Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Beware the Passage of Time

St. Augustine said: “Lord give me virtue -- but not yet.”

Augustine wasn’t talking about money, but the point is the same. Getting paid is a virtue. We want it-- but all in good time.

I’ve commented before on the perils of rapid repayment. I have to comment one more time. I just can’t help myself.

Included among the data provided by The Receivables Exchange on each Seller/Account Debtor relationship is a record of the Account Debtor’s payment velocity.

I personally think that TRE should report the figures on an “auction duration” basis; measured from the date of the sale of the Account Debtor’s invoice to the day that invoice is paid. That would tell the Buyers explicitly how long the funds used to buy the invoices were employed and it would tell the Seller's how much time they have "paid for".

But that is NOT what is provided and it is important to know that.

What IS provided is a record of the number of days from the DATE of the invoice to the date payment reaches the TRE lockbox. High, low and average figures are given.

So, in order to make an informed bid a Buyer needs to consider not just the payment history provided but also the age of the invoice at the time of purchase. Unless the payment history provided is analyzed in light of the current age of the invoice posted it can lead to unexpected results.

Let’s use an actual example:

A certain Account Debtor has a record of paying a certain Seller’s invoices in an average of 20 days. That is, 20 days from the date of the invoice.

That Seller posts a new auction. The invoice posted is 17 days old on the day of the posting. This invoice does not sell on the day of posting. In fact, three days later it still has not sold.

What is the position of a Buyer looking at that auction on the 20th day from the invoice date?

Based only on the history provided the answer is that he’s looking at a purchase with an expected duration of about ZERO days! The check could actually be hitting the lock box even as the payment for the invoice is being swept from the Buyer’s account.

In such a case what does the Buyer get?

He gets to pay the fixed exchange and transaction fees incurred in closing a purchase without earning anything at all. He gets to lose money on a deal that has been paid as agreed!

OK, so we have to be fair. The record shows that some payments have taken longer than 20 days to come in. So it’s possible that the Buyer will earn some revenue for his trouble. But, based on the record, it’s far from certain that he will earn enough to break even.

It’s also possible that the Seller knows something about the likely payment period of that specific invoice. Otherwise, why would he be willing to pay the Seller’s fees and transaction costs? He should hold that invoice and post a newer one for sale if he needs cash.

It’s also possible that the Seller has simply made an error and didn’t realize the implication of posting that particular invoice for sale. As a Buyer who has made errors while getting to know this new platform, I could both understand and sympathize.

It's also true that I don't know of an actual case in which the costs and fees of a transaction exceeded its revenue.

But the point still stands.

Taking the time to look at and understand the documentation supporting an auction is important and it’s clear that many auctions are completed without that being done.

As it happens, the auction described above sold on the 4th day after posting, or the 21st day after the date of the invoice. I considered making a bid calculated at the monthly discount rate necessary to break even on a one-day holding period but decided against it. Nobody likes a wiseguy!

2 comments:

  1. The TRE interface could use some improvements to make buyer due diligence easier. Perhaps we can schedule a joint meeting in NYC to make suggestions, share ideas, etc. all the while hoping that TRE picks up the lunch tab.

    ReplyDelete