End of Month (EOM)

Wikipedia thinks EOM stands for “End of Message,” but for Walmart suppliers, it’s “End of Month.”

You can probably guess what EOY and EOD mean (End of Year and End of Day).

These terms can be used as time-defining terms, like “I’ll have that for you by EOD.” That means you’ll have whatever it is on your listener’s desk by the end of the business day.

But EOM also shows up in vendor agreements, where it generally means that you agree that if your product arrives after a certain date, such as the 24th of the month, it will be counted as having arrived in the next month.

This means that if you agree to 30-day terms, which usually mean that you will be paid in 30 days, and you also agree to EOM terms, your payment date might be later than you think.

Your goods arrive as agreed on July 27th, let’s say, but since it’s EOM, they don’t officially arrive until August, and you don’t get paid until September.

If you made a deal with your vendors to make a payment on the 30th day after your goods arrive and you don’t actually get paid until a week after that, you could find yourself in a suspenseful situation.