Even a profitable project can leave your company short of cash when a payment falls due: the customer has not yet paid for an accepted stage, while suppliers and your team already need to be paid. To spot the risk early, distinguish accounts receivable, accounts payable, and your actual cash balance.
Receivables show amounts owed to the company; payables show its own unsettled obligations. Both need a documented basis and a due date. Neither amount, by itself, equals the money in your bank account.
Below is a practical framework for maintaining a debt register, reconciling it with reports and a payment calendar, agreeing payment dates, and using records in 101 without treating them as substitutes for a bank statement or contract. The legal examples in this article refer specifically to Russia; they do not establish payment or work-suspension rules for other jurisdictions.
Contents:
What are accounts receivable and payable?
Accounts receivable are documented claims for payment owed to the company: for example, a customer has accepted a stage of work under the contract but has not yet transferred the money. In your register, record the debtor, amount, supporting basis, due date, and any partial payments already received. An invoice or a verbal promise alone does not prove that the work has been accepted or that the debt is undisputed.
Accounts payable are the company’s unsettled obligations to suppliers and contractors for goods or work received. Include accrued wages, taxes, and short-term loans in your overall obligations register too, while distinguishing their legal bases and deadlines. A planned purchase that has not yet been agreed represents a future cash requirement, not an existing debt.
| Measure | What to check | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts receivable | Who owes the company money, what for, and by which date; what has already been paid | Expected payments are mistaken for cash available today |
| Accounts payable and other obligations | Whom the company owes, on what basis, and when payment falls due | A payment is missing from the calendar or becomes overdue |
How do outstanding debts cause a cash shortfall?
A cash shortfall occurs when the money available on a mandatory payment date is insufficient. A project may be profitable on paper, but the customer may pay only after the company has paid for materials, rent, and the work of its team or contractors. Receivables do not become cash until the money is actually received.
Compare payment dates for each project with the company’s overall cash balance. Model a separate delay scenario for uncertain receipts. For a detailed explanation of causes and actions, see the article on cash shortfalls in construction.
Which figures and reports should you check?
A payment decision requires four kinds of information: a dated register of receivables and obligations, actual cash, financial performance, and the position of assets and liabilities at a particular date. No single report replaces the others.
A cash flow report shows receipts and payments that have actually occurred during a period; a profit and loss report shows income, costs, and the result under your chosen recognition model; a management balance sheet shows assets and liabilities at a given date. Receivables and payables may appear on the balance sheet, but the line items depend on your accounting system. The purpose of these three reports is explained further in the article on cash flow, profit and loss, and the balance sheet (in Russian).
Distinguish cash-based tracking from accrual accounting. In management reconciliation, the former tracks actual receipt and payment dates; the latter allocates income and costs to the period in which they arise under your chosen rules. Payment dates and work completion dates may differ; check financial and tax recognition against the applicable regulations. A hypothetical customer advance increases available cash once received but does not automatically become earned profit. The distinction is explained in the article on cash and accrual accounting.
Once a week, reconcile the debt register with acceptance documents, contracts, bank statements, and cash on hand. Show disputed amounts and promised but unconfirmed payments separately so that the forecast does not look more reliable than the facts.
How should you manage receivables?
Start with the contract terms: what the invoice covers, how a stage is accepted, when the obligation to pay arises, and whom to send the documents to. Advances, stage payments, and final settlement can reduce the need to use your own funds if the amounts and dates align with the work and the customer actually pays on time.
Record each claim’s due date and group overdue amounts, for example into up to 7 days, 8–14 days, 15–30 days, and more than 30 days. These intervals are an operational tracking setting, not statutory deadlines. The responsible person checks the supporting basis, sends missing documents, follows up on payment, and records a confirmed payment date. Do not treat a disputed acceptance document as a guaranteed cash receipt.
- Set out the payment schedule and stage acceptance procedure in the contract.
- Set separate control dates for signing the acceptance document and making payment; targets of 1–3 and 3–5 days are acceptable only as agreed terms, not a universal rule.
- Record partial payments and recalculate the outstanding balance after each bank statement.
- If the customer is late paying, discuss the next stage in advance. Work may be suspended only where there is a valid contractual and legal basis, with proper notice; a negative figure in your records does not automatically give you the right to stop work. For the Russian legal example, check the conditions for reciprocal obligations under a works contract against Article 719 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (in Russian).
This shows not only your total receivables but also a specific action for each overdue amount, rather than allowing you to keep financing a new stage on the strength of an unconfirmed promise.
How should you manage payables?
Bring documented obligations together in one register: counterparty, amount, supporting basis, payment date, responsible person, and possible consequences of delay. Keep planned purchases that have not yet been committed to separate. Tie contractor payments to the agreed stage and documentation, without withholding an amount already due because of an internal rule that is absent from the contract.
Set priorities by due date, legal requirements, and consequences. In Russia, wage payment dates cannot be moved arbitrarily: employment rules and contracts set them in compliance with Article 136 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation; see the Russian Ministry of Labor’s explanation (in Russian). A manager’s decision does not change a tax deadline: in the Russian example, deferral or installment arrangements require grounds, an application, and a decision under the Federal Tax Service procedure (in Russian).
- Enter payments with statutory deadlines in the calendar using their actual due dates.
- Agree any change to a supplier’s or contractor’s payment date with them and document it under the contract; until agreement is reached, retain the original date in your forecast.
- Review optional future purchases and services separately from debts that have already arisen.
If cash is still insufficient, assess the cost and term of external financing and the source of repayment in advance. A new loan without a realistic repayment plan may merely postpone the cash shortfall.
How do you prepare a payment calendar?
A payment calendar brings together actual cash, expected receipts, and payments by date. Calculate the forecast balance for each day: available cash at the start of the day plus expected receipts minus mandatory payments. One day’s closing balance becomes the next day’s opening balance; keep confirmed and uncertain receipts separate.
Choose a horizon that shows upcoming obligations, for example 14 days, and update it using bank statements and new agreements. The calendar highlights risk but does not change a payment’s legal deadline. Before using one project’s receipts to meet another project’s obligations, check the contracts, restrictions on the funds’ use, and the company’s overall forecast.
- Gather the available balances in bank accounts and cash on hand at the starting date.
- Enter wages, taxes, rent, loans, and other payments with established deadlines.
- Add project obligations: suppliers, contractors, materials, and logistics; separate optional future purchases.
- Enter expected customer payments by date and indicate how firmly each amount is confirmed.
- Calculate the balance for each date and a separate delay scenario for disputed or unconfirmed receipts.
- Reconcile the forecast with actual results every week and after a significant change; if a balance is negative, act early to accelerate collection, negotiate a permissible postponement, or use a planned reserve.
How can you use 101 to track projects and payments?
In 101, project events help distinguish a preliminary estimate, a report of completed work or materials, a cash receipt, and a transfer. These types have different accounting effects; their purpose is described in 101’s help article on events (in Russian). Recording a report does not prove payment. A customer’s promise does not create a receipt either.
The project balance in 101 (in Russian) shows the difference between recorded receipts and recorded expenses. It is not the same as profit, a bank balance, or legally documented receivables. Access to specific information depends on your role, permissions, and subscription plan. Reconcile project events with contracts, acceptance documents, bank statements, and a separate debt register; do not assume that 101 automatically maintains a complete receivables and payables register or a company payment calendar.
Track funds advanced to employees or other accountable persons separately from company cash and the project balance: whom you gave the money to, which expenses are supported by documents, and which remaining balance needs reconciliation. The principles are explained in the article on tracking accountable advances (in Russian).
To assess liquidity, distinguish available cash from net working capital. In this article, net working capital means current assets minus current liabilities; assets include not only cash but also receivables, inventories, and other current assets. A positive difference does not mean that the entire amount can be spent today. The formula and timing are discussed in the article on working capital.
If you would like to discuss how to organize your project records and reconcile figures, you can explore 101 at a presentation. You will still need to configure a separate debt register and due-date calendar around your own contracts.
