Check whether the terms you rely on were actually supplied

The current terms may not be the relevant terms

The customer will not answer about a large materials account. Your website says ownership remains with you until payment, but you need to establish which terms formed part of the actual supply arrangement. Give the full history to a lawyer. Do not assume wording added later to a website or invoice automatically governs goods supplied earlier.

Locate the acceptance trail

Imagine a merchant whose customer ordered by email after receiving an old quotation. Find the quote, attachments, acceptance and credit application. Preserve the versions that were sent at the time. A blank current form can help explain the business's usual process, but it should not be presented as evidence that this customer accepted those exact terms.

Understand why the agreement matters

business.gov.au recommends keeping contractual terms clear and documenting agreed changes. Have your actual supply documents and any security registration assessed together. General guidance does not decide whether a particular retention clause applies or a registration is effective. Avoid treating standard wording somewhere in the business as the end of the legal question.

Source: business.gov.au: Prepare a contract

Include competing documents

If the customer supplied purchase terms or amended the order, include them even where they conflict with your preferred wording. Record later changes and any relevant correspondence. In the merchant example, a purchase order may refer to terms not saved with the quote. Flag the missing document rather than choosing the more favourable version without explanation.

Separate the supplies where necessary

If orders were made under different arrangements over time, show which invoices relate to each. Keep delivery and payment evidence linked to the relevant transactions. Do not retrospectively reissue every invoice under new terms to make the account uniform. Ask the adviser how uncertainties affect the available recovery options and any communication to the customer.

Improve the future process after advice

Review how accepted terms and versions are retained for new customers and later changes. Get appropriate advice about the wording and registration process rather than improvising a new clause. Better future records may reduce uncertainty, but they do not repair the past by themselves. The immediate claim must be assessed from the agreement and evidence that actually exist.