Editing Accounts receivable (section)

{{short description|Claims for payment held by a business}}
{{Accounting}}
'''Accounts receivable''', abbreviated as '''AR''' or '''A/R''',<ref>{{cite web | title=Accounts Receivable (A/R or AR) | website=Business Literacy Institute | date=9 January 2015 | url=http://www.business-literacy.com/financial-concepts/accounts-receivable-ar/ | access-date=14 April 2021}}</ref> are legally enforceable claims for payment held by a business for goods supplied or services rendered that customers have ordered but not paid for. The accounts receivable process involves customer onboarding, [[invoice|invoicing]], collections, deductions, exception management, and finally, cash posting after the payment is collected. 

Accounts receivable are generally in the form of invoices raised by a business and delivered to the customer for payment within an agreed time frame. Accounts receivable is shown in a [[balance sheet]] as an [[asset]]. It is one of a series of [[accounting]] transactions dealing with the billing of a [[customer]] for [[good (economics)|goods]] and [[Service (economics)|services]] that the customer has ordered. These may be distinguished from [[notes receivable]], which are [[debt]]s created through formal [[legal instrument]]s called [[promissory note]]s.<ref>Belverd E. Needles, Marian Powers, Susan V. Crosson. (2010) ''Financial and Managerial Accounting'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=xI8pEZIob9UC&pg=PA373&dq p. 373].</ref>

Accounts receivable can impact the liquidity of a company.