Net terms are essential in B2B commerce, enabling buyers to purchase at the scale their businesses demand. But for merchants, they introduce uncertainty on three fronts:
- Credit risk: Will the buyer pay at all?
- Timing risk: When will that payment actually arrive?
- Payout variability: How much of the invoice value will ultimately reach your account?
Even when bad debt is low, unpredictable timing and partial or adjusted payouts can disrupt liquidity planning. Payments arrive late, underpaid, or offset by insurance deductions. This leaves finance teams building buffers to compensate, AR teams chasing payments, and forecasting becoming reactive instead of strategic.
Balance’s Digital Net Terms resolve these frictions by turning receivables into a predictable system. The platform automates underwriting, invoicing, collections, and reconciliation – and assumes full credit risk. On top of that infrastructure, DSO Protection guarantees both the timing and the full amount of your payout.*
No underpayments. No additional insurer deductions. No drift in due dates. Just cash arriving in full, on schedule, every time.
One Program, Two Payout Models
Within Digital Net Terms, payout becomes a strategic choice:
- Accelerated Payout: Receive funds before the buyer’s due date for instant liquidity. (Financing fee applies.)
- DSO Protection: Receive funds on the buyer’s due date (or later if you choose), in full, even if the buyer pays late, underpays, or never pays. (Predictable fee for guaranteed timing and amount, regardless of the net terms period.)
Both models eliminate credit risk. The difference lies in the liquidity strategy, early cash vs. exact-schedule cash, with DSO Protection providing certainty without time linked cost of capital.
Why Finance Teams Choose DSO Protection
Finance teams choose DSO Protection for greater predictability, making it easier to plan and grow:
- Guaranteed timing and amount: You know exactly when and how much cash will post.
- No insurer adjustments: Full payment of the invoiced amount (minus a fixed fee), every time.
- DSO discipline without financing: Cash lands precisely on due date.
- Operational simplicity: Replace variable AR workload and insurance reconciliation with a single, predictable line item.
DSO Protection turns unpredictable receivables into scheduled, guaranteed liquidity.
How It Works
- A buyer makes a purchase on approved terms.
Once a buyer’s credit purchase limit is approved by Balance, any purchase (through your ecommerce site, a rep, or by PO) within that limit automatically triggers invoice creation and schedules your payout for the buyer’s due date. - Balance runs the entire receivables process.
Billing, buyer reminders, approved refunds, adjustments, ERP cash application, and collections outreach are all managed automatically through the Digital Net Terms program. - You receive full payment on schedule.
On the buyer’s due date, your payout arrives automatically and in full, regardless of when, how, or if the buyer pays.
No insurer claims. No partial recoveries. No reconciliation delays.
Just cash conversion that’s guaranteed in both timing and amount.*
Program Flexibility: Three Levels of Liquidity Design
DSO Protection adapts to your commercial model and liquidity goals. You can configure payout guarantees across three levels:
- Merchant level: Apply DSO Protection to all approved buyers and transactions for total predictability in timing and payout value.
- Buyer level: If you pass fees to buyers, you can use DSO Protection to offer preferential treatment, lowering those fees for selected buyers while keeping guaranteed payouts for your business.
- Transaction level: In marketplaces or multi-supplier environments, activate DSO Protection only for certain transactions (e.g., select suppliers that require guaranteed payout timing or full-value remittance).
This flexibility lets finance and marketplace operators manage liquidity to match business needs, not the other way around.
A New Framework for Financial Control
With the addition of DSO Protection, Balance redefines how finance teams think about trade credit. It eliminates credit risk, neutralizes timing concerns, and removes payout variability – so every sale converts to a known amount, on a known date.
Balance transforms accounts receivable from a variable function into a scheduled financial system – predictable, autonomous, and fully guaranteed.
* Payouts are made in full on the buyer’s due date. In the event of a confirmed buyer dispute, the merchant may be required to return the disputed amount.
