Delinquent account
A customer account with invoices significantly past due, usually flagged for closer follow-up, a credit hold or escalation.
Definitions vary. Some teams call any past-due account delinquent; others reserve the word for balances more than 60 or 90 days late, or for customers who have broken a promise to pay.
Handling delinquency well starts with finding out why. A customer in financial difficulty needs a payment plan or a credit decision; one with an unresolved dispute needs the dispute fixed.
Further reading
Related terms
- Past dueAn invoice that hasn't been paid by its due date. It stays past due, and keeps aging, until it's paid, credited or written off.
- Credit holdA block on new orders or shipments for a customer who's over their credit limit or seriously past due, until the balance is paid or the order is approved.
- Payment planAn agreement that lets a customer settle an overdue balance in scheduled installments rather than in a single payment.
- Average days delinquent (ADD)The average number of days invoices are paid after their due date, calculated as DSO minus best possible DSO.