Accounts receivable
A company thrives on consistently having sufficient liquidity to finance day-to-day operations in this way. A key aspect in this context is the so-called accounts receivable balance. It refers to the stock (= number or total) of open, i.e. not yet paid, invoices for goods deliveries or services already provided.
As different payment terms are sometimes agreed with customers, returns or complaints are added, and other risks exist, the accounts receivable balance serves primarily as an indicator. This can be used, for example, to determine whether there is currently a deviation from the average value of open invoices - and thus also to identify a requirement that the company needs to provide interim financing elsewhere.
Note: The accounts receivable balance can provide both qualitative information (improvement in payment behavior over time, etc.) and quantitative information (amount of outstanding invoices, etc.).
