Trade Finance
Buyer Pays in 60 Days But You Need Cash Now? (2026 Guide)
Goods shipped, buyer paying in 60 days, payroll due Friday: post-shipment finance turns the shipped bill into this-week cash. Which bridge fits your documents, what it costs, and what happens if the buyer stalls.
The Monday-morning answer — sell the bill, not your week
Goods sailed, buyer pays in 60 days, and salaries, supplier dues and the next production cycle cannot wait 60 days. The bridge is post-shipment finance: your bank purchases, discounts or negotiates the export bill and credits you now, then collects from the buyer on the due date. It is the mirror image of the pre-shipment problem — same order, opposite end of the voyage.
What this post is not
This is the need-moment playbook for cash stuck in shipped receivables. For product mechanics (bill discounting vs factoring structures, recourse engineering, cost build-up), read the comparison guides alongside — they are linked at each decision point below.
Tell trad your invoice and buyer
Share the invoice value, buyer and country, and payment terms — check early-cash eligibility across bill discounting and factoring routes in one shot.
Check early-cash eligibility →Your three bridges — pick by documents and limits
Every post-shipment route moves the same money — this week's cash against the buyer's 60-day promise. They differ in speed, price, and who chases the buyer if things stall.
| Bridge | How cash moves | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| Bill purchase / discounting / negotiation | Bank credits bill value less discount; collects at maturity | Clean documents + post-shipment limits in place — fastest, usually cheapest |
| Advance against collection bills | Smaller advance while documents travel the collection route | Documents need buyer acceptance first, or limits are thin |
| Factoring / EBR rediscounting | Factor buys the receivable; bank may rediscount abroad | You want collections handled externally, limits exhausted, or without-recourse terms arranged |
Under an LC, negotiation against a complying presentation is the default — the bank's undertaking structure does half the risk work for you. On open account, the choice is your bank's purchase rate versus a factor's quote for that specific buyer, and the comparison must include recourse terms, not just the headline discount.
What is export factoring?
Advance, cost, recourse vs non-recourse and qualification — the pillar guide for open-account invoices.
Read export factoring explained →The documents that release the money
Post-shipment finance is document finance. The bank's credit decision was made when limits were sanctioned; at submission time it is only checking whether this bill deserves the money. One discrepancy can downgrade purchase to collection — same bill, weeks slower.
- Bill of exchange or draft drawn per the payment terms — sight or the exact usance days from the right trigger date.
- Commercial invoice and packing list matching the PO or LC description, quantity and value character for character.
- Transport document — bill of lading, airway bill or lorry receipt with the right consignment numbers; FCR where applicable.
- LC pack where relevant: inspection or test certificates, GR forms, and every document the credit enumerates — banks examine strictly under UCP 600.
- FIRC details and shipping-bill references so proceeds and eBRC trail reconcile later.
- The bank's handling form itself: collection vs purchase vs negotiation instruction, proceeds account (including EEFC routing), and forward-cover linkage if booked.
The 21-day rule
Submit original export documents within 21 days of shipment. Past that, the bank asks for delay reasons before it asks about your funding need — submit late and you negotiate from weakness on every subsequent term.
Eligibility — limits, buyer risk, and the ECGC line
Three gates stand between submission and credit. Knowing which gate binds you decides whether today ends with money or with a new limit application.
- Your limit: standalone post-shipment limits are routinely sanctioned (unlike standalone pre-shipment), typically for 12 months renewable yearly, with interchangeability across pre- and post-shipment inside the overall cap for genuine bunching.
- Your buyer: the bank prices the drawee — payment history, country risk, and ECGC cover availability for that market. Check the buyer market's ECGC rating before quoting terms, not after shipping.
- Your paper: NIL margin is normal for post-shipment credit against the FOB value, but only when the documents above are complete and compliant.
Is your buyer market bridgeable?
Post-shipment appetite starts with the buyer country — factoring score, LC discounting availability and risk band across 194 markets, before you submit a single bill.
Check your buyer country →Costs and clocks — NTP, usance tenor, and the refund rule
Post-shipment pricing is a clock, not a number. Concessional rates run to the bill's natural finish line; everything past it reprices — and one RBI rule quietly works in your favour.
| Clock | Norm | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Demand bills | FEDAI Normal Transit Period (NTP) | Concessional pricing runs to NTP; early realisation is charged only to the Nostro-credit date |
| Usance bills (your 60-day case) | Tenor + NTP, up to 365 days from shipment incl. grace | 60 days sits comfortably inside; watch acceptance fixing the actual due date |
| Realisation window | 12 months standard; 15-month relief continuing under 2026 framework | Separate from the credit tenor — proceeds must still come home inside it |
| Overdue | ECNOS post-shipment rates past due date | No additional penal interest over ECNOS, but the step-up is automatic |
The refund rule most exporters never claim: where discount interest was collected upfront through NTP or the notional due date, the excess from the actual realisation date must be refunded to you. Early-paying buyers literally earn you money back — reconcile every bill's interest debit against its realisation date. Indicative framework only — your sanction letter prices the basis points. ⚠️
The recourse reality — who bleeds if the buyer stalls
Read this before you celebrate the credit alert. Standard Indian bill purchase and negotiation carry recourse: if the bill goes unpaid or unaccepted, the bank debits your account for the full amount plus interest and charges. The cash was an advance against the buyer's promise, not a sale of your risk.
- Without-recourse outcomes need deliberate structure — confirmed LCs, without-recourse rediscounting lines, or factoring explicitly on without-recourse terms. Assume recourse until paperwork proves otherwise.
- Undrawn balances (the 2–10% held back for quality acceptance) get concessional treatment for only 90 days and only against actual remittances — price retention-heavy deals accordingly.
- Overdue rupee bills can be extinguished from your own rupee resources, but the GR form stays outstanding in XOS and your realisation liability continues until the bill is actually realised.
- Crystallisation converts the foreign-currency exposure into rupees at an unfriendly rate — hedging the 60-day tenor is a separate decision from financing it.
Recourse vs without-recourse, priced out
Bill discounting vs factoring compared head to head — risk transfer, collections, cost beyond the headline rate, and a 90-day USD receivable worked example.
Compare the two routes →Pair it with the pre-shipment half
Cash problems rarely respect the shipment date. The exporter who needed manufacturing money last month (packing credit, staged against production) is the same exporter waiting 60 days this month (bill finance, settled at maturity). Healthy files run both halves as one continuous facility: packing credit liquidated out of bill proceeds on purchase or discount, converting pre-shipment into post-shipment without a daylight gap.
Still manufacturing? Start at the other end
The companion situation guide — funding raw materials, processing and packing against the same export order before anything ships.
Read the pre-shipment playbook →Tell trad your invoice and buyer
The fastest eligibility answer needs four facts: invoice value and currency, buyer and country, payment terms (LC with which bank, or open account), and shipment status — sailed with documents ready, or still stuffing the container. With those, trad checks which bridge fits: bank-route discounting, collection advance, or a factor quote — against live buyer-market financeability, not generic advice.
Bridge your 60-day receivable this week
Send invoice plus buyer details — see early-cash eligibility across bill discounting and factoring routes, with the documents list for your exact situation.
Tell trad invoice + buyer →Frequently asked questions
How do I get cash now against a 60-day export bill?
Submit the shipping documents to your bank for purchase, discounting or negotiation — the bank credits the bill value (less discount and charges) and collects from the buyer on the due date. Alternatives are an advance against bills sent on collection, or selling the receivable to a factor. All three need the same foundation: clean, compliant documents submitted fast, ideally within 21 days of shipment.
Which documents does the bank need for post-shipment finance?
The bill of exchange or draft, commercial invoice, transport document (bill of lading, airway bill or LR), packing list, plus LC-specified documents where applicable — inspection or test certificates, GR forms, and FIRC or shipping-bill references. Under an LC the bank also checks strict compliance with the credit terms; discrepant documents go on collection instead of purchase, which means slower cash.
How fast is the money credited after I submit export bills?
Purchase or discounting credits quickly once the bank approves the documents and your post-shipment limit has room — often same-week for regular customers with clean paperwork. Collection-basis advances are slower because cash waits on the buyer's bank. The binding constraint is rarely the bank's speed; it is document quality and whether your limit was sanctioned before shipment.
What does post-shipment finance cost?
Concessional export-credit pricing applies up to the bill's due date (NTP for demand bills; the usance tenor plus NTP for term bills), with RBI refinance support to banks up to 180 days at the post-shipment stage. Miss the due date and the bill reprices to ECNOS post-shipment rates — and where discount interest was collected upfront through the due date, the excess from the realisation date must be refunded to you. Indicative only — your sanction letter is the quote. ⚠️
What happens if my buyer does not pay on the due date?
Standard bill purchase and negotiation in India carry recourse: the bank debits your account for the bill amount plus interest and charges if the buyer defaults. That is why buyer risk assessment — ECGC cover availability for the market, the buyer's payment history, and LC versus open-account terms — belongs before shipment, not after. Without-recourse structures exist (confirmed LCs, without-recourse rediscounting or factoring) but must be arranged deliberately, not assumed.
Is bill discounting better than factoring for a 60-day receivable?
Bill discounting through your bank is usually cheapest and fastest when you hold post-shipment limits and the documents are clean. Factoring wins when you want the factor to also manage collections and carry buyer risk, or when bank limits are exhausted. Under an LC, discounting or negotiation against a complying presentation is the natural route; on open account, compare your bank's purchase rate against a factor's quote for the same buyer.
How long can export proceeds take, and does it affect my credit?
The standard realisation window is 12 months from shipment, with RBI's 2026 relief framework continuing a 15-month window for repatriation. Usance post-shipment credit itself runs up to 365 days including transit and grace. Realisation delays beyond the sanctioned tenor push the bill into overdue pricing — so the 60-day commercial term and the credit tenor are two different clocks, and both need diarying.