Bali supplier payment terms: deposits, balances and cancellation ladders

Two Bali suppliers can quote almost the same rate and leave you with completely different financial exposure. The rate is the headline; the terms are the risk.

The two models you will meet

Deposit-led. Typically 50% to confirm, payable around a week before departure and non-refundable, with the balance due the day before use. Common with coach operators, where the vehicle is blocked out of a small fleet.

Post-paid. Nothing up front; invoiced after the service on a fixed cycle — for example, services used between the 1st and 10th billed on the 14th, the 11th to the 20th on the 24th, and so on. Common with car and Hiace operators.

Same island, same service category, opposite cash-flow implications. On a deposit-led booking you are exposed the moment you confirm. On a post-paid booking you are not exposed until the group has travelled.

The cancellation ladder

Where a ladder is published, it tends to look like this:

• One day before use — 50% of the service value.
• Same day — 100%.
• The deposit — not refunded, at any point on the ladder.

Note the interaction: if you paid a 50% non-refundable deposit and then cancel one day out at 50%, you have not paid 50% — you have paid the deposit and the cancellation charge may sit on top of it. Ask specifically whether the deposit is credited against the cancellation fee or forfeited in addition to it.

Questions worth asking before you confirm

• Is the deposit refundable or transferable if the dates shift rather than cancel? Date changes are far more common than outright cancellation, and some suppliers will move a deposit that they will not refund.
• What is the cancellation position on the hotel, separately from transport? They are different contracts with different ladders.
• Is there a no-show policy distinct from cancellation?
• What currency is the invoice in, and who carries the exchange movement between quote and payment?

Why it matters more for groups

An FIT that cancels costs you a small amount. A forty-pax group that collapses two days out, against a non-refundable deposit plus a same-day charge, can wipe out the margin on several other bookings. Know which model you are on before you take the booking, not after.

We publish our terms in the quotation itself — ask us.