Invoices out quickly, terms enforced consistently, and follow-up that happens on schedule instead of when someone finally notices.
Profitable companies run out of cash all the time. The work gets done, the invoices go out eventually, and the money shows up sixty or eighty days later while payroll runs every two weeks. Receivables are where growth quietly turns into a cash problem.
Managing AR is about shortening the gap between finishing work and collecting for it. That means invoicing fast, invoicing correctly, and following up on a schedule. Baum's Accounting Services has managed receivables for companies in construction, healthcare, retail, and professional services, and we work with growing businesses throughout Kentucky to get the cycle under control.
Rarely is it customers refusing to pay. It's the invoice that went out eleven days after the job finished. It's the invoice missing a PO number, so it sat in the customer's AP queue until someone asked. It's terms that were never stated on the document. It's nobody following up until the account hit 75 days, at which point the customer has forgotten the work and wants to relitigate it. Every one of those is fixable, and every one of them is upstream of the customer's behavior.
Invoices go out immediately after the work is complete or the milestone is hit, not at month end. Each invoice carries what the customer's AP department needs to process it without asking questions: PO number, job reference, clear description, stated terms, and payment instructions. Follow-up runs on a defined schedule with specific touchpoints rather than depending on someone's memory. And the aging report gets reviewed regularly, because a customer sliding from 30 to 45 to 60 days is telling you something worth acting on early.
Owners hate collections calls because they feel like confrontation with someone they want to keep working with. It doesn't have to be. Most late payments are administrative, not financial. The invoice got lost, went to the wrong person, or is stuck waiting on an approval nobody chased. A friendly check-in early on to confirm receipt solves a surprising share of it. When an outside firm handles routine follow-up, the owner stays out of the awkward middle and the relationship stays about the work.
Routine follow-up on open invoices can be handled as part of the engagement, which covers most late payments since they're usually administrative. Genuinely delinquent accounts that need legal action or a collections agency are outside this scope, though we'll help you identify which accounts have crossed that line.
Look at days sales outstanding and at what percentage of your AR sits past 60 days. If a meaningful share of what you're owed is aged beyond your stated terms, you're financing your customers. Comparing your current DSO against your terms is the fastest read, and that gets reviewed in the consultation.
Yes. Project-based businesses that bill only at completion carry enormous receivable exposure. Milestone or percentage-of-completion billing brings cash in as work progresses. Setting it up means structuring contracts, the accounting file, and the invoicing process to support it, which is work worth doing once.
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