The 2/10 taken outside the window
The single most common short-pay in B2B distribution. A buyer deducts 2% off the invoice total as a cash discount, but their payment clears the seller's bank account after the contractual 10-day window has closed. The buyer's AP system applies the discount automatically at invoice entry; nobody checks whether the payment actually arrived on time.
Standard payment terms of '2/10 Net 30' mean the buyer earns a 2.0% discount if — and only if — payment is received by the seller within ten calendar days of the invoice date. In practice, most buyers set up their ERP to deduct 2% at the time the invoice is approved and schedule payment for Day 8 or Day 9. The problem is that the check or ACH transfer doesn't always arrive on Day 8. Mail delays, bank processing queues, or the buyer's own cash management decisions push the actual clearance date past Day 10. The buyer has already deducted the discount; the seller never checks whether it was earned.
Section 6.1 of a typical Master Vendor Agreement states: 'Buyer may deduct 2.0% of the net invoice total if payment is received by Seller within ten (10) calendar days from invoice date. Invoices paid after Day 10 are payable at full net amount within thirty (30) days.' The operative word is 'received' — not 'mailed', not 'initiated', not 'approved'. Receipt means clearance in the seller's bank account, provable by ACH settlement timestamp or lockbox deposit record.
Axiom cross-references the invoice date against the bank clearance timestamp for each payment. If the ACH settlement or check clearance falls on Day 11 or later, the 2% discount is automatically flagged as unearned. The system generates a dispute letter citing §6.1, attaches the electronic settlement receipt showing the clearance date, and calculates the exact dollar amount of the unearned discount. For a $28,400 invoice, a disallowed 2% discount means $568.00 recovered — per invoice.