A sale isn't really a sale until the money is in your account. It's easy to celebrate a big order and forget that, until it's paid, it's not cash — it's a promise. Businesses rarely fail because they're unprofitable on paper; they fail because the cash arrives too slowly. Managing your receivables well is one of the highest-leverage things a growing business can do.

Know what you're owed — at a glance

Start with a number you can see any day of the week: total outstanding receivables. If answering "how much are we owed right now?" takes more than a few seconds, that's the first thing to fix. You can't manage what you can't see.

Read your aging report

An aging report buckets what you're owed by how overdue it is — typically 0–30 days, 31–60, and 60+. It's the single most useful view in receivables because it tells you where to act:

  • 0–30 days — healthy. These are simply invoices in their normal payment window.
  • 31–60 days — watch closely. A friendly nudge here often prevents a problem later.
  • 60+ days — act now. The longer a debt ages, the less likely it is to ever be collected.

The goal is to keep as much of your total as possible in that first, green bucket.

Set clear terms up front

Much of getting paid on time is decided before the invoice is even sent. State your payment terms clearly, put a real due date on every invoice, and make sure the customer agreed to them at the start. Vague terms produce vague payment dates.

Make chasing effortless — and automatic

Chasing payments is nobody's favourite job, which is exactly why it slips. The fix is to stop relying on memory: automate a polite reminder the moment an invoice goes overdue, and another a week later. A consistent, unemotional reminder cadence collects more, faster, than sporadic manual chasing — and it never feels personal to the customer.

Make paying easy

Every extra step costs you days. Put a scan-to-pay QR code and your bank details on the invoice itself, so paying is a matter of seconds, not a task the customer has to plan.

Lekhio tracks outstanding balances in real time, shows aging receivables on your dashboard, and can automatically remind customers the moment an invoice is overdue — so you collect faster and chase less.