customer payments graph

[Mike or Penny Novack]

On 5/9/2016 2:31 AM, Tatar Kolos wrote:
> Hi Gnucash experts,
>
> I'm trying to generate a graph which would show me a cumulative line 
> (or bar) graph of invoices I created for a given customer plotted over 
> a cumulative line (or bar) graph of payments I received from a customer.
>
> This would show me how well a customer is keeping up with payments.

  Before discussing HOW you would do this, might be well to spend more 
time thinking about whether this would, in fact, show you what you think 
it would, or would instead, be misleading. Or take a lot more thought 
how you might make it not be misleading.
<< I am a retired senior analyst. In my day often had to spend a lot of 
time in meetings with users trying to explain to them that the 
management report they were requesting would in fact, if delivered 
exactly as they requested, not show them what they thought it would >>

As you have "requested" the report would be VERY "timing sensitive" 
giving false positives unless the nature of your business were such that:
a) Orders were frequent and small compared to the total orders for a 
given customer.
b) The normal time periods between invoicing and payment received were 
very short.

On the other hand, if orders less frequent and tending to be a largish 
fraction of the total, and if the "grace period" for your line of 
business comparatively long (30 days net or 60 days net, etc.) then you 
would see customers that seemed to be behind in payments that weren't.

Your idea of presenting the data so that the amount outstanding with a 
customer is alongside the total of business with that customer is a good 
idea (rather than just looking at the amounts outstanding without that 
context. But you have to remember that during the interval  between an 
invoice going out and payment received (even if that interval is normal 
for your business) is going to show on the report.

You might want to consider instead deciding on some "late" interval and 
show as "outstanding" not all that is outstanding but just the portion 
that is outstanding past the "late" time.

Michael D Novack

PS: The worst case I can remember from those management report requests 
was one for a monthly "assignments completed within the time proper for 
that task". The way originally requested, since assignments coming in 
close to the end of a month that were allowed several days to complete 
would have been reported as "not completed on time" and so ALL employees 
reported as failing to get all of their assignments done in timely 
fashion.  You were making a similar mistake. A customer who was NEVER 
late with payments could still show up on your report.