Tie payments to events, not to dates
A payment schedule built on calendar dates pays out whether or not anything happened. A schedule built on events pays out when the thing you wanted actually exists.
Deposit on order confirmation. Balance against inspection or against loading, not against a date in the middle of production. It’s a small change in wording and it changes who is waiting for whom.
Keep something outstanding until you’ve seen the goods
On a first order, keeping a balance outstanding keeps the conversation active on both sides right through to delivery. That’s simply how attention works, for everyone.
So keep a balance outstanding until inspection. Most established suppliers expect this and won’t be offended. A supplier who insists on the full amount before anything can be checked is asking you to carry all of the risk, which is worth thinking about carefully.
Get the invoice to match the order exactly
The proforma invoice should carry the model numbers, the materials, the dimensions, the packing method, the production time and the incoterm. If it says sofa, quantity forty, that document won’t help you when the wrong sofa arrives.
Read it before you pay, not after. The half hour spent checking a proforma against your own notes is the cheapest insurance in the whole transaction.
Pay the company, not a person
Payment should go to the company account whose name matches the invoice. If you’re asked to send money somewhere that doesn’t match, stop and sort that out first. It’s very often a mundane explanation and it’s still worth resolving before the money moves rather than after.
Write down what happens if it’s wrong
Nobody wants to discuss remedies at the moment of ordering because it feels like distrust. Do it anyway, in one short paragraph. What happens if a piece arrives damaged, what happens if the finish doesn’t match the approved sample, and who pays for what.
Agreeing this while everyone is happy takes ten minutes. Agreeing it after a container has landed takes weeks and sours the relationship you were trying to build.