{"id":58448,"date":"2025-11-07T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/?p=58448"},"modified":"2026-10-27T17:15:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T16:15:47","slug":"what-is-outstanding-receivables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/blog\/what-is-outstanding-receivables\/","title":{"rendered":"What is outstanding receivables ?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\"><strong>Outstanding: what is it ?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The outstanding amount can be customer or supplier. These two concepts are important and must be differentiated. <\/p>\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">Outstanding receivables<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Outstanding receivables correspond to all outstanding customer receivables from your company&#8217;s customers. It includes: <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Overdue invoices : i.e. those for which the agreed payment deadline has passed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Invoices that are not yet due: that is, invoices that have been issued but whose <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/blog\/invoice-due-date-definition-and-calculation\/\">due date<\/a> has not yet arrived.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Invoices to be issued : when a transaction has taken place but the invoice has not yet been produced.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The customer outstanding balance therefore includes all the amounts owed to your company and appears in the current assets of the balance sheet.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It must be distinguished from outstanding supplier debts, which represent debts owed to your suppliers.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Outstanding supplier<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Outstanding supplier debts correspond to all of your company&#8217;s supplier debts. As soon as a credit order is placed and the supplier has fulfilled its obligations, an outstanding supplier debt is created. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This outstanding amount is recorded as a liability on the balance sheet and can only be settled by paying the corresponding invoice. This is a key element of your accounting.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It thus reflects the level of indebtedness of your company towards its suppliers at a given time.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\"><strong>How to manage customer outstanding receivable?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Managing accounts receivable involves tracking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/blog\/trade-receivable-definition-accounting-balance-sheet-and-recovery\/\">customer trade receivables<\/a>, anticipating late payments, and safeguarding the company\u2019s cash flow. Here\u2019s everything you need to know<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">Understanding the issues for your business<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Receivables are sometimes referred to as &#8220;customer risk,&#8221; and for good reason, as they reflect a company&#8217;s exposure to late or unpaid payments from its customers. Poor management of this aspect of your cash flow can lead to disputes and impact your company&#8217;s solvency. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A weak trade balance reflects negatively on your partners and your company&#8217;s image, which can significantly undermine the company&#8217;s long-term viability. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">Customer outstanding debt can also be an asset in terms of customer loyalty. Indeed, it allows you to extend payment terms, if the payment is good, and thus improve the commercial relationship. <\/p>\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">Calculate customer outstanding debt<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Calculating accounts receivable is very simple. Just add up all the invoices that your customers haven\u2019t paid yet and subtract any advance payments and deposits.<br\/><br\/><strong>Accounts receivable = (invoices past due + invoices not yet due + invoices to be issued) \u2013 advance payments and deposits.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It may also be useful to calculate an average over a period.<br\/><br\/><strong>Average outstanding receivables balance = (sales for the period \/ number of days) x DSO*<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">*DSO : days sales outstanding<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The calculation must be done per client for a more precise vision.<br\/><br\/>The customer balance also allows you to calculate the working capital requirement (WCR) in order to define the gap between receivables and supplier payables.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">Implement effective monitoring<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s essential to anticipate outstanding customer debt. You must conduct regular checks without waiting for a dispute to arise. Debt collection relies on a clear understanding of the situation to resolve unpaid debts amicably.   <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Setting up a tracking tool is necessary. A simple Excel file can give you an overview of this indicator and see how it is changing. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We also recommend conducting a credit check on your customers before entering into any business relationship. This will help you avoid bad debts as much as possible and limit the risk of non-payment.  <\/p>\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">Define a recovery procedure<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Establishing an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/blog\/automated-amicable-debt-collection-to-reduce-costs\/\">out-of-court collection<\/a> procedure is essential for reducing accounts receivable and securing your company\u2019s cash flow.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To build an effective protocol, ask yourself the right questions :<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When should an invoice be considered unpaid ?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What steps should I follow for reminders ?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When to send the first reminder ?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A clear invoice collection protocol allows you to structure your actions and optimize your chances of rapid payment.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\"><strong>Reduce your customer outstanding receivable with CentralPay<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CentralPay offers a complete solution to automate invoice collection and effectively reduce customer outstanding debt.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thanks to its intelligent reminder system, businesses can track the status of their payments in real time and automatically trigger personalized reminders based on customer profile and due date. This automation helps reduce oversights, accelerate payments, and reduce the volume of unpaid invoices. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CentralPay also centralizes all collections, providing clear visibility into cash flow and facilitating decisions regarding follow-up or preventive action. By streamlining communication with customers and reducing payment times, the platform contributes to sustainably improving cash flow management and strengthening the company&#8217;s financial stability. <\/p>\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-fe48e5de wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline is-style-outline--1\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/use-cases\/invoice-collection\/\" style=\"border-radius:10px\">Discover the CentralPay invoice collection solution \u279c<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\r\n{\r\n  \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\r\n  \"@type\": \"BlogPosting\",\r\n  \"name\": \"Outstanding receivables: definition and how to calculate\",\r\n  \"headline\": \"What is outstanding receivables ?\",\r\n  \"datePublished\": \"November 07, 2025\",\r\n  \"dateModified\": \"October 27, 2026\",\r\n  \"description\": \"What are outstanding receivables and how do you calculate them? Formula, example and best practices to cut late payments and boost cash flow.\",\r\n  \"image\": {\r\n  \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\r\n  \"height\": \"600\",\r\n  \"width\": \"1000\",\r\n  \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/quest-ce-que-encours-client.jpg\"\r\n  },\r\n  \"author\": {\r\n  \"@type\": \"Person\",\r\n  \"name\": \"CentralPay\"\r\n  },\r\n  \"publisher\": {\r\n  \"@type\": \"Organization\",\r\n  \"name\": \"CentralPay\",\r\n  \"logo\": {\r\n  \"@type\": \"imageObject\",\r\n  \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/assets\/images\/logo.png\"\r\n  }\r\n  },\r\n  \"mainEntityOfPage\": true,\r\n  \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/blog\/what-is-outstanding-receivables\/\"\r\n}\r\n<\/script>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A healthy cash flow reflects a company\u2019s financial health and profitability. Accounts receivable include all outstanding receivables that have not yet been paid. Monitoring this metric is crucial for anticipating cash flow needs and avoiding financial strain.<\/p>\n<p>Effective management of accounts receivable helps optimize cash flow, ensure payments are received, and maintain the company\u2019s financial stability.<\/p>\n<p>What are accounts receivable? Why is managing them essential? How can you calculate them effectively? Discover the key points you need to know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":58438,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[157],"tags":[],"theme-darticle":[238],"class_list":["post-58448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-services-en","theme-darticle-entreprises"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58448"},{"taxonomy":"theme-darticle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centralpay.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/theme-darticle?post=58448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}