Late Delivery Liquidated Damages Calculator
Liquidated damages clauses look generous until you put numbers to them. This calculator applies a weekly rate, a grace period and a cap, then sets the result next to what the delay really costs you.
Your numbers
Value the liquidated damages percentage applies to. Check whether your clause uses the whole order or only the late portion.
Typical clauses sit between 0.5% and 1% per week, but this varies by industry and negotiation.
Days of delay before damages start to accrue.
Maximum damages as a share of contract value. Many contracts cap between 5% and 15%.
Line stoppage, expediting, overtime, penalties passed on to your own customer.
Your results
Planning estimate only. Whether LD is the sole remedy, whether it excuses termination rights, and how it is calculated depends on your contract and governing law. Have counsel review the clause.
LD payable vs your actual delay cost by days late
Sweeps Days late versus promise date from 0 to 180, holding your other inputs fixed.
Supplier delivery history from your ERP
Optional: we can show how to pull promise versus actual receipt dates from your ERP to support delay claims.
Optional. The tool and every export work without this. No spam.
How to use the calculator
Enter the value the clause applies to, the weekly percentage, any grace days and the cap. Then set the days late and your own cost per day of delay. The chart sweeps days late from zero to 180 so you can see where the clause flattens out against your real cost curve. Use it before signing to decide whether the rate and cap are worth negotiating, and after a late shipment to estimate what you can claim.
- Use the order value the clause actually references, not the whole framework agreement.
- Count days from the promise date in the contract, not from a revised date.
- Enter your real daily cost, including expediting and downstream penalties.
The formula
Chargeable days equal days late minus grace days, floored at zero. Uncapped LD equals contract value times the weekly rate times chargeable days divided by seven, which assumes daily pro rata accrual. If your clause charges per started week, round chargeable days up to a multiple of seven. Payable LD is the lower of that figure and the cap amount. The day the cap is reached equals grace days plus the cap amount divided by the daily accrual.
Reading the result
The key figure is the uncovered cost. If your real cost per day is much higher than the daily accrual, the clause compensates only a fraction of the loss, and once the cap is reached the supplier has nothing left to lose from further delay. Common responses are a higher rate, a stepped rate that rises after a threshold, a separate right to terminate, or a clause that preserves your right to prove greater loss. Whether any of those is enforceable depends on the governing law.
Common mistakes
Teams often assume LD is a penalty on top of damages, when many contracts make it the exclusive remedy. Others forget that the clause may apply to the late portion only, or that a buyer-caused delay can suspend it. Track promise dates and revisions in your ERP so the late days are provable, for example through confirmed delivery dates on purchase order lines in SAP, Oracle, Epicor or SyteLine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is liquidated damages the same as a penalty?
Not legally in many jurisdictions. LD is a pre-agreed estimate of loss and is generally enforceable if it is a genuine estimate. A clause meant only to punish may be unenforceable. The rules differ by country, so check with counsel.
What is a typical LD cap?
Caps commonly fall between 5% and 15% of contract value, with 10% seen often in capital equipment and construction. Component supply contracts vary widely. Treat any figure as a negotiation starting point, not a standard.
Should grace days count toward the cap?
Usually no. Grace days are days during which nothing accrues, so they delay both the accrual and the day the cap is reached. This calculator adds the grace period to the cap day for that reason.
Can I claim LD and my actual loss?
That depends on the wording. If LD is stated as the sole and exclusive remedy for delay, you generally cannot. If it is expressed as without prejudice to other rights, you may have more room. Counsel should confirm.
If promise date history sits across purchase order changes and emails, we can help pull delivery performance straight from your ERP so late days are documented. Optional, and the calculator works fine without it.
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