the contract deadline or get the money back.

How it looks through a broker

One agency agreement, several payment orders. Each payment has its own payment order: the exchange rate and the fee in it are fixed before the roubles for that payment are debited. This way the advance and the balance follow the same rules, and the documents for each payment are collected separately. More details: Foreign trade contract payments.