How about those receivables?

I was talking to a business owner and asked, "How much do you have in receivables?"  He said he had over $10,000, but it turned out he was talking about deposit money on writing work he was doing for people.

That’s not receivables. You get receivables when you do work for someone and don’t get paid right away. 

BTW, the rule to remember with receivables:  "The longer it’s a receivable, the less likely it is that you’ll receive it."

How do you handle receivables?  Do you require clients to pay you half when you start a writing assignment and the rest on delivery? 

If you require people to use credit cards and PayPal, you won’t have as many receivables.  To me, it’s better to pay a small percentage fee and be sure I get the money.