---
title: "Delinquent account: definition | Rex glossary"
description: "A customer account with invoices significantly past due, usually flagged for closer follow-up, a credit hold or escalation."
canonical: https://www.rex.inc/glossary/delinquent-account
---

# 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

- [How to handle delinquent accounts without damaging the relationship→](https://www.rex.inc/resources/guides/how-to-handle-delinquent-accounts)

## Related terms

- [Past due An 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.](https://www.rex.inc/glossary/past-due)
- [Credit hold A 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.](https://www.rex.inc/glossary/credit-hold)
- [Payment plan An agreement that lets a customer settle an overdue balance in scheduled installments rather than in a single payment.](https://www.rex.inc/resources/glossary/what-is-a-payment-plan)
- [Average days delinquent (ADD) The average number of days invoices are paid after their due date, calculated as DSO minus best possible DSO.](https://www.rex.inc/glossary/average-days-delinquent)

Next step

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A short walkthrough of agents working your accounts under your guardrails, with your team on the exceptions.

[Learn more](https://www.rex.inc/learn-more)

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