Invoice Due Dates and Customer Payment Runs: Plan Both
Keep the agreed invoice due date and the expected cash receipt date in separate fields. Ask accounts payable when approvals close, which payment run will include your invoice and when funds are likely to arrive. Missing a cutoff can move the forecast by weeks; record that delay without silently changing the agreed terms.
What you’ll get from this guide: For suppliers paid through customer payment runs: build a dated follow-up checklist and a cash forecast that exposes a missed cutoff.
Start with the agreement, then map the customer's process
A customer says, "We pay at the end of the month." Ask for the submission deadline, approval contact and date of the next run. Check how that date compares with the agreed payment date.
business.gov.au's payment-terms guidance explains that payment terms form part of the sales contract. Copy the agreed wording and the document reference into your customer record. Where the wording is unclear, ask for clarification before converting it into a date. Don't assume "30 days", "30 days from month end" and a monthly payment run mean the same thing.
Keep these fields beside the invoice:
- Invoice date and evidence of delivery to the correct accounts-payable channel.
- Agreed due date, with the accepted order or terms reference.
- Approval owner, approval cutoff and current approval status.
- Expected payment-run date and the source of that information.
- Expected bank receipt date, confidence level and next check.
An invoice due-date field alone can't do this job. Check the invoice requirements guide for the document itself, then use this additional record to manage its journey through the customer's accounts team.
Compare the two calendars before relying on the money
In this fictional example, a supplier submits invoice INV-813 for $8,800 on 11 September. The agreement gives an explicit due date of 25 September. The customer describes a monthly run on the last Friday, with completed approval required one week earlier.
Assumptions: Fictional AUD $8,800 invoice dated and submitted 11 September 2026. The agreement explicitly says 25 September. Customer runs payments on the last Friday monthly, with approval due the Friday before. Receipt dates are planning assumptions.
| Event | Approval on time | Approval too late | What to retain or ask |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invoice and submission | 11 September | 11 September | Same $8,800 invoice; retain submission receipt |
| Approval completed | 17 September | 21 September | Late approval misses the September cutoff |
| Approval cutoff | 18 September | 18 September missed; next 23 October | An internal processing deadline, separately recorded |
| Agreed invoice due date | 25 September | 25 September | No change to terms is assumed in either scenario |
| Customer payment run | 25 September | 30 October | Ask about a separate earlier payment if cutoff is missed |
| Expected bank receipt | 28 September | 2 November | Fictional settlement assumptions, not guaranteed banking times |
Original ASBG fictional example. Use the assumptions above when replacing these figures with your own.
Case A reaches approval on 17 September and makes the 25 September run. Case B is approved on 21 September, after the cutoff, and accounts payable says it will go into the 30 October run. The expected receipt moves from 28 September to 2 November: 35 calendar days later. The agreed due date is still recorded as 25 September; the example assumes no agreed extension.
Once you know the cutoff will be missed, ask: can accounts payable arrange a separate payment, or can the authorised customer contact resolve the approval block? A monthly run is something to investigate, not a reason to stop following up.
Ask for the missing dates in one message
Use this as a processing query, adapting the facts rather than sending the fictional dates:
We submitted INV-813 for $8,800 on 11 September under order PO-620. Our agreed payment date is 25 September. Please confirm receipt, the approval owner and whether the invoice is approved for the 25 September run. If anything is missing, please identify the document or line item. If it will miss that run, what earlier payment arrangement can you make? Please confirm the expected release date and send the remittance once payment is released.
Save the reply alongside the invoice. Record the person's name, role, date and any case reference. "With the team" isn't a confirmed payment date. Ask what action remains and who owns it.
If the customer proposes a new contractual term, keep that proposal separate from your processing notes. Have someone with the right authority consider it; take conflicting terms or questions about legal entitlement to a commercial lawyer. ASBFEO's dispute-prevention guidance recommends documenting agreed work and changes and checking who can amend an agreement.
Put the realistic receipt into the cash forecast
Suppose the supplier has $7,000 available on 28 September before that day's expected receipt. Other confirmed receipts before 2 November total $9,000 and scheduled outgoings total $18,000. The figures below are a simplified fictional period check, using total cash amounts.
Assumptions: Period: 28 September to immediately before the delayed receipt on 2 November. Opening cash $7,000; other receipts $9,000; outgoings $18,000. All cash flows are counted once.
| Scenario | Opening cash | Customer receipt in period | Other receipts | Outgoings | Closing cash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September run succeeds | $7,000 | $8,800 | $9,000 | $18,000 | $6,800 |
| October run; receipt outside period | $7,000 | $0 | $9,000 | $18,000 | −$2,000 |
Original ASBG fictional example. Use the assumptions above when replacing these figures with your own.
The difference is the same $8,800 receipt moved outside the period, not a second bad debt or lost sale. A negative projected balance is a funding gap to resolve before payments fall due. Break the period into actual daily or weekly movements: the lowest balance could be worse than this closing figure.
Use the 13-week cash forecast to place each item once. The late-customer stress test covers the broader effect when this payer supplies a large share of your receipts.
Check the run, then check the bank
Set reminders ahead of the customer's cutoff, at the agreed due date and after the expected receipt date. Ask about holidays, shutdowns and staff leave when they could affect processing; don't apply a made-up universal rule for shifting due dates. A remittance or scheduled run helps explain the plan, but check the bank before marking money received. If cash doesn't arrive, use the established invoice follow-up process.
Next, find the approval hold and save proof of each submission.
Key takeaways
- Record the agreement, approval cutoff, payment run and expected bank receipt separately.
- Check approval before the cutoff; one missed monthly run can create a substantial cash gap.
- Keep proposals to change terms visible and authorised.
- Replace forecast receipts with actual bank movements when the money arrives.
Where to get help
Read business.gov.au's payment-terms guidance when setting up a customer account. Use ASBFEO's dispute support if a processing issue becomes a business dispute, and get legal advice where the actual terms conflict. Find related planning tasks in cash flow and getting paid.
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General information only. This guide doesn't take your personal or business circumstances into account and isn't financial, legal or tax advice. Rates and thresholds change — check the official sources linked in this guide and get qualified advice where your circumstances require it.