manage-accounts-receivable

name	manage-accounts-receivable
category	money
description	Maintain a reconciled receivables ledger, prioritize collections, resolve disputes, and forecast cash timing. Use when a business needs disciplined invoice follow-through.

manage-accounts-receivable

Collections should preserve accounting truth and customer context. Work from the ledger, contract, delivery evidence, and documented commitments.

When to use

• Use for invoice issuance, aging review, cash collection, dispute routing, credits, and bad-debt escalation.
• Follow applicable accounting, tax, privacy, collections, and customer-contract requirements.

Procedure

1. Reconcile customer master data, contract terms, purchase orders, delivery evidence, invoices, credits, payments, and unapplied cash.
2. Produce an aging ledger by invoice, due date, currency, balance, customer, owner, and dispute status.
3. Separate not-yet-due, due, disputed, promised, partially paid, blocked, and high-risk items.
4. Prioritize by materiality, age, customer impact, promise date, evidence strength, and likelihood, not age alone.
5. Send accurate reminders that identify invoice, amount, due date, payment path, and contact for disputes.
6. Log every contact, promise, dispute reason, document request, owner, and next action.
7. Route pricing, delivery, tax, contract, or quality disputes to the responsible team without continuing blind collection.
8. Apply cash and approved credits to exact documents with segregation of duties.
9. Forecast expected collections by scenario and compare promises with actual receipts.
10. Escalate write-offs, legal collection, service holds, or credit changes only through approved authority.

Failure plan

• Do not threaten, shame, contact unauthorized people, or misstate rights and consequences.
• Never change due dates, balances, credits, or write-offs without evidence and approval.
• Keep customer disputes visible instead of masking them as collection delay.
• Protect payment and personal data in exports and messages.

Done

• The subledger reconciles to the general ledger and unapplied cash is explained
• Every material overdue item has an evidence-based status, owner, and next date
• Forecasts, disputes, credits, payments, and escalations are auditable