The invoice was late before the customer was

Debtor days are counted from the date you raised the invoice, which quietly excludes the stretch of the delay you actually control.

By Steve 5 min read
Abstract bridge artwork for The invoice was late before the customer was

A business with a receivables problem usually describes it as a customer problem. The ledger shows debt aging past terms, the collections calls get more frequent, and the conclusion writes itself: these people pay late. Sometimes that is true. More often, the clock everyone is watching started well after the delay began. Debtor days, however you calculate them, measure from invoice date to cash date. That is a perfectly reasonable definition, and it has one significant property: everything that happens between finishing the work and issuing the invoice is invisible…

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