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AccountsReceivableAuthor:M.ElizabethHaywood,Donald.IntroductionAccountsreceivableconsistsofmoniesduefromcustomersasaresultofanorganization'snormalbusinessoperations.Themanagementofaccountsreceivableisanextremelyimportantfunctionsincethecollectionofoutstandingreceivablesrepresentsthesinglemostimportantsourceofcashforallorganizationssellinggoodsonopenaccount.Becauseoftheimpactthataccounts-receivablecollectionshaveoncashflow,itisimportantthatresponsibilityfortheday-to-daymanagementofcreditandcollectionsactivitiesbedelegatedtoasingleindividualwithintheorganization.AccountsReceivableasaCurrentAssetOnthebalancesheet,accountsreceivableisreportedasacurrentassetandisconsideredpartofanorganization'sworkingcapital.Asacurrentasset,accountsreceivableisexpectedtobeturnedintocashwithintheannualoperatingcycleofabusiness,whichformostbusinessesisgenerallyconsideredtobeoneyearandcorrespondstothetwelve-monthfiscalyearusedforfinancialreportingpurposes.This,however,doesnotimplythatitshouldtakeoneyeartocollectindividualreceivablebalances.Inthecaseofauniversitypress,accountsreceivablerepresentsamajorcomponentofcurrentassets,workingcapital,andcashflow.Theothermajorcomponentsofauniversitypress'sworkingcapitalarecash,short-terminvestments,andinventory.Asacomponentofworkingcapital,accountsreceivablemustbecarefullymanagedinordertobeturnedintocashasquicklyaspossibleandtoavoidbecominguncollectible.Althoughaccountsreceivableisreportedasacurrentasset,itmustbecarefullyvaluatedandreportedbecauseuntilthereceivableiscollected,itcannotreadilyassistwiththepayingofcurrentobligations.AccountsReceivableandCollectionsReportsBecauseofthesignificanceofaccountsreceivableitisimportantformanagementtoreceiveperiodicreportsthatbothmeasuretheeffectivenessofcollectionactivitiesandinformoralertmanagementofproblemaccounts.Ideally,reportsshouldbegeneratedonamonthlybasis,butdependingonthesizeofthereceivablebalanceandcollectionsstaff,theissuanceofsuchreportsmayrangefromweeklytoquarterly.Thisflowofinformationisnecessarysothatmanagementandcollectionsstaffcandeterminewhethercurrentcreditandcollectionspoliciesandproceduresareworking,orwhetheranyofthepoliciesandproceduresneedtobechangedtomoreeffectivelycollectoutstandingreceivables.Additionally,thecollectionsstaffneedsinformationsothatcollectionactivitiescanbeprioritized,problemaccountsisolated,andoutstandingbalancescollected.AnalysisofAccountsReceivableandCollectionsAnumberofmethodsareusedtomeasureaccounts-receivablebalancesandtheeffectivenessofcollectionpoliciesandprocedures.SomeofthemorefrequentlyusedmethodstoanalyzeaccountsreceivableandcollectionsincludeA/RatYearEndasaPercentageofTotalSales.Thisratioiscomputedbydividingthefiscalyear-endA/Rbalancebyfiscalyearnetsales.TheAAUPStatisticalSurveyreportedaveragesbetween21.6percentand23.0percentforfiscalyears1992through1995.Thisratiocanalsobecomputedatanytimeduringtheyear;however,togetameaningfulratio,theA/Rbalancemustbedividedbynetsalesforthemostrecenttwelvemonths.AverageCollectionPeriod.Thisratioisanindicationoftheaveragenumberofdaysrequiredtoconvertreceivablesintocash.Ideally,thecomputationshoulduseamonthlyaverageofreceivablesandincludeonlycreditsales.Amonthlyaverageofreceivablesshouldbeusedinordertooffsetanyfluctuationsthatmayoccurduringtheyear.Additionally,onlycreditsalesshouldbeusedinthiscomputationsincecashsalesusuallydonotinvolveanycreditrisk.Thecomputationoftheaveragecollectionperiodisatwo-stepprocess.Firstdividetotalsales(preferablycreditsalesonly)forthefiscalyearby365.Thiscalculationyieldstheamountofcreditsalesperday.Thendividetheyear-endreceivablebalance(oraveragemonthlyreceivablebalance)bythecreditsalesperday.Theresultistheaveragecollectionperiodindays.TheAAUPStatisticalSurveyreportedaveragecollectionperiodsof77to91daysforfiscalyear1995and80to95daysforfiscalyear1994.A/RAgingSchedule.Thisisaperiodicreportusedtodeterminetheprioritiesofcollectionactivities.Anagingschedulelistsallcustomeraccountswithoutstandingbalancesasofthedateoftheagingschedule,oneaccountperline.Acrosstheline,thetotalamountdueisbrokendown,oraged,byoverduecategories.Theoverduecategoriesgenerallyincludecurrent(notyetdue),1to30dayspastdue,30to60dayspastdue,60to90dayspastdue,andover90dayspastdue.Theagingcategoriesmayneedtobeadjustedtoproperlyreflectanorganization'stermsofsales.A/RAgingbyCustomerTypeorPaymentTerms.ThisisavariationoftheA/RAgingScheduleandcanbeusedtomoreeffectivelytargetaccountsthatrequiretheattentionofthecollectionsstaff.Amorefocusedschedulealsoallowscomparisonstobedrawnbetweensimilaraccounts.BadDebtExpenseasPercentageofTotalSales.Thisratioiscomputedbydividingyear-endbaddebtexpensebynetsales.TheAAUPStatisticalSurveyreportedaveragesof0.4percentand0.5percentforfiscalyears1992through1995.BadDebtExpenseasPercentageofA/RBalance.Thisratioiscomputedbydividingyear-endbaddebtexpensebytheyear-end(oraverage)A/Rbalance.TheAAUPStatisticalSurveyreportedaveragesbetween1.8percentand2.0percentforthefiscalyears1992through1995.CreditDepartmentMonthlyReport.Thisisasummaryreportthathelpsmanagementmonitorthemonthlyaccounts-receivablestatusandcollectionsactivities.Atypicalreportwouldincludecurrentmonthandpriormonthbalancesforaccountsreceivable,totalcollections,andtotalnetsales.Additionally,someratiosmightbeincluded,suchastheaveragecollectionsperiod.Baddebtcomparisonwouldincludebaddebtwrite-offforthecurrentmonth,fiscalyeartodate,andlastfiscalyeartodate.Finally,asummaryofthenumberofaccountsandbalancesineachagingcategoryshouldbeincluded.Thereisnouniversal,orstandard,formatforthistypeofreport.Foracreditdepartmentmonthlyreporttobetrulyeffective,itmustbetailoredtotheneedsandreportingcapabilitiesofeachindividualpress.Theideaofthisreportistoprovidemanagementwithaonesummaryofcollectionresultseachmonth.Thepercentageratios(A/Raspercentageofnetsales,baddebtaspercentageofnetsales,andbaddebtaspercentageofA/Rbalance)areonlyusefulwhencomparedtoindustryaverages(suchasAAUPstatistics)ortohistoricaldataforyourparticularuniversitypress.Averagecollectionperiod,ontheotherhand,hastobeanalyzedonapress-by-pressbasisbecauseofdifferencesinpublishingprogramsandintheallocationofsalesamongtypesofcustomersthatmayhavedifferenttermsofpayment.Anoverallcomparisontoindustryaveragesmayormaynotbehelpfulinanalyzingapress'saveragecollectionperiod.Whenanalyzingaccountsreceivableitisimportanttorememberthattherearenouniversalstandardsformeasuringaccountsreceivableandcollections.Eachpressmustevaluateitsownsituationanddevelopindividualinternaltrendsandgoals.Itis,ofcourse,helpfultoreviewAAUPaveragestoassistinyourinternalevaluation.However,onemustrememberthatAAUPandotherindustryaveragesareonlyaveragesandshouldneverbeconsideredtheideal.Also,whenperforminginternalanalysisitisimportanttotakecyclicalsalespatternsandunusualeventsintoconsiderationandtotakecautiontomeasureaccountsreceivableandcollectionsresultswithsimilarperiods.CreditManagementandBadDebtPressmanagementandthecollectionsstaffalsoneedtorealizethatitisimpossibletoreduceaccountsreceivablebeyondacertainpoint,norshouldanorganizationstrivefornobaddebts.Eachpressmustdevelopitsownlevelofsatisfactionanditsowncomfortzoneinordertoknowwhenandonwhichaccountstoconcentratecollectionsefforts.Likewise,eachpressmustdevelopitsownlevelofcomfortindeterminingwhentoselltonewaccounts.Itisimportanttoexpectsomelevelofbaddebt,becausewithno,oraverylowlevelof,baddebts,thepressisnotmaximizingitssalespotential.Presseshavetobewillingtotakesomechancestoincreasesales,whileatthesametimeunderstandingthatnotallchancestakenwillyieldpositiveresults.Pressesthataremoreaggressiveingrantingcreditmustmakesurethatanadequatereserveforbaddebtismaintainedonthebalancesheetorbudgetforapossibleincreaseinbaddebtexpense.ProactiveCreditManagementInadditiontoanalyzingaccountsreceivableandreviewinginternaltrendsandpastperformance,andorganizationmustbeasproactiveaspossibletomaximizecollections.Theorganizationthatcallsfirstwillusuallygetpaidfirst.Tokeepontopofcollectionsitisimportanttohavewrittencollectionpoliciesandterms.Thesewrittenpoliciesmusthavetheagreementandsupportofmanagement,marketing,andthecollectionsstaff.Writtenpoliciesshouldbereviewedannuallyandupdatedasneededtoin