Accounts Payable, Ep. 1: Payment Run (1:39 film)
An animated INTERCOL film set inside a debtor’s finance group chat: €40,000 to spend, €190,000 due, and five rules that decide which supplier gets paid first.
Chapters
- The payment run
- The discount
- The cat GIF
- No PO, no payment
- “She’ll wait”
- The founder’s voice note
- The letter
- Paid
- The catamaran
Transcript
Casa Nuvola Hotels, Barcelona. Thursday. Inside the finance team's group chat: Marta in accounts payable, Jordi the CFO, Leo the intern, and Pau the founder, who only sends voice notes. Marta: "Payment run. Forty thousand euros available, one hundred and ninety thousand due. Who gets paid?" Jordi: "Lights first. Always." The electricity supplier goes to the top of the queue. Rule one: critical suppliers first. Marta: "The Girona roaster offers two percent off if we pay by Friday." Jordi: "Free money. Pay." Rule two: discounts jump the queue. Marta: "Udine chased again. With a cat GIF." Leo: "Should we pay the one who sent the cat GIF?" Jordi: "No." Leo: "The cat looks sad." Marta: "The Ohio invoice has no PO number. And it's addressed to Casa Nuvola LLC. We're an S.L. Can't match it. Blocked." Leo: "Should I tell him?" Jordi: "If he asks." Rule three: no PO, no payment. The linen supplier in Porto sends her third reminder: "Hope you're well! Just a gentle nudge, whenever convenient!" Jordi: "She's lovely. She'll wait." Porto drops to the bottom. Rule four: nice gets "she'll wait". Pau, in a voice note from a catamaran: "Guys! Pay whoever makes the most noise. Also, book the catamaran for Saturday. Ciao!" Jordi: "You heard him." Then an email arrives from INTERCOL, on behalf of Linhos do Porto: a formal demand for thirty-one thousand four hundred euros, plus late-payment interest at the legal rate of ten point four percent, plus forty euros per invoice. Pay within ten days, or a court payment order will be filed. Jordi: "Who's INTERCOL?" Marta: "The lovely linen lady's new friend." Leo: "But she's lovely?" Jordi: "Exactly. Pay her. Now." Porto jumps from last to first. Rule five: a deadline, a cost and a next step put you at the top of the pile. The payment run goes out: the electricity supplier; Linhos do Porto, with four hundred and two euros sixty of interest and three times forty euros; and the roaster, less two percent. Udine waits until next week. Ohio stays blocked. Pau, in a second voice note, over strong wind: "Guys... the catamaran company sent a letter. From INTERCOL. Pay them first. I'm still on the catamaran." Leo: "Should we pay the catamaran?" Marta: "Yes, Leo." Polite gets queued. Prepared gets paid. INTERCOL. International debt recovery. No cure, no pay.