How do I check a print shop’s accounts receivable from contractors and agencies?

Agencies and contractors can be good customers and slow payers at once. Their own clients pay them first, then they pay the shop. So look at the aging report by name. Is a single agency responsible for most of the overdue balance? Is it paying steadily, or only after repeated calls?

Test the list against reality. Trace several older invoices to bank deposits to confirm they were paid and when. Ask about credit notes, reprints in dispute and jobs the customer says were not delivered correctly. Ask whether any balance has been written off, and whether the seller is still working with that customer.

Then decide how it is handled in the deal. Some purchases include receivables, and others leave them with the seller. Either way, the agreement should say who collects, what happens if a customer pays the wrong party, and what if some invoices are never paid. Your lawyer and accountant can structure that. Watch out for a customer who is large and late, since it can strain your cash flow in the first months. Also ask whether any agency has a dispute about a job or a past credit that is still being negotiated, since those amounts are rarely collected in full.

Key takeaways

• Get an aging report and read the agencies and contractors by name.
• Trace older invoices to actual bank deposits.
• Put in writing who collects receivables and who bears unpaid ones.
• Ask whether a customer’s own payment delays have ever affected the shop’s payroll or supplier payments.