Acceptance refers to the act of the payee of a future bill promising to pay the bill amount on the due date of the bill. The completion of the acceptance act includes two actions: recording the word “accepted” and signing, and delivering the accepted bill. After accepting the bill, the payee becomes the acceptor and bears the main responsibility of paying the bill amount to the holder when it matures.
Acceptance includes general acceptance and restricted acceptance.
1) General acceptance
General acceptance refers to acceptance without additional reservations to modify the meaning of the bill. For example:
ACCEPTED
I st June, 2011
For C Trading Co., New York
Signature
2) Qualified acceptance
Restricted acceptance refers to acceptance that changes the original meaning of the bill with clear terms. Common restricted acceptances are as follows.
(1) Conditional acceptance, that is, the acceptor’s payment depends on the fulfillment of the conditions set out at the time of acceptance.
For example: ACCEPTED
Payable on delivery of B/L
I st June， 2011
For C Trading Co.， New York
Signature
(2) Partial acceptance, that is, only a part of the face value is accepted and paid. For example, for a bill of exchange with a face value of US$1,000, if the acceptance amount is specifically stated as US$600, then:
ACCEPTED
Payable for US 600.00 only
1st June， 2011
For C Trading Co.， New York
Signature
(3) Local acceptance, that is, an acceptance that payment can only be made at a specific place. For example: ACCEPTED Payable at the B Bank and there only 1st June, 2011 For C Trading Co., New York Signature (4) Qualified acceptance as to time, that is, an acceptance with a modified payment period. For example, the drawee requires payment 90 days after sight, but the payee specifically adds a payment period of 180 days after issue when accepting the bill. Then: ACCEPTED Payable at 180 days after date 1st June, 2011 For C Trading Co., New York Signature