Ageing your debtors before they age you
Most small businesses discover a bad debtor at 120 days. The signal was there at 35.
Ageing is simply sorting what you are owed by how long you have been owed it. Current, 30, 60, 90, 120+. The value is not the report — it is the habit of looking at it on a fixed day every month.
The 35-day signal
A customer who has always paid on day 28 and suddenly pays on day 42 is telling you something. One late payment is noise; two in a row is a pattern, and the right time to have an easy conversation is before the amount gets uncomfortable.
Statements do the asking for you
A monthly statement showing the account, the ageing and the total is a neutral document. It is much easier to send than a phone call, and it often clears the account without one.
Decide your rules once
Reminder at 7 days overdue, statement at 30, stop supply at 60, formal demand at 90. Written down and applied evenly, the rules stop being personal — which is exactly what makes them workable.