Finance
The Daftar Problem: Tracking Customer Debts Without a Notebook
Almost every neighbourhood shop in Lebanon runs credit, and almost all of it lives in a notebook by the register. The notebook isn't the problem because it's old-fashioned. It's the problem because it can't answer the two questions that matter: how much am I owed in total, and how long has each amount been sitting there?
Three ways the notebook fails
It has no total. Every entry is legible on its own and the sum is invisible. Owners who are carrying a serious amount of credit — sometimes more than a month of profit — genuinely don't know it, because nobody ever adds up a notebook.
It has no age. A debt from last week and a debt from last year look identical on the page. Age is the single most useful signal you have: money that's been outstanding for three months is a different problem from money outstanding for six days, and it wants a different conversation.
It's one copy. One notebook, one counter, one person who can read the handwriting. It doesn't survive being lost, and it isn't there when the customer comes in on a day you aren't.
Partial payments make all three worse. Someone pays half; the line gets crossed out and rewritten; a month later nobody can reconstruct what was actually settled.
What a debt record actually needs
Not much — but each field has to be there, because the missing one is always the one that causes the argument.
Who. Attached to a customer record, not written as a name. The name "Ali" is ambiguous by your third Ali; a customer record isn't, and it collects that person's history in one place.
How much, and in which currency. In a dual-currency market these are one fact, not two. A number without a currency is worthless.
When. The date the debt started, which is what gives you age.
What's been paid. The amount settled so far and the date it was settled, so a partial payment updates the record instead of scribbling over it.
A note. One line about what it was for. In six months this is the difference between a clear conversation and two people remembering differently.
Doing it in YellowPOS
The Debts page holds exactly that. A debt is recorded against a client or a supplier, with an amount, a currency, a date, and a note. Its status moves through open, partial, and closed as money comes in, and each payment updates the amount settled and the date — so a half-payment is a state, not a crossed-out line.
Because debts hang off the customer record, a client's page shows their orders and what they owe together. And because the list is a list, you can finally see the total you're carrying, filter it by customer, and export it to Excel or PDF. Deleting a debt is admin-only, so a balance can't quietly disappear from someone else's screen.
Don't forget the debts you owe
Most shops track what they're owed and carry what they owe in their heads. That's backwards — the supplier balance is the one with a deadline attached. Recording supplier debts next to client debts gives you the only number that actually describes your position: what's coming in, against what's going out.
Link them to the supplier record and they sit alongside your purchase history, so when you're negotiating your next order you know exactly where you stand.
Collecting without wrecking the relationship
Tracking is only half of it. The other half is following up in a way that keeps the customer.
Agree a date when you extend the credit, not when you chase it. "Next month" is not a date. Follow up early and briefly — a friendly message a week after the date is routine; silence for three months turns a reminder into a confrontation. Be specific: naming the amount, the date, and what's been paid removes the emotion and makes the number a fact rather than an accusation. And set a ceiling per customer, at least privately. Credit is a service you're offering, and it should have a limit like any other.
Where a debt is really a business account, stop using credit and start invoicing — a numbered document with terms collects far better than an informal balance. See sending professional invoices.
Frequently asked questions
How should a small shop track customer debts?
Against the customer, not on a page. Each debt needs five things: who owes it, how much, in which currency, the date it started, and what has been paid so far. Recorded that way you can pull up one customer's full position in seconds and see everything outstanding across the shop in one list — neither of which a notebook can do.
Is it a bad idea to let customers buy on credit?
No — for many Lebanese shops it's the relationship, and refusing it costs you regulars. What hurts isn't credit, it's untracked credit: not knowing the total you're carrying, letting balances age quietly, and having no record when someone remembers the amount differently. Extend credit deliberately, write it down immediately, and follow up early.
What currency should I record a debt in?
The one it was incurred in. If someone owes you lira, record lira; if dollars, record dollars. Converting at the moment you write it down freezes one day's rate into the record and guarantees an argument later when the rate has moved. Record the currency, and let your system convert only when it's reporting totals.
How do I ask a customer for money without losing them?
Early, specifically, and in writing. A short message a week after the due date naming the amount and the date is normal business; a confrontation three months later is a fight. Being able to say "LBP 1,500,000 from March 14, of which 500,000 was paid on April 2" is calm and unarguable — that precision is what keeps the relationship intact.
Can I track money I owe suppliers too?
You should — it's the same problem pointed the other way, and it's the half most shops skip. YellowPOS records both: client debts (owed to you) and supplier debts (owed by you), each with its own status, so you can see your real position rather than just what you're waiting to collect.
Move the notebook once
You don't need to migrate years of history — just enter what's currently outstanding, one customer at a time. Most shops finish in an afternoon and are startled by the total. From there it's one entry per credit sale, and you'll always know what you're carrying. Debts are included on every YellowPOS plan alongside clients, orders, and expenses, with a 1-month free trial to move the notebook across.
Once you can see what's owed to you, put it next to what your shop actually costs to run — that's do you know your profit?