Sanjay opens his bank app before he brushes his teeth.

Every single morning. It's the first thing his thumb does.

He runs a chemicals trading and processing business. Last month his CA called with good news: the year closed at ₹1.1 crore profit.

Sanjay laughed. That same year, he delayed salaries by nine days. He borrowed ₹40 lakh from a private lender at 18% to pay a supplier on time.

Profit on paper. Panic in the bank.

His money isn't missing. It's sleeping — inside 43 unpaid invoices. Three of his biggest customers alone are holding ₹78 lakh past 90 days. When I asked why nobody pushes them, he gave the answer I hear everywhere: "They're big clients. We can't pressure them."

They're not clients. At 90+ days, they're borrowers. Interest-free ones.

Your CA files your returns. Nobody manages your cash.

Here's the confusion that quietly strangles SMEs: compliance is not finance management. The CA's job is GST, returns, audit — looking backward, once a year, for the government.

Nobody in the business is looking forward. Nobody owns the question "will we have cash in six weeks?" Collections belong to everyone, which means they belong to no one — the salesperson assumes accounts follows up, accounts assumes the owner will call, the owner assumes the customer will remember.

And so the SME becomes what it never intended to be: a free bank for companies three times its size. Payment discipline is trained. Right now, your customers have trained you.

How does a small business fix cash flow?

Not with a loan. With visibility and rhythm:

  • A weekly cash view. One sheet, every Monday, ten minutes: cash today, expected in over 30 days, going out over 30 days. Surprises are what kill SMEs — this sheet deletes surprises.
  • A debtor ageing report, every Monday. Four columns: 0–30, 31–60, 61–90, 90+. And every amount in the 90+ column gets a name and a next action written beside it. Ageing that nobody reads is just sad history.
  • Make collection a role, not a mood. One owner. A fixed follow-up day. A polite, boring, relentless script — invoice reminder before due date, call on due date, escalation at +15. Consistency collects money; anger just collects excuses.
  • Credit policy before the order, not after. Written limits per customer, agreed terms on the order itself, and a stop-supply rule at a defined limit. It is easier to set terms while they want your material than while they owe you money.
  • A monthly MIS with five numbers. Sales. Gross margin. Overheads. Debtors beyond 90 days. Cash days remaining. If you can't read your business in five numbers, you're not running it — you're feeling it.

Sanjay didn't need more sales. He needed his own money back. Ninety days of Monday rhythm brought ₹52 lakh out of the ageing report and into the bank — without a single new customer.

The real question

How much of your money is sitting in other people's businesses right now?

If you need to call your accountant to answer that, the number isn't the problem. The blindness is.

If you want the five-number dashboard for your business — and a collection rhythm that works without you making the awkward calls — that's exactly what we set up in a complimentary Strategic Advisory Session with our Director of Strategy.

Book a Strategic Advisory Session →

Related reading: You Work 14 Hours a Day. Your Business Grew 4% · Stuck at the Same Turnover for Three Years

Founders also ask

Why is my business profitable but has no cash?

Because profit is an opinion recorded on invoices; cash is a fact recorded in the bank. Profit gets locked inside receivables customers haven't paid and stock that hasn't sold. A business showing ₹1 crore profit can still miss salaries if its money is sleeping in 90-day-old invoices.

How do I get customers to pay on time?

Agree terms in writing before the order, send a reminder before the due date, follow up on a fixed day every week with one owner responsible, and enforce a stop-supply limit. Consistency matters more than pressure — customers pay first whoever follows up most predictably.

What is a monthly MIS report for a small business?

A one-page Management Information Sheet with the few numbers that describe business health: sales, gross margin, overheads, debtors beyond 90 days, and cash days remaining. Reviewed on a fixed date each month, it turns finance from a year-end surprise into a monthly steering wheel.

How much working capital does an SME need?

Less than most SMEs borrow. Before adding a limit or loan, reduce the need: cut receivable days with a collection rhythm, right-size stock, and negotiate supplier terms. Every 10 days shaved off collections releases cash permanently — borrowed working capital only rents the same relief.