two sides of the accounting ledger. after the sale is booked and before the payment is recieved = accounts recievable, it can legitimately be days or quarters, even more, depending on the industry....when payment is made, it comes off A/R and recorded as cash. enzyme's point, if i may, is that A/R can't increase by more than previous period sales without some clueless or devious accounting going on - that's the GAAP reference, standards recognized by accounting industry.