Profitable and Going Out of Business

Last year Acme Anvil Co. had their best year ever. Sales targets met, manufacturing productivity and quality improved. This year sales are even better, and manufacturing is still improving operations. At the end of last year, Elmer, the sales manager, agreed to 90-day (previously 30-day) payment terms for 6 of the largest customers. This strategy was adopted to beat the competition. These 6 customers account for over 40% of the total sales dollars. Jessica, the CFO, has just informed the COO that she cannot meet payroll this week there is insufficient cash on hand. The COO and CFO take a quick look at the details comparing last years data to this years YTD data, double numbers they double-checking the numbers, which look pretty good. They jump to the conclusion that someone has defrauded Acme (sales great, operations under control).

Where is the cash?

What other financial explanation could there be?

What numbers should they look at?

How could this catastrophe have been prevented?

What actions do they need to take to meet payroll?