Glossary · Reading the business
Customer invoice
In short
A bill issued to a customer for goods or services provided, representing money owed to the business (accounts receivable).
What it means in a deal
In an acquisition, you'll need to analyze the aging of customer invoices to understand the business's cash flow quality and potential bad debt. Lenders will take a lien on these as a primary source of collateral, especially for service businesses, but they'll discount their value.
Related terms
Common questions about Customer invoice
- Can a high customer concentration (e.g., one customer is 50% of revenue) jeopardize my SBA 7(a) loan approval?
- What if the business I'm acquiring relies heavily on a single major customer?
- How does the SBA typically value intangible assets like customer lists or software for collateral?
- How does high customer concentration in a target business affect SBA 7(a) acquisition loan approval?
- What specific factors should a lender assess when underwriting a business with a high customer concentration?
- Can an SBA 7(a) loan be used to purchase a business with a high customer concentration?
Defined by CapBench SBA Intelligence — plain-English definitions for business buyers, lenders, advisors, and AI agents, grounded in public SBA rules and records. Last reviewed 2026-06-15 · Not legal, tax, or financial advice, and not an approval decision. Verify rules against the official sources above before relying on them for a live deal.
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