Report Pro

Executive summary

Collections improved for the third straight quarter while the invoice book kept growing, which is the combination we set out to prove was possible rather than a trade-off.

Revenue billed reached £612,400 across the quarter, up 9.4% on Q1. Average days to pay fell to 18.2 days, the lowest since we began tracking it, and overdue balances fell in absolute terms even as the number of invoices raised grew by 14%. The reminder-schedule change rolled out in March (see Methodology) accounts for most of the improvement: accounts on the new schedule pay 3.1 days faster on average than accounts still on the old one.

The one area to watch is the Northern region, where overdue balances rose against the trend. That is broken out in its own section below, with the two accounts responsible for most of it.

Revenue and collections by region

Every region grew revenue this quarter. Collections speed improved everywhere except the North, where two accounts (below) are carrying most of an increase that would otherwise read as a regional problem rather than a concentrated one.

Read the North row alongside the account breakdown below before drawing a regional conclusion: this is a concentration story, not a systemic slowdown in that region's chasing.

Where the North's overdue balance sits

Two accounts hold most of the North region's overdue total. Both are past the final reminder stage and are now with the account owner rather than the automated schedule.

Methodology

Revenue billed is invoice value raised within the quarter, exclusive of VAT. Average days to pay is the mean of (payment date minus due date) across invoices settled within the quarter, so a late invoice still paid this quarter counts, and one paid next quarter does not yet. Overdue balance is the outstanding value of invoices past their due date as at 30 June 2026.

The revised reminder schedule (first reminder seven days before the due date, rather than three) rolled out to 60% of accounts on 3 March 2026 and to the remainder on 14 April 2026. The 3.1-day improvement figure in the summary compares accounts on the new schedule for the full quarter against accounts still on the old one.

Prepared by the finance operations team. Figures are unaudited management figures, not statutory accounts. Questions to financeops@northwind.example.