Unused customer service credits belong in the closure advice file
Identify unused prepaid customer service credits when comparing closure and continued trading, separating cash already received from remaining performance or refund questions.
Corporate Recovery Partners
01 / 06
Old receipts can leave future work
The business is considering whether to continue or close. Its bank forecast includes no further income from customers who prepaid for service packages, so management leaves those accounts out of the discussion. Reconcile the unused entitlements. Cash received in an earlier period may still correspond to work, access or another obligation that the adviser needs to understand.
List each relevant customer, original payment, agreed package, service used and balance of units or value recorded. Keep disputed entries visible. Distinguish a prepaid entitlement from an ordinary discount or goodwill offer. Do not assume every ledger credit represents the same legal arrangement, or that an internal expiry label conclusively ends the customer's rights.
Business.gov.au recommends keeping financial records, including payments and bank records. Link the schedule to the actual agreement and service history. Have the accountant check the reconciliation and the lawyer or insolvency adviser assess remaining obligations. This article does not decide refund rights, consumer-law treatment or how a particular claim would rank in an insolvency process.
Imagine a maintenance business that sold ten visits but has completed six before closure is considered. The four recorded visits need attention even if no new invoice will be raised. Identify the practical cost and capacity involved, without assuming four visits equal a particular cash refund. The actual agreement and applicable rights need separate assessment.
If another provider might perform the work, obtain advice about the proposed arrangement and any customer agreement required. Do not announce that all credits have moved to a replacement business merely because the providers have spoken. Confirm who would perform, fund and remain responsible for the service before presenting it as a completed solution.
Give advisers the supported customer schedule alongside ordinary unpaid creditors and current cash. Update it for completed service or properly documented changes. Keep proposed customer communications under review during financial distress. The closure comparison is more complete when it includes work already paid for, rather than treating the absence of a future receipt as evidence that the customer relationship carries no remaining commitment.
