The Average Payment Time report provides a detailed breakdown of client payment activity, giving you clear insight into how long it typically takes for your clients to pay their invoices after they’re issued.
This report calculates the average number of days between the invoice date and the date payment is received — across all clients either for all time, or within a specific date range. It helps you identify patterns in payment behaviour and can reveal whether certain clients, practice areas, or invoice types are consistently slower to pay.
Why Use This Report?
-
Improve cash flow forecasting: Know what to expect and when, based on real payment trends.
-
Spot slow payers early: Proactively manage client relationships and follow-up strategies.
-
Refine billing practices: Use insights to adjust payment terms, invoice frequency, or reminder schedules.
-
Track the impact of changes: Monitor how process improvements (like sending invoices earlier or using SILQPay) affect payment times.
By understanding your firm’s average payment times, you can make informed decisions to support healthier cash flow, reduce outstanding receivables, and improve overall financial performance.
Prior to generating the report you are able to customise the way the information is presented to you via the following options:
1. Date Range - You can choose from any of the following
a. Choose a specific date range by selecting a from and to date.
b. Choose only the 'To Date' and it will give you everything (all time) up until that date.
c. From the dropdown you can choose pre-defined date ranges such as Current Financial Year or Last Month.
2. Select Sort Order - You are able to sort by:
a. Client - Choosing this option will sort by Client in alphabetical order
b. Client Surname
c. Total Invoices - This will appear in descending order.
d. Unpaid Invoices - This will appear in descending order.
e. Paid Invoices - This will appear in descending order.
f. Written Off Amount - This will appear in descending order.
g. 31 to 60 - This will appear in descending order.
h. 61 to 90 - This will appear in descending order.
i. 90 plus - This will appear in descending order.
j. Average Days to Pay - This will appear in descending order.
Below is an explanation of each row and column to help interpret the data:
Columns
- Client: The name of the client or company.
- Invoices: The total dollar value of invoices issued to the client.
- These Invoices:
- Unpaid: The dollar value of invoices that remain unpaid.
- Paid: The dollar value of invoices that have been paid.
- Written Off: The dollar value of invoices that have been written off as uncollectible.
- This Period:
- Paid: The dollar value of invoices paid during the reporting period selected at the time of generating the report (this date is shown at the top of the report. You will either see a date range, of if it says 'up to', that will include all time up until that date).
- Written Off: The dollar value of invoices written off during the reporting period.
- Number of These Invoices Paid Within:
- 0-30 Days: The number of invoices paid within 30 days of issuance.
- 31-60 Days: The number of invoices paid within 31 to 60 days of issuance.
- 61-90 Days: The number of invoices paid within 61 to 90 days of issuance.
- 90+ Days: The number of invoices paid after 90 days of issuance.
- Avg. Days to Pay: The average number of days it took for the client to pay their invoices.
Rows
- Individual Clients: Each row represents a specific client, detailing their payment activity across the columns.
- Totals: The final row aggregates the data for all clients, providing a summary of total invoices, payments, write-offs, and payment timelines.
Example Row Explanation
- Anne Teak:
- Total invoices: $118,630.00.
- Payments made during this period: $118,630.00 (all invoices paid).
-
- Payment timeline: 2 invoices paid within 0-30 days, 1 invoice paid within 31-60 days.
- Average days to pay: 16 days.