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Receivables finance reporting checklist for borrowers

Most reporting problems are created before the period even closes: cash sitting unapplied, credit memos posted late, disputes nobody flagged. This checklist walks the full cycle, from pre-close hygiene through post-submission follow-up, so the report you send is one your lender can rely on and you can defend.

Who this is for

Controllers and assistant controllers who own lender reporting
AR managers feeding the reporting process
Treasury analysts who compile and submit the package
CFOs who sign the certificate

What it includes

Six pre-close checks that prevent most reporting errors
Report-building checks that keep the numbers tied to the subledger
A pre-submission gate covering ties, variances, and officer review
Post-submission follow-up so lender questions do not repeat

Before the period closes

The report is only as good as the subledger the night the period closes. Run these checks in the final two or three business days of the month.

Cash application is current: unapplied and on-account cash is under your internal threshold, ideally below 1 percent of monthly collections
Credit memos are posted in the period they belong to, not sitting in an approval queue that will land them in next month's dilution
Disputed invoices and short-pays are flagged in the ERP with a dispute code, not tracked in someone's inbox
Write-offs and bad debt adjustments for the period are booked and approved before close, not after
Intercompany and affiliate customer accounts carry the flag your ineligible logic reads
New customers added during the period have complete master data: parent linkage, country, and payment terms
Invoices in FX have a rate source and date consistent with prior periods
The AR control account in the general ledger reconciles to the subledger, with every reconciling item explained

Building the report

The aging is generated from the closed subledger, and its total matches the subledger balance to the dollar
Aging buckets are computed on the basis your agreement specifies: days from invoice date or days from due date are different tests
Obligor groups are current: recent acquisitions and name changes are mapped to the right parent before concentration is tested
Eligibility rules match the current credit agreement version, including any amendment that changed a threshold or advance rate
Every ineligible category is calculated from invoice-level detail you can produce on request, not from a top-side estimate
The roll-forward is built from actual sales, collections, and dilution postings, not plugged to force a tie
Reserves are recalculated this period, not carried forward from last month's file

Before submission

The roll-forward ties: beginning AR equals the prior certificate's ending AR, and the walk lands exactly on this period's gross AR
Gross AR on the certificate equals the attached aging total
Variance commentary is drafted for any line that moved more than 10 percent or a set dollar threshold versus prior period
Availability was sanity checked against last period: if it swung sharply, you know why before the lender asks
Covenant calculations are run and current, so the no-default attestation is true when signed
An officer other than the preparer has reviewed the package, and the review is documented
The final files are archived together: certificate, schedules, and the source data extracts behind them

After submission

Lender questions are logged in one place with the answer given, so next month's package answers them preemptively
Exceptions or errors the lender found are tracked to a root cause and a fix, not just corrected in the resubmission
Any manual adjustment made this cycle is written down with who made it and why, so it is reproducible or retired next month
Recurring pain points are fed back to AR operations: if unapplied cash bites every month, the fix belongs in cash application, not in the report

Get the working checklist as a spreadsheet

Olycor is in early access. Sign up and we will send you this checklist as a working spreadsheet with owner and status columns for your monthly cycle, and show you how the platform runs the tie-outs and eligibility checks automatically.

Get early access

What this resource does not replace

Your credit agreement's definitions and reporting requirements
Legal or accounting advice on your facility
Your lender's review of the submitted package

Frequently asked questions

How long should the reporting cycle take?+

Teams doing this in spreadsheets typically spend 3 to 5 business days per monthly cycle. With clean data and repeatable rules, the build itself should take hours, not days. If your cycle regularly runs a week or more, the time is usually going into data cleanup, and that is fixable.

What causes the most lender pushback?+

Ties that break. A roll-forward that does not connect to the prior certificate, or an aging that does not match gross AR, gets questioned every time. Unexplained swings in ineligibles or availability are a close second. Consistent, tied, explained numbers buy you a quiet review.

Who should sign off before submission?+

At minimum, someone other than the preparer should review, and the signing officer named in your credit agreement should see the covenant status alongside the numbers. Four eyes on the package is cheap insurance against a misstatement that carries personal attestation risk.