Shops that owe, oldest first

At three in the afternoon the lorries are out, the reps are on their rounds and the office goes quiet. That is when Ishara, who looks after the money at Riverbank Distributors (a sample business), turns to the one question that decides whether next month's mill bill gets paid on time: which shops owe, and who should be rung first?

A distributor selling rice, dhal, milk powder and crackers to grocery shops lives on credit. Most shops pay in thirty days, some stretch it, and a few drift so far that the debt becomes hard to collect at all. This tour shows the screen Ishara uses to sort that out in a few minutes instead of an afternoon with the ledger.

What does the money owed screen show?

It shows everything shops owe the business, split by how late it is, with the shops listed underneath from the most overdue down. On the right sits the reminder plan for the shop you have selected.

In the sample, the four age columns read like this:

That is about Rs 3.44 lakh in total on the books. The biggest balance belongs to Saman Trading, but the most worrying one is Sisira Stores, because it is the oldest.

Step by step

1. Open money owed after the morning rush. Ishara opens the money owed screen around 15:00. The age columns run across the top: not due yet, up to a month, up to two months and older. She is not reading a long list of invoices; she is looking at where the money is stuck.
2. Read the columns from right to left. The column furthest right is the one that hurts. Here it is empty, which is good news. The next one, 31 to 60 days, holds Rs 97,350, and that is where her attention goes. Reading from the oldest side first stops a large but healthy balance from distracting her.
3. Look at the list underneath, oldest first. Below the columns, the shops are sorted by how many days their oldest invoice is past due. Sisira Stores on Market Street sits at the top with 38 days and an "Over 30 days" label. Saman Trading follows with a "Late" label, and Lak Mini Mart shows "On time".
4. Make the first call to the top name. Ishara rings Sisira Stores before anyone else. The order of the list is the order of her calls, so there is no sorting or guessing. A shop that has gone quiet for over a month is more likely to slip further if nobody speaks to them this week.
5. Check the reminder plan on the right. Selecting Sisira Stores shows its reminder schedule, counted from the due date: a gentle reminder on day 1 (sent), a firm reminder on day 7 (sent) and a final reminder with a statement on day 14 (due today). All of them go out on WhatsApp, which is where shop owners actually read messages.
6. Open the statement if the owner asks what is outstanding. The Open statement button gives the full account, so when the shop owner says "which bills?" on the phone, she can answer line by line instead of promising to call back.
7. Mute a shop she is already talking to. If the owner of Sisira Stores promises to pay on Friday, an automatic final reminder arriving an hour later would sour the conversation. Mute holds the messages for that customer while she follows it up personally.
8. Let payments quiet the reminders. When the shop pays and the payment is recorded against the invoice, that invoice is never chased again. Ishara does not need to remember to cancel anything.

Why oldest first, not biggest first?

Because age predicts trouble better than size. A large balance from a shop that orders every week and pays every month is normal trade. A smaller balance that has been sitting for five weeks often means the shop is struggling, has a dispute, or has started paying other suppliers first. The sample shows exactly this: Saman Trading owes nearly twice as much as Sisira Stores but is only 12 days late, with plenty of credit still open on a Rs 300,000 limit. Sisira Stores owes Rs 97,350 against a Rs 120,000 limit and has not ordered in nine days. That combination is the early warning.

For the thinking behind credit terms and limits, read customer credit for wholesalers.

How the reminders keep the pressure even

Collecting debt by phone alone depends on someone remembering, and on someone feeling brave enough to ask. A schedule takes the mood out of it. Every shop that goes past its due date gets the same gentle message first, then a firmer one, then a final one with the statement attached. Nobody is singled out, and nobody is forgotten because they are friendly with the rep.

A few practical points from the screen:

• The schedule counts from the due date, not from the invoice date, so a shop on thirty-day terms is not reminded while it is still within terms.
• Messages go on WhatsApp, the channel shop owners already use for orders.
• The statement goes with the final reminder, so the shop has everything it needs to pay.

Tips from the office

• Pick a fixed time. Ishara looks at money owed at 15:00 every working day. The habit matters more than the tool. Fifteen minutes daily beats a frantic afternoon at month end.
• Tell the reps before they visit. A rep who knows Sisira Stores is 38 days late can collect a cheque on the visit rather than take another order. The rep's phone already shows the balance and credit left on the visit screen.
• Agree what "late" means in your business. If most of your shops are on thirty days, a shop at day 12 is a nudge; a shop at day 40 is a conversation with the owner.
• Write down promises. When a shop promises a date, note it and mute the shop until then. If the date passes, unmute and let the schedule continue.

Common mistakes

• Chasing the biggest balance first. It feels productive, but it often means ringing your best customer while a weaker one drifts past sixty days.
• Leaving reminders running during a dispute. If a shop says three cartons were short on delivery, sort the credit note before another reminder goes out. Mute until it is fixed.
• Not recording part-payments promptly. A cheque collected by the rep but not entered still shows as owed, and the shop may get a reminder for money it has paid. Record payments the same day.
• Giving more credit to a shop already in the 31 to 60 column. Check the age before approving a large new order, not only the limit.

What to do next

Once the calls are made, the next stop in the distributor's day is the lorry. Follow deliveries on the road to see Kasun's stops on the driver's phone, then closing the day to see the cash and the shops' payments counted at 19:00.

If cash is tight because too much is tied up in credit, the cash flow guide explains how to work out how many days of sales are sitting with your customers, and getting invoices paid faster covers terms, statements and the wording of reminders.