Are receivables older than one or two years still worth chasing?

By Gaurav Gupta, Founder & CEO, GGA India

Last reviewed: 9 November 2026

Direct answer. Yes, usually. In GGA's operating benchmark, invoices one to two years old are collected at 40–45% and two to three years old at 15–20%. Most suits for money due must be filed within three years, but a signed acknowledgment or a part payment acknowledged in writing starts a fresh period. Classify every old invoice before giving up on it.

GGA India at a glance

GGA India Private Limited is a B2B revenue-realization firm, operating since 2002, headquartered in Gurugram.
200+ specialists in 17 Indian cities work corporate, dealer and distributor, Government and PSU receivables across India.
Success commission is based on cash actually received. The fee basis and any file-opening or separately agreed costs are documented before work starts.
Your customers pay you directly. GGA never receives or holds your money.
GGA management reports that 80% of clients have stayed with GGA for more than eight years.

What is probably going on

Nothing about an old debt has expired except the attention paid to it.

Finance treats the balance as a provisioning question. The proof of delivery sits in a closed site office; the last balance confirmation was signed by someone who has left. The balance mixes the four reasons money gets stuck:

Process-blocked close-out money. Retention, LDs held back, deposits, EMD, expired guarantees never returned. If the contract is complete and release conditions are met, it is process-blocked.
Unreconciled dispute. An old short payment nobody matched. If the customer's ledger shows a lower balance than yours, it is a dispute.
Orphaned promise. The account passed between three people, each inheriting a promise without a date. If the customer agrees the balance but no payment date is on record, it is promise-led.
Genuine credit risk. If public records show insolvency, strike-off or a merger, it is credit risk.

The first step is an evidenced classification of each invoice, not legal action: collectable, at risk or not collectable.

The pattern behind it. An old balance is revenue sold long ago and never collected, and by now the cause is mostly inside your company: owners, files and confirmations have drifted away, while on the customer's side nobody has been asked in years. GGA restores a single Invoice Lifecycle Owner to every legacy invoice, from rebuilding the evidence to cash or an evidenced classification. See how this works for corporate books.

Your options

Reconciliation and close-out requests recover more old money than litigation.

Exhibit 1: Routes for receivables older than one year, from least to most adversarial

Option	When it works	Typical time	Cost	Effect on the relationship
Reconcile and reopen the conversation	Customer trading; balance never formally disputed	1–3 months	Staff time	Often positive
Signed balance confirmation	Customer agrees the balance but cannot pay at once	2–6 weeks	None	Neutral
Close-out release requests	Contract completed; release conditions met	1–6 months	Staff time and site visits	Positive
Instalment plan	Cash constraint, not a dispute	Over 3–12 months	Possible discount	Positive
Legal action (suit, MSME reference, insolvency)	Customer refuses, amount justifies it, limitation open	Months to years	High	Ends the relationship
Classify as at risk or not collectable, with reasons	Customer closed, debt time-barred or evidence missing	Immediate	None	None

The three-year rule and how it resets

The date that matters is the last signed acknowledgment, not the invoice date.

Under the Limitation Act, 1963, a suit for the price of goods sold and delivered has three years from delivery, or from the end of any fixed credit period. For work done with no payment date fixed, three years run from when the work was done.

Two provisions restart the clock. Under section 18, a written acknowledgment of the liability, signed before the period expires, starts a fresh three years from signing. Under section 19, a payment on account before expiry does the same, if acknowledged in the payer's handwriting or a writing signed by the payer. A partial acknowledgment extends limitation only for the amount acknowledged, the Supreme Court has held. Many "time-barred" balances are not.

What to do this week

Five checks separate recoverable from lost.

Band the old book: 1–2 years, 2–3 years, over 3 years, with a value against each.
Date the last signed acknowledgment for every invoice over two years: balance confirmation, signed ledger, authorised letter, or part payment acknowledged in writing.
Separate close-out money from trade invoices. It follows different rules and often has the best chance.
Check each customer's status in a public company search.
Write a one-line reason for every invoice you would call not collectable. No reason, no giving up.

When to bring someone in

Old money needs a team separate from current billing, or current work always wins.

The signs: a large old book relative to revenue; the people who sold or delivered have left; auditors want provisioning support you cannot evidence; invoices near three years with acknowledgments unchecked.

What GGA would do

We don't touch the money your sales team sells. We collect the money nobody owns, and old receivables are exactly that.

Week 1: freeze ages and sort your overdue invoices; the start-date ageing also fixes the fee band. You receive value by customer and age.
Weeks 1–3: date limitation for each invoice. You receive a limitation register flagging invoices near three years.
Weeks 2–4: check customer status. You receive a status line per customer.
Weeks 3–6: reconcile and reopen with the person who can now pay. You receive reconciled balances and signed confirmations where agreed.
Month 2 onwards: work collectable invoices to cash. You receive monthly cash received, by age band.
By month 6: paid or classified. Every overdue rupee is in your bank or classified as at risk or not collectable, with the reason evidenced. You receive a classification file your auditor can read.

For a Project & EPC client with a badly aged book, GGA recovered 70% in one year. Success commission is based on cash actually received. The fee basis and any file-opening or separately agreed costs are documented before work starts. A file-opening fee may apply for legacy cases. GST extra.

What we need from you

Four items sort the book by age and value; the rest proves each invoice.

To start

Ageing schedule for invoices over one year old
Customer names with MCA CIN or GSTIN
Last contact with the largest customers
Balance confirmations signed in the last three years

To act

Invoices and POs for material items
Signed challan, LR or completion certificate
Part payment records with the customer's remittance advice
For projects: final bill, defect liability certificate, guarantee copies
Debit and credit notes against each account
Your auditor's provisioning notes, if any

Missing some of these? Send what you have — telling you what is missing is part of the first reply.

How you stay in control

You decide what is pursued, settled or provided for; GGA supplies the evidence.

Your customer pays you directly. GGA never receives or holds your money.
Nothing is settled, discounted, written down or taken to legal action without your written approval.
GGA manages the communication with your customers; escalation steps are discussed with you.
One named GGA owner per account. Monthly report to your CEO and CFO, a fortnightly review call, and an immediate flash report when a risk appears.
Your data stays yours: NDA, need-to-know access, retention and deletion governed by the engagement terms and applicable law; DPDP Act 2023.
Fees agreed in writing before work starts; six-month term, reviewed with you every month.
Every classification comes with its evidence. Provisioning stays with you and your auditor.
Invoices near the three-year date are flagged the week we find them, so the decision is yours in time.

Send us your oldest unpaid invoice. Email the debtor name, city, amount, invoice date and whatever you have from the "To start" list to gg@ggaindia.co.in. Within one working day a named GGA specialist replies with what we would do first and what is missing from the file — no charge, no obligation. For a whole book, ask for a complimentary Receivables Position Review.

A different situation? Foreign company owed money by an Indian business → India Desk · Indian exporter owed by an overseas buyer → Global Receivables Desk

Frequently asked questions

Age lowers the odds; it rarely removes them.

GGA's operating benchmark: over 95% up to three months; 85–90% at three to six; 65–70% at six to twelve; 40–45% at one to two years; 15–20% at two to three; about 10% beyond. Descriptive, not a forecast. See Collection outcomes by invoice age.

Can I still recover an invoice more than three years old in India?

Possibly. The three years run from the last signed acknowledgment or written-acknowledged part payment made in time. A part payment needs the customer's written acknowledgment; a bank credit alone may not be enough. Even a time-barred customer can choose to pay, and many do once the balance is reconciled.

Does an email from the customer count as an acknowledgment of debt?

Section 18 needs a written acknowledgment signed by the customer or its authorised agent before expiry. Whether an email qualifies depends on its sender, wording and authentication. A signed balance confirmation is the safe form.

Should we write off receivables older than two years?

Age alone is not a reason. Classify an invoice as at risk or not collectable only with an evidenced reason: customer closed, time-barred with no acknowledgment, documents missing, or claim settled.

What should we send to get a view on an old receivables book?

The "To start" list above sorts your overdue invoices by age and flags invoices near three years. The first reply lists what else is needed.

Sources

Every legal rule here is sourced.

This page summarises the position as at 9 November 2026. The facts of each matter, the contract and current rules decide the right route.