The phrase "an upfront sum" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when referring to a payment that is made in advance, typically before a service is rendered or a product is delivered.
Example: "The contractor requires an upfront sum before starting the renovation work."
Alternatives: "an advance payment" or "a preliminary amount".
"The amount will be paid," Demant said in a statement, "with an upfront sum of $36 million with the remaining $14 million to be paid within a four-year period when sales and profits reach the targeted figures".
Nokia will pay an upfront sum and ongoing royalties to use chips developed by Qualcomm.
Under the deal those owed money will get an upfront sum, monthly payments and the rest of the balance after an agreed period of time.
Though Ranieri notes that those who agreed to running royalties rather than an upfront sum, may be in the clear, depending on the nature of their agreement.
The UK has already enacted a version of this policy, by allowing retirees to claim their pension in an upfront sum rather than annuities.
Since last fall, Dr. Hyue Young C. Park, of Markin & Park Orthodontics in Maryland, has allowed her patients to make the down payment over a few visits, so that a large upfront sum is not a barrier to treatment.
Alan Gaynor & Company, a boutique architectural firm in New York that bought another small firm in September after the owner died, structured the deal conservatively: it paid a nominal upfront sum and agreed to pay a percentage of the revenue from clients who continued.
People in the north-east who find themselves in this trap can now take advantage of an alternative product which doesn't require an upfront lump sum or a formal mortgage: schemes such as the Genie home purchase plan have been available for some time, but this is the first time they've been available to first-time buyers.
An annuity is a pension income for the rest of your life, bought with an upfront lump sum of savings or investments.
She also will sever financial ties to the firm during her term at the S.E.C., taking an upfront lump-sum retirement payment rather than collecting a monthly installment of $42,500.
Basically, the government does not want to cough up the huge upfront sums of money that would result from a flood of transfer requests.
