Payables vs receivables: how to calculate net position

Payables are what your business owes. Receivables are what customers owe you.

Net position

Net position = open receivables − open payables

• **Positive** — more owed *to* you than you owe out (net receivable)
• **Negative** — you owe more than you are collecting (net payable)

Only open lines count; paid items are history.

Why snapshot instead of full GL

QuickBooks is your system of record. A reckoning is a periodic answer: “Where do we stand this week?”

Download the ledger CSV template or start a business reckoning.